Gales and Gardens with Alex Calamia

In this episode of the Everything Weather podcast, Kyle David speaks with News 12 meteorologist Alex Calamia. They discuss his love for weather and gardening and explore Alex's career journey from Rutgers to Florida, South Carolina, and back to New Jersey. The episode features Alex's insights on effective weather communication, community interaction, and his popular garden guide segment on News 12.

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About the Everything Weather Podcast

A weekly podcast where we talk with people about the weather world, explore and discuss everything weather and the many things that connect to it, and have a little fun along the way. The podcast is hosted and produced by Kyle David, a meteorologist and digital science content producer based in New Jersey.

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Transcript

Welcome to the Podcast

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Hello and welcome to the Everything Weather Podcast, where we talk with people about the weather world, explore and discuss everything weather, and have a little fun along the way. I'm your host, Kyle David, and today I'm excited to be joined by News 12 meteorologist and host of the Garden Guide Show, Alex Calamia. Welcome, Alex, to the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

Thank you for having me. Very excited to talk all things weather.

What's on the Weather Person's Playlist?

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Absolutely. Ready to kick it off with our first fun section of the show? Let's do it. All right. What is on the weather person's playlist? So it could be when you're working, it could be just when you're relaxing at home. What is on your playlist?

SPEAKER_02 0:51

I listen to almost everything. I am a big fan of like the alternative rock kind of scene, the 90s bands like Foo Fighters, Killers. I've been I saw Foo Fighters this year. I have been waiting to see The Killers. I've not gotten around to doing that just yet. But I'll listen to all of the I I don't want to call them classics because to me, like they're not from that long ago. They've been around like 20, 30 years, some of these bands. So I guess they are considered almost classics now, but they're still producing great music. And I just love anything that has a beep. I saw Stevie Nicks last year, and that was like one of my favorite concerts because she's just so talented and it's such a unique voice. And I have a couple of other bands that I've been really high on my list to see. And my sister and I'm a twin, by the way, so that's a fun fact. I never let anybody know that. So I'm just gonna get right off the top and say it. And so me and her, we have uh very similar musical tastes, and we just like anybody who's really uh unique and talented live. We saw Post Malone recently, and he's like gone country now, and it was really great. So it was really cool to hear bad. So so there's no genre that's totally off limits for me. I love it all. But anything that like is high energy kind of gets you move in, I'm a runner, so anything that's really high energy is very fun.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

You have some very good taste in music there, Alex, but I have to ask the hard question. This is hard even for me to answer. If you had to pick, like, say, five songs that go on your playlist when you're doing weather things, you're working, you're doing the garden guide show. What are those five songs?

SPEAKER_02 2:31

That's so tough. Well, I love Mr. Bright's side from The Killers, so that's a must for me. Everlong from The Food Fighters is great. I really like this. So when Stevie Nick sang at the concert I went to last year, she sang like a newer song from like what newer, but it's like from her album in 2003, I think. It's like Shangla, Shanglerie, stuff like that. Gotta look that one up. But anyway, that's a great song, too. It was very like a theral, and I loved that. By the way, I love anything with weather in it. So the when she's like thunder only happens when it's raining, like you gotta put that in your playlist when you're making a weather forecast. I've recently been listening to a lot of John Mayer also. I like the song where she where he's like half of your heart. I I cannot remember the title of it. So I didn't do my prep work on the titles of these songs, but anything from those from those artists lately have been on my playlist a lot. I love, like I said, high-energy stuff. I'm a morning meteorologist, so like we gotta kick it off dancing. Although I can't dance, so I'll just sway.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Maybe include some dancing into your forecasts. I know a few meteorologists getting into that.

SPEAKER_02 3:42

I will leave that to them because they're very talented at it. I would struggle hard.

Alex Calamea's Weather Story

SPEAKER_00 3:47

For sure. I would definitely I'm stiff as a rock, so no chance of me dancing for anything. And you got good picks for your songs on your weather person playlist there, and good artists that you mentioned there. With that said, let's get into a little bit more about you, Alex. So I always ask people on my podcast how they got into the weather, what is their weather story? So let me ask you, tell me about your weather story, what got you interested in everything weather?

