Mount Pleasant Magazine July/August 2019

49 www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com | www.BestOfMP.com feature in atmospheric science from Ohio State and returned to Myrtle Beach in 2003, just before Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne ravaged Florida and threatened the South Carolina coast. He came to Charleston in 2006. Fowler was all of 5 years old when Hurricane Betsy ripped through his native New Orleans. He remembers moving to his grandparents’ home, which was less likely to flood than his own, and being tasked with stuffing towels under the doorsills to keep the water out. He earned degrees in communications from Georgia Southern University and broadcast meteorology from Mississippi State. … And he arrived at his first Charleston job just before Hurricane Hugo hit the Lowcountry. He called that his “learning under fire.” Like all weather forecasters, our local “big three” rely on data from the National Weather Service and the Hurricane Center, as well as the numerous computer-generated American and European models. They also have access to other information sources ranging from Canada and Japan to ordinary folks with cameras and “eyes on the ground.” At the end of the day, however, what they tell the viewing public reflects how each of them interprets the enormous and often-conflicting information available to them. These seasoned forecasters begin thinking “hurricane” as soon as a tropical depression is observed off the coast of Africa or in the Bahamas or Caribbean. The questions they need to answer include: Will this storm get stronger? Will it get weaker? Do the “spaghetti models” hint that it might hit land here? Will the potential storm simply blow itself out over the water? One thing they all agree on is the necessity of striking a balance between exaggerating and underplaying every hurricane threat. As Williams put it, “I don’t like to hype storms. I do like talking people down from ledges. I do my best to just stick with the facts about each storm.” That balance between complacency and panic can be a hard one to strike, especially with the proliferation of social media. The Charleston forecasters were unanimous in believing that social media can be both a curse and a blessing when a big storm approaches. “The amount of information we can disseminate to the public through social media is amazing,” Fowler said. “At the same time, there is so much misinformation out there that people will call us terrified that a storm is going to hit us, and we have to tell them, ‘No, actually, it’s not.’” When a legitimate hurricane threat arises, another point of agreement among our prognosticators is the necessity of having a plan — both on the personal and on the broadcasting levels. Individuals and families should pay attention to official evacuation mandates. They should know where they will go and should let friends and family know where they can be found. They should have ready a “hurricane kit,” containing a supply of water, all necessary medications, important documents and whatever else they need for survival and can’t afford to lose. And, particularly for those living on our islands, everyone should have a plan for the return home. As for the broadcasters themselves, preparations for hurricane season never really end. When one season ends, they and their fellow staff meteorologists are already meeting, talking and comparing notes in readiness for the Bill Walsh, chief meteorologist for Live5News/WCSC, Charleston. Photo courtesy of Bill Walsh.