I have had more time to watch television the past days of winter, and especially during the “deep freeze” and its associated trials and tribulations. My wife asked me what I was doing one afternoon when the snow was deepening and the temperatures continued to fall a little lower each night and received this answer as I leaned back a little farther into the recliner’s safety, “JUST THINKING,” and waiting for the weather forecast for the following week.
The main reason I enjoy the “weather” more than any other part of the newscasts is that it always seems to be “straight, factual information” without any concerns for saying the “right” things. Yes, the “weather” news men and news women do try to be pleasant and enjoyable and humorous and entertaining, but by and large they mainly try to give us helpful information so that we can go about our lives, informed about what the weather will PROBABLY entail and how long “it” has lasted or might continue to do so. And…..most of the times, the forecasts are “spot on,” as my buddy might say!
Even my son, who seems to have inherited much of his Dad’s cynicism, exhibited his trust in this segment of the media when he told me that I had better “let the faucets trickle during the upcoming days.” His Father replied, “Why do you say that?”
The answer was quick— “Have you listened to the news and the forecast for the next few nights? It is supposed to fall at least to 6 degrees or lower and to stay cold for quite some time.” His Dad’s quick but decidedly wrong answer was, “Ah, it’s not going to get that cold in Forney, Texas. You would have to go back to the late 1890s and early
1900s to find record lows that cold!”
As I watched our Robert Schlebach thermostat outdoor thermometer drop well below 10 degrees one night and then down to –2 degrees the next, I could just hear my son saying, probably out loud at his house, “So, Donald P., how’s the weather over there in Forney?”
Now, I will admit I do have my favorite weather forecasters on more than one local station.
*CHANNEL 4* I like this team the best of all—Dan Henry, Evan Andrews, Ali Turiano, Alberto Romero, and Kylie Capps. They are all good, but Evan Andrews, who went to college at first to become an electrical engineer, seems as if he would be a great “next-door neighbor,” and Ali Turiano, who at one time wanted to become a “tornado chaser,” has the biggest, greatest grin and smile. (And it seems so genuine.) When Kylie Capps came onto the scene not too long ago, she seemed like the new, “unsure move-in” in the freshman class; however, now she seems to have become the “at ease” senior! Dan Henry has been with this station since 2003 and leads the group well. We like this newscast, because it comes on at 9:00 p. m., earlier than the other major “three.”
*Channel 5* Rick Mitchell (2012), Grant Johnston (2010), Keisha Burns
(2017), David Finfrock (1975), Samantha Davies (2009) When I was still teaching, I watched Channel 5 every morning (Davies) before I ventured off to F. H. S., but for some reason, I moved on the past few years. I think it was because the staff changed greatly at about the time my career was winding down. David Finfrock, their SENIOR METEOROLOGIST, is my favorite of the staff, probably because he is a “no-nonsense weather man,” who worked his way up through the levels of the station at the same time I was gaining experience. I will say, though, that he has “grayed” a little faster than I have. I do still view this channel’s news from timeto-time, and I do enjoy its change of pace—especially during the afternoons.
*Channel 8* (“Oh, Boy, don’t get me started, or I will not stop!”) Pete Delkus has been on the staff since 2005, and for some reason he is able to not only “stand up to” Dale Hansen but also to “get the best” of him better than anyone on the staff has ever been able to do! The two together are entertaining with a humor I like; however, my late father would change the channel when they got to “needling” each other! Pete has finally eased off on saying authoritatively that the temperature at 4:00 p. m. on July 3 will be 68 degrees in Ter rell, 69 in Forney, and 67 in Denton. His forecasts now seem to be more “forecasts” instead of proclamations, so, he is maybe now my favorite to view each evening if we remember to change the channel from his competition! Pete Delkus, Kalee Dionne (my wife’s “fav”), Greg Fields (emphasizes the importance of math to “kids”), Jesse Hawila, Kyle Roberts—We watch this newscast often at 10:00 p. m. after first “taking in” Channel 4 at 9:00 p. m.
*Channel 11* Erin Moran (2019), Chief Meteorologist Scott Padgett (2013) (afraid of weather until he was about 12 years of age and then gained a fascination for it from sitting on the porch with his father and watching in amazement as the weather “rolled in”), Anne Elise Parks (newest to the staff) (2010 Homecoming Queen at Mississippi State University), Jeff Ray (2010 to Texas from Nashville) (my “fav” of this group) form the team of meteorologists for this station, and for some reason, I hardly ever watch their broadcasts. I think that is a result of the fact that the first three channels that our television would “pick up” when we first bought one in the ‘50s were #4, #5, and #8! Then, later #11 came along, followed even later by #13 and then the channels, such as #21, #39, etc. (what, at that time, we called the “lesser channels!”)
Let me conclude by saying that I (and my wife) enjoy the weathercasts of all four of what we call the “major local channels,” and they all do good jobs of presenting factual weather news and forecasts—and most of the time, all four are pretty close to just about the same information. I don’t think you can go wrong by tuning in to any of them.
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