Mount Pleasant Magazine July/August 2019

48 www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com | www.BestOfMP.com feature W ith the 2019 hurricane season upon us and the 30th anniversary of Hurricane Hugo’s devastating hit to the Lowcountry looming in September, the time seemed right to find out a little more about the broadcast meteorologists who bring us our routine weather forecasts day in and day out, then go into high gear when potential storms are on their way. The three chief meteorologists who head up the weather teams for their respective television stations (and their radio affiliates) are all very different in some respects, while virtually identical in others. If all three were contestants on the classic game show, “What’s My Line?,” the celebrity panel would guess one to be a professor of literature, another a financial adviser and the third a stand-up comic. They’re that different in their on-air styles. But when it comes to weather in general and severe storm systems in particular, they speak with one voice: honest, factual, warning when necessary and comforting when needed. And in a world in which ratings still rule and a myriad of internet voices vie for attention, there’s no sense of competition or one-upmanship among them as they deliver their predictions. We’re talking, of course, of Bill Walsh (Live5 News/ WCSC), Dave Williams (WCIV/Channel 4) and Rob Fowler (WCBD/Channel 2). Just about everyone in the Lowcountry watches at least one of these men each evening, and many viewers toggle between channels to hear from them all. All three of these long-serving senior broadcast meteorologists have become well-known throughout our community — not only for their TV and radio presence but also for their involvement in Lowcountry events and activities and their willingness to talk about weather to just about any group, any time. Walsh may have said it best when he opined that he was a lifelong “weather nerd.” Growing up in Rhode Island, he never experienced hurricane season, but he loved watching the local TV weather forecasters. He was fascinated by the science of forecasting and the broadcast media and followed that early attraction to studies at Emerson College, Lyndon State and, eventually, the U.S. Navy. Williams’ first experience with severe weather came at age 3. His family was on their annual vacation at Myrtle Beach when Hurricane David hit, and he saw firsthand the aftermath of that big storm. He went on to get his degree Beyond the Green Screen Local ‘Big Three’Weathermen’s Perspectives of Hurricane Season BY BILL FARLEY