SPEAKER_02 4:14

It's so funny you mentioned that. I do think some people have a specific storm. And for me, I just always loved the weather from a really young age. I've always been fascinated by how things work. We used to take family vacations every summer to Florida, and I was always in awe at how you would go from the weather that I'm used to here in New York, where we have four different seasons, and then you go down there, the plants look totally different. The climate is obviously totally different. It rains every day during the summertime. And when you're flying in, you watch those clouds build. So I really think that is what initiated the passion for me, like flying and seeing those clouds build, and then going somewhere else where everything looked totally different. And that's why I love gardening so much. So plants and weather always were really hand in hand for me. I wanted to create a tropical garden and have definitely brought a lot of plants into my garden that are very tropical over the years. And all of that goes in with my passion for weather. I love seeing how the environment interacts with our atmosphere. So I remember doing that when I was like four years old. I was just always asking questions about weather and clouds. I had a little disposable camera when we would go on vacation, we'd go to Disney World, but still, every single picture on that disposable camera, because you get like 30 of them, it was either clouds and thunderstorms, me trying to take a picture of lightning, or which is not easy on a disposable camera, or plants. I distinctly remember that because it's always an excitement to like wait until your photos get developed, because at that point we didn't have instant digital cameras, so you had to like wait until you got back from your trip, and every single picture was like plants and weather. There's no Mickey Mouse. I love Disney, but that was not on the camera roll.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

Yeah. I mean, weatherner is going to be taking pictures of clouds, thunderstorms. Was there any like particular picture that you got that was like, yeah, that's the one picture? No.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

Well, I do remember some storms that were really cool. There were some hail storms. The first time I ever saw hail was when I was in Florida. And typically the hail in Florida is not usually very large, but it can be very plentiful. And so that was a really interesting experience because again, tropical like climate, how do you go from that to hail? So as a young kid, that really kind of sparked my imagination a lot. And we had a couple of hurricanes when we were down there. So I remember all of the damage the next day, seeing how some trees were very resistant to the wind and some were not. And I think that also is part of my passion for communicating the science between weather and gardening and plants, because we always I have this like big thing where when we talk about storm damage, we're always talking about trees that are down. But trees are actually a huge benefit in preventing storm damage. It helps mitigate runoff, it helps protect structures from wind. So sometimes it's this mantra that a lot of gardeners have right tree, right place. You want to make sure your trees are healthy because they do go so hand in hand with each other. So I I've always been fascinated by that. And I remember seeing how some trees were so resistant to that kind of weather.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Yeah, and definitely they do go hand in hand, and not a lot of people think about that. We're definitely going to be exploring that a lot more throughout the podcast. But I wanted to ask you, is there like a specific moment that made you realize, even though you knew from a young age you liked plants, you liked the weather, I should say. Was there a specific moment that you thought, okay, I want to do that for the rest of my life?

SPEAKER_02 7:59

No, there was actually a moment where I didn't want to do it. Yeah, well, because I didn't think I was ever going to be on TV. When I was younger, we had a high school television station, and I asked to be on the high school television station as a weather forecaster. And they were like, Yeah, sure, let's try it. We were using PowerPoint. I don't know how it happened, but somehow, from when I delivered this PowerPoint to them, and when I went on air, everybody had to watch this morning newscast. It was live. Um, and all the slides were out of order. Like the 10 day was in the middle of the segment, radar was at the end. Like, can you imagine being 14 years old and you think this is what you want to do for the rest of your life? And then you get totally thrown off. So I felt like because I was so prepared to do something just as is, and everybody saw me. And anyway, after that, I wasn't asked to do the weather forecast. Somebody else actually did it for every year, but I was in high school. So I was like, if I can't make it in high school doing something I like, then how am I gonna make a career out of it? I knew I still loved weather, so I went to school for meteorology, and that's why I really appreciate Rutgers. I know we'll talk a little bit about our alma mater because what I like about Rutgers is that they you don't have to be the best to get on the screen. You can practice, get your reps in, and um, because otherwise I would have never rediscovered that passion. I think sometimes you get these moments when you're younger and you're like, I I've always been um an optimist. So I always knew that there was a place for me in the meteorology world, but I was like, oh, TV's just not it. I am not good at it. So I'm glad that I found my way back into TV because I really do enjoy it. And I'm so glad that I didn't give up on that. So that was a moment that I think I really was like, maybe I need to take my life in a different direction at 14 years old. But no, I always knew I wanted to be a meteorologist. There was no question. I couldn't physically go into school without knowing what the weather forecast was. Like I felt like I wasn't wearing any clothes on if I didn't know what the next seven to ten days was gonna be like. It was just so, so important for me. I I wasted so much time as a kid not doing homework and looking up weather forecasts. So it's so surreal that now this is what I get to do every day. Like, well, anyway, yeah, I've always loved it.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

That's a nerve-wracking situation, even for an adult to be in. When you're giving a presentation and something is not right with it, you're you just freeze up. You're like, uh, do having that happen to you at 14, that that is that's scary.

