Broadcasting success
Steve Weagle wouldn’t have guessed while he was at the University of New Brunswick that 15 years later, he would be one of the most-watched weather broadcasters in Florida.
The 1991 bachelor of science graduate first considered astronomy, but turned to meteorology after he finished his degree at UNB Fredericton. Once he finished his studies elsewhere, he began doing meteorological research.
He worked for public and private weather services before turning to Halifax, N.S.-based ATV to try out as a weather broadcaster. Admittedly, says Weagle, he didn’t think at first that he was the type of meteorologist to work on television.
“I wasn’t really the TV type,” he says. “I was a science nerd.”
That didn’t stop him – after weeks of practice and numerous auditions - Weagle became a weather broadcaster for ATV, a position he held for close to five years.
A forecast for sun
In 1998, Weagle wanted to escape the cold and try a new challenge – and soon found himself as the chief meteorologist at WPTV in West Palm Beach, Florida – the most-watched television station in the state.
The station is a meteorologist’s dream – it boasts its own Doppler radar among its millions of dollars of weather equipment.
“It’s a huge weather market, because you have so many hurricanes here,” he says.
Weagle’s reputation as a weather broadcaster grew immensely in the 2004, when he was on the scene for much of the devastating hurricane season.
“When hurricanes hit down here, everyone watches. You have to watch, because it’s really life and death.”
He also credits his success to his passion for the weather.
“You have to have a passion for it that shows, so that the interest that you have in it comes across to the viewers and then they immediately have an interest in it,” Weagle explains. “The other thing is just having a friendly personality that viewers can warm up to.”
Engaging an audience
Weagle, whose parents live in Fredericton, still pays the UNB Fredericton campus a visit whenever he’s in town. He fondly remembers his time at university, including his days as a resident of Mackenzie House – the first year it was a co-ed residence.
He studied physics and math at UNB, and says that the characteristics of a good weather broadcaster were also espoused by his favourite professors.
“The two things that make you successful is a warm personality and an interest in the subject – I had a some really good professors at UNB who had that, and they got that passion across. Then you become interested in the subjects that you’re taking.”
