Ranking The Local TV Meteorologists - Baltimore Edition
Anyone who lives in the Baltimore metro area watches them every day. Today we’ll face chief meteorologists from each local station off against each other. We’ll rank Vytas Reid from WBFF, Tom Tasselmyer from WBAL, Marty Bass from WJZ, and Norm Lewis from WMAR. You like them when they’re right, you hate them when they’re wrong… now lets see where they rank.
The meteorologists were ranked in three categories: delivery, credibility, and personality. An overall score was calculated by averaging the three scores. The scores are on a scale from 1-10, 10 being the best score possible. Without wasting anymore time…
Credibility
I think this is one of the most important categories. It is of great importance for a meteorologist to know what they are talking about when they are delivering their weathercast. Without a weather background, a weather anchor is nothing more than a news anchor doing the weather.
Marty Bass has been at WJZ for a long time, however he doesn’t have a weather degree. Vytas received his certification from Mississippi State after getting his Broadcast Communication degree from Indiana University. Tom is a graduated from North Carolina State with a B.S. in meteorology.
The nod has to go to Norm Lewis though. He got his training through the US Navy and was part of the Hurricane Hunter Squadron. He then went on to work at the National Hurricane Center.
Delivery
Enthusiasm for the weather is important when delivering a weathercast. Nothing is worse than a boring weather report. I don’t care if it’s sunny for the next five days, spruce it up and make it exciting.
Vytas adds some excitement to weathercasts with his personality, however holding back on the 7-day forecast loses some points. It’s probably not even his fault, but ‘teasing’ the 7-day is outdated (at least I think).
Tom Tasselmyer relays a very informative and interesting forecast each night. No matter what the weather, Tom is calm and collected and gives me exactly what I want: a good forecast.
Personality
Being comfortable in front of the camera will let you personality shine through. The audience is able to relate and get to know you even more. It is important for meteorologists to not talk down to their audience. That is something that would be hard to recover from. 
Marty is able to show more personality since he is a morning guy. However, his “here, there, and everywhere” personality makes me watch him rather than his forecast.
Vytas shows off his smile each and every time he does a forecast. He allows the audience to step into his life by mentioning his family and friends. You can tell he is a fun guy simply how he acts on camera.
Overall
This was a tough decision. I tried to rate each meteorologist as fair as possible. Norm Lewis barely squeaked past Tom Tasselmyer as Baltimore’s Best Meteorologist.
Now we want to hear what you think.
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“”"”The nod has to go to Norm Lewis though. He got his training through the US Navy and was part of the Hurricane Hunter Squadron. He then went on to work at the National Hurricane Center.”"”"
I think you need to look at the curriculum though. If he was trained in purely theoretical meteorology then his forecasting skills might not be the greatest. I know several people taking theoretical track options who cannot forecast very well.
I also know of an Earth Science and Physics major taking a meteorology track option who is pretty good at weather forecasting!
I think credibility would need to include a detailed comparison of their accuracy over a long range of time. That would be the best indicator of meteorologist street cred. Accuracy in forecasting.
Other than that I loved your post! Pretty cool! Too bad we didn’t have a large audience yet so that they could all vote!
Maybe we should have a static page set up with polls so that way they won’t get lost in 3000 blog entries? Or maybe just repost it from time to time?
Comment by Vincent Sapone — March 18, 2009 @ 12:18 am
I can’t even believe Marty Bass’s name was even mentioned. He is not a meteorologist! The man just reads from the teleprompter and tries to make people believe he can actually predict the weather. The only thing he can predict is how much of a jerk he will be from one day to another.
Comment by Jim McGrath — March 18, 2009 @ 5:54 am
Vin - I agree with what you’re saying. Forecasting is one of Norm’s specialties as WMAR were just voted the most accurate forecasters for Baltimore.
Story here.
http://www.abc2news.com/news/local/story/ABC2-s-Weather-Team-Named-Most-Accurate/n4aZgeVp2keqxE9qGuTXxA.cspx?rss=702
Jim - I have never heard that Marty reads from a teleprompter. Even if he did, he had to know what to write. 20+ years as a anchor/weathercaster I think he probably has picked a few things up.
While you may not like Marty’s antics, I talked to many people that think he is a riot and watch WJZ just for him.
_______
Please note that I didn’t mean for this post to be derogatory towards anyone. I asked many people in the Baltimore viewing area what they thought of these meteorologists. This post was just a culmination of what the people I talked to said.
Comment by Jacob Wycoff — March 18, 2009 @ 8:25 pm
Vin, you saying theoretical mets can’t forecast? I beg to differ lol. =)
Seriously speaking though, pro mets like Jay Angle who use the momentum equations in their forecasting techniques can be good. Really good.
Comment by Joe Roy — March 19, 2009 @ 11:12 am
I’m only saying that I know some theoretical meteorologist who can’t and some who don’t even like forecasting. I personally think a meteorologist that doesn’t enjoy forecasting is an oxymoron, but that is only my opinion. Its like being a Chef and never eating what you cook
Vinnie
Comment by Vincent Sapone — March 19, 2009 @ 11:08 pm
Why would Marty Ass be considered a chief meteorologist. He isnt licensed. Plus he doesnt always get the weather right. Which is why he gets the lowest rating. And thats exactly why I do not watch Marty. Mostly I watch the weather channel and if I have to watch the local station Im mostly watching Tom Tasselmyer. Not Farty Ass.
Comment by Will — August 5, 2009 @ 9:37 am
Don’t ask my why he’s considered the chief. If you listen to WPOC, he basically reads the National Weather Service forecast and even credits them. My personal opinion is you should know what you’re talking about if that is your job.
You wouldn’t let a guy operate on you after reading a “how-to” book. Even if he did stay at a Holiday Inn Express…
Comment by Jacob Wycoff — August 5, 2009 @ 11:24 am