SPEAKER_02 10:37

Uh it prepared you, you need thick skin. And I definitely developed it. And so now, and I've done so many more embarrassing things on TV, but now it's like you just fly with it. I think it's why people like live TV, is because you don't know what's gonna happen next. So at this point, I'm totally there, there's nothing that could go wrong because that's the fun of live television. You just gotta be you and you delivered a forecast that the people are there for. But yeah, that time is gone.

Rediscovering the Passion for Weather Communication

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Yeah, and you gotta adapt to whatever is thrown at you and not just the TV world, but in the weather world as well. You talked a little bit about you rediscovered that love for talking about the weather being on air. Tell me a little bit more about what got you back into that.

SPEAKER_02 11:19

Well, I was in college during a superstorm Sandy's, and um that was a fascinating storm. I obviously, those of us who have lived through that storm know the miscommunication that happened along with it. But for anybody watching who's not familiar with that situation, Hurricane Sandy developed off in the Caribbean. We're tracking it for days and days. We knew uh that it was going to hit New Jersey and be devastating for New Jersey and New York with storm surge days in advance. But prior to landfall, this is nearly November, I believe it was October 29th, if I remember right, when it made landfall and it developed into an uh extra-tropical cyclone where it was no longer fully tropical. So there were no tropical storm warnings, hurricane warnings, the National Hurricane Center was no longer tracking it. So there was a lot of miscommunication about the storm being weaker when it was approaching landfall. When in reality, as it was developing those extratropical characteristics, it actually became even more immense in size. It still had 90 mile per hour sustained winds. They just weren't located at the center or close to the eye wall. There wasn't really an eye wall, it was just sprawled out everywhere. So a storm surge was uh probably so much more catastrophic than it would have been if it was organized as a hurricane. But the point is that there was so much miscommunication about it. That was the spark that made me say there is so much more than just a good forecast. You could be a great forecaster, but if you can't communicate those hazards, then what's the point of it? What is the point of having a good forecast? Now we live in a world where AI can do weather forecasts just as good as most meteorologists. There are going to be some exceptions, but in 10 or 15 years, I don't know. I think that forecasting is going to be incredibly detailed and accurate by these weather models and AI, and they might do a better job than humans. And I don't think we should be afraid of that. I think we need to embrace that change and be effective communicators because there's always, in fact, now more than ever, there's so much noise when it comes to communication. And so that was my spark to get back into specifically the communication aspect of it. I wanted to be more than just a forecaster, not to discredit forecasting, because that is an incredible talent. And computer models do not always get it right. And I guess so, so important to have a person behind that forecast. But for me, I just felt my talent was communicating that forecast more than actually just developing it, although we do that as well. That communication, I think, is so, so key. Everybody plays a role as a meteorologist, but yeah, I think that's really important.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

For sure. You've made a few excellent points there, Alex. You said that it doesn't matter how much if you don't know how to communicate it, what's the point? That's very true to these days, especially these days. Uh, if you don't know how to communicate information properly, then it gets lost. Um and in talking about Superstorm Sandy and you rediscovering your passion for communicating the weather, what are some experiences that got you back into that realm?

SPEAKER_02 14:28

That was definitely one of them. Going to school at Records was huge. We had a living learning community. Weather Watchers is still alive and well. It's a great program. Through that, we were able to do weekly weather forecasts on a green screen and practice as many times as we wanted to. And I was with a lot of other meteorology majors that have, you know, become my very close friends. And we were all living together, talking about weather. So tracking every storm, going out in the snowstorms, and all of that just reconnected me to my love for communicating it, but also made me realize how great this community is that we have. I there are hundreds and hundreds of meteorologists in this country, and I feel like you could like become best friends with any one of them, because we all have like this really deep passion for what we do, and that's unique.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

It is. Yeah, I don't think that's really shared by any other community out there. Um, as you had mentioned, Rutgers has all these different experiences as the the Living Earning community, as you mentioned, got back into doing forecasts on a camera. So when it came time for you to graduate, where did you go from there?

