It can’t be easy being a meteorologist — if the weather you forecast isn’t happening exactly the way you called it in someone’s backyard, they assume you got it wrong once again. But, in fact, the accuracy rate for a 24-hour forecast is about 95%, 86% for a three-day, and 75% for a five-day. That’s not so bad for predicting something as changeable as … the weather!
February 5 is National Weatherperson's Day, commemorating the birth of John Jeffries in 1744. Jeffries, one of America’s first weather observers, began taking daily weather observations in Boston in 1774. In honor of that “revolutionary” weatherman, we talked to AccuWeather senior on-air meteorologist Ariella Scalese ’14.
How did you become a meteorologist?
“It all started when a local broadcast meteorologist came to talk to my fifth-grade class. That just sounded like the coolest job! After that, I was obsessed. I would look at the weather section in my dad’s newspaper and lay out my outfits for the seven days based on that, posed as if I were wearing them, on my bedroom floor. From an early age, I knew how much of an impact the weather has.
“It all started when a local broadcast meteorologist came to talk to my fifth-grade class. That just sounded like the coolest job! After that, I was obsessed."
“When it came time for college, I knew I wanted to go to Lehigh, and Lehigh doesn’t have a meteorology program, so I found a way to make it work. After graduation, I went to Mississippi State University to learn more about meteorology specifically. I interned at a station in Austin, Texas, and have had on-air jobs in Laredo, Texas; Savannah, Georgia; Raleigh, North Carolina; Bowling Green, Kentucky.; and now AccuWeather in State College, Pennsylvania. My goal was always to work my way closer to home in Pennsylvania while advancing my career.”
What do you love about your job?
“Even if I’m having a not-so-great day, I go to work, and because I have to smile and have energy on-air, I find myself having fun, and it raises my mood. And it’s great to form friendships with co-anchors and with the people who tune in to watch you. You become part of their daily routine, and it’s fun to bring them that every day.”
What’s it like going out in public when you’re a minor celebrity?
“Especially in smaller markets, people really love their meteorologists. Once I was grocery shopping in Savannah without my hair or makeup done, and someone walked up to me and said, ‘You know, you look a lot like our weather lady.’ A lot of times, people have a line rehearsed. Like, ‘Oh, you get paid for being wrong!’ or ‘Hey, when’s the snow coming?’ Sometimes it’s ‘You look a lot taller on TV,’ or ‘You’re prettier in person.’ It's usually fun and cute.”
What’s your favorite season?
“Summer! But then, I grew up in Pennsylvania. I’ve spent plenty of summers in the south and found I couldn’t wait for summer to be over! I do like the change of seasons from spring to summer to fall, but I hate winter.”
What’s the most interesting thing to forecast — snowstorms, hurricanes, or tornadoes?
“Every meteorologist has their own favorite, but I would say hurricanes. Tropical weather has been a big part of my career. Hurricane Matthew hit a few months after I moved to Savannah, and they hadn’t seen a landfall hurricane since the ’70s. The destruction was sad, but it was interesting because you can track them for so long using tools like satellites."
How hot is too hot?
“Anything over 80, but humidity plays a big role. The dew point can make it feel like the 90s, and you can’t cool down!”
How cold is too cold?
“Anything in the 30s is officially cold for me. I can manage that — I know my threshold for how many layers I need to walk my dog. Anything under that is just terrible to me.”
What’s your favorite Lehigh memory?
“Officially being known as ‘The Crying Cheerleader’ (when Lehigh men’s basketball beat Duke in the 2012 NCAA Tournament). You know you’re going to go to college and have fun, and cheerleading for Lehigh was great. But that moment has turned into my go-to party trick. People I meet say, ‘Oh, you were a cheerleader?’ And I say, ‘Yeah, google crying Lehigh cheerleader.’ It’s fun to have been on national TV, especially since I work in the industry. But at the end of the day, it was just so cool to be part of such a big historic moment in Lehigh’s history.”