What Is A Weather Geek?

For years, we have sort of referred to ourselves as weather geeks, because most of us have a very avid interest in the weather regardless if we work in it professionally or just consider it a hobby. Some folks just want to know yes/no on rain and the low and high. We do not consider them geeks.

One Sunday afternoon back in the 1980s, I was going off duty at the NWS Forecast Office on West Oxmoor Road. As I was walking out the door, an 8-year-old boy had his face pressed against the glass door trying to see what a weather office looked like. His dad was with him. So, I invited them in and gave the youngster a 45-minute tour explaining how we did everything, gave him some weather maps and brochures, and even let him do a short broadcast on KIH-54, NOAA Weather Radio.

He was so excited that he hugged my neck when he left, but his parting sentence was:

“You just don’t look like a weatherman.”

My interest went to the top of the flagpole. So, I asked, “What do you think a weatherman looks like?”
His long description sounded like the old pictures we used to see of an overweight newspaper editor with a green visor setting type for his newspaper. The kid also said, “See a cover of Mad Magazine.”

Well, well. Back to ground zero. I occasionally started referring to ourselves as weather humans because of that. (Just for fun) I wasn’t offended. He was just having fun.

To prepare for this story, I looked up “geek” in Webster’s New World College Dictionary. They say it is the official dictionary of the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and other leading newspapers. So, it has to be correct. This is how they describe a geek:

1. a performer of grotesque or depraved acts at a carnival, such as biting off the head of a live chicken; 2. any person considered to be different from others in a negative or bizarre way; 3. socially awkward; 4. stupid.

Well, well, what an eye opener. We consider all of our skywatchers, storm chasers and even ourselves as weather geeks, so what should we call ourselves now?

Please don’t suggest “weather freaks.”

It was my pleasure, several weeks ago, to have a 90-minute breakfast at a Trussville restaurant with a genuine weather geek from Northern Utah. His dad was with him. The geek’s name is Matt Marshall and his dad’s name is Robert. Matt and his wife, Jana, made a trip to Utah just to ski. They fell in love with skiing, so they moved to Layton, Utah in 2000. They are Birmingham natives and his parents still live in Shelby County. He sends us lots of very interesting weather information for our weather stories from that part of the country. They now live in Willard, Utah near the Idaho border. (Orchard country) The picture below is of Matt (on the left) and his dad, Robert. Sure did enjoy the visit and Matt sure does not look like the description of a geek in the dictionary.

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