SPEAKER_02 15:38

So after graduation, I was a weather producer for a little bit at Pix 11, working behind the scenes, kind of seeing if like TV was for me. When I really loved it, I had a good time working there as a freelancer. And so I started applying to jobs and I got one in Florida, which was like my dream. It was of Gainesville. So it was a small market for those of you who aren't familiar with television markets. They range from like one, which is New York, that's the top market, the most people watching, to like over 200, which I think is in Nebraska still. It does change every year. And so those are the fewest people watching. So I was in 162, I think, at the time. And so it was, you know, a starting market. And so I was able to make my mistakes. It was not just weather. I also had to report on news. It wasn't just environmental stuff. I was doing news, and I had no experience doing that at all. I was like, ah, whatever, it's an adventure, it's Florida. Like, I mean, just see what happens. And I really liked it. We covered some hurricanes there. We had a lot of really interesting, unique weather. And I developed my passion for communicating in neighborhoods. So, like a lot of people who are meteorologists are pretty afraid of reporting, and I don't blame them because it's not our wheelhouse. And I actually really ended up loving it because what was very unique is that I was able to actually go into the neighborhoods that I was forecasting and learn about the geography, learn about the people who lived there. So it actually made me a better communicator and a better meteorologist. And that was how a garden segment started, too, because I was actually able to shoot with a camera and edit and write and do all these things that otherwise I would have never been able to do. So I just started, I picked up the garden segment that was already there at my first station and continued it. And it just was really popular. So when I went to get my second job in South Carolina, Jim Gandhi, who's a legendary meteorologist in our community of broadcasting and in South Carolina, he's known as South Carolina's weatherman because he was on the forefront of forecasting Hurricane Hugo, which was a devastating hurricane. And so he has incredible notoriety as a fantastic meteorologist and communicator. And he was retiring. He has a garden at uh WLTX in South Carolina, which was my second station. And as he was retiring, they were looking for a morning meteorologist. And they weren't necessarily looking for somebody to take over of a garden because I mean, what are the odds you get both? But it worked out beautifully. It was like uh writing on the wall. It was perfect. And uh, so I had an amazing three years there. And I told myself that I would come back home if News 12 had an opening, because I grew up watching it and loved that local oriented content that we do here at News 12. And lo and behold, News 12 had an opening, and here I am. So that was my career. It took a long time to get that first job. I played hundreds of jobs, but everything fell into place the way it was supposed to.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

That's kind of a cool highlight that you went to South Carolina and you got Jim's garden as well. That's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02 18:46

The odds. And it was during the pandemic, too. So gardening really took off. Uh it was I I started before the pandemic, but things really got to the next level when people had nothing else to do at home other than gardening. I was really amazing else to do it.

Memorable Weather Events and Experiences

SPEAKER_00 19:00

For sure, yeah. And leading up to News 12, like are there any experiences that really stick out to you? And uh we could even bring back like the Weather Watcher program that you were part of. Was there any notable weather events that you had covered or non-weather events that you had covered?

SPEAKER_02 19:15

Uh 2016 was a ridiculous year for snow in New Jersey. So I remember I was a weather observer. Rutgers has an incredibly longstanding tradition of doing weather observations at Rutgers Gardens. It's like over a hundred years, I think, now, um, but they've had records kept there. So I remember I was so adamant. Um roads were closed down and it was like at the time, probably like 24 inches of snow on the ground and still snowing. I think we ended up with like 30 something. And I was like, I gotta go get a Rutgers Gardens, I've got to make this weather observation. We ended up just doing it at Skelly Field, which was the field outside of the dorm. It was as close to accurate as possible. But that was just such a distinctive weather event for me while I was in college because we had so much snow, we had so much thunder snow that year, like all of the snowstorms were convective. It was ridiculous because the nor'easters were like building and blossoming right off of the coast, just as they were hitting. So we would get these convective snow bands that just like dumped snowstorm like after snowstorm, and it was like unbelievable.

SPEAKER_00 20:25

Did you have a Jim Cantori moment when you heard the thunder snow?

SPEAKER_02 20:29

I don't even like, I don't even think it was so dramatic for me when I first heard it. I was just like, oh my gosh, like this is the coolest thing. I didn't have like a whoa, like what was that, like when Jim does, which I love seeing because that that right there is that passion. Jim has been doing this since he was in his 20s. I've been pretty sure he started his career at the Weber Channel. And so for him to get so genuinely excited every time there's thunder snow, like it just goes to show that like no matter what, you never get tired of this stuff. There's always like that kid in you that always loves weather. So for me, it's maybe more tropical weather, I think, that does it. But I do, I am fascinated by snowstorms. We're very we have a very special opportunity in the Northeast to see things like thunder snow. There are not a lot of parts of the country that see it.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Have you had the pleasure of covering any events like that since coming back to the New York City Metro, the New Jersey area?

SPEAKER_01 21:31

Not snow, because it is literally not snow since I moved back here.

SPEAKER_02 21:35

We had our latest snow on record in 2022, which was the first year I came back. It didn't snow till February. So that was unbelievable. I remember going to the beach in November of that year because it was 80 degrees for first time ever on Long Island. So we have had a string of very warm weather and virtually no snow, but I did have a lot of experience covering nor'easters. Last summer, last winter, we had a lot of nor'easters. Activity. I remember it was actually incredibly warm. I was in the middle of tidal flooding and my feet are getting wet. I'm trying to stay out of the flooding, but regardless, you just end up in it when you're out there. There's no dry spots. And anyway, it was warm and it was January. The water was relatively warm. Like I wasn't shivering and I didn't have on a heavy jacket. I was like, this is weird. This is January, and it feels like hurricane coverage, not winter weather coverage. So I've had some situations like that. But we'll see. We're overjupper snowstorm. And News 12 is really big on snowstorms. So if it's snowing, I will be out there and I will be ready because I actually had more experience forecasting snow in South Carolina, which is a very rare situation there, but they did have a good snowstorm when I was down there. I got like two inches, which doesn't sound like a lot, but when you don't have snow plows, that's a lot. And it was like surreal because people were dancing in my apartment complex, like in the parking lot, and like adults holding hands with each other. Like it was the first time they saw snow in years and years. So it was romantic, it was playful. It was really fun to see that kind of perspective.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

Yeah, uh it's always nice to see the human, the positive human emotions with the weather. And maybe there's a pattern I'm seeing. You come back up to New Jersey, we haven't had any snow in a while. You you warding off the snow there, Alex?

SPEAKER_01 23:21

It might be. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

I'm not complaining because all these tropical plants really enjoying it. The fact that we're days away from November and they're all outside. But hey, if I had any saying in it, it could probably be exactly half the weather would shape up. Although we could use some rain. That would be nice.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Yes, it would be nice. You'd mentioned a little you mentioned a little bit about News 12. I want to kind of dive into that a little more. What do you do at News 12?

SPEAKER_02 23:46

So at News 12, I am the weekend meteorologist for mornings. So you'll see me every weekend morning, Saturdays and Sundays, doing Long Island weather, as well as Hudson Valley and Bronx and Brooklyn as well. So we're multiple different regions, but we do help each other out, especially on the weekends. During the weekdays, primarily you'll see me on Long Island, although I occasionally do dabble into other regions. Sometimes I'm in New Jersey helping out. But most of the time during the weekdays, I'm working on my garden guide segment, which is a segment within the show that kind of takes weather and it takes gardening and meshes it together. So it's giving people garden advice that's local. That's something you don't really see very often because a lot of times you go on the internet, you get local, you get gardening advice that's not local, and it doesn't really matter very much because weather is very uh important when it comes to gardening. They're very dependent on each other and it changes every year. So I always have something new to talk about, and I spend a lot of time working on those segments and talking to different people in the community who are big players in that.

On this Day in Weather History

Guess the...

SPEAKER_00 24:54

Yeah, it sounds like you do a lot, and we got a lot still to explore with the garden guide program that you do, the more of the work that you do in News 12. So we're gonna take a quick break, right? We're gonna take a quick break right here, and we still got a lot left of the podcast, so stay tuned. On December 15th, a low pressure system was beginning to rapidly develop across the Great Plains. This quickly strengthening system pulled on seasonably warm air across parts of the Great Lakes and Midwest, with temperatures up to 40 degrees Fahrenheit above average and well above monthly records across many states. The storm also supplied the right setup and enough energy to produce severe weather stretching from Kansas into Wisconsin beginning in the afternoon of December 15th. The low pressure system developed an intense derechio of offlift lines of damaging straight line winds. The derechio brought Hurricane Force winds and multiple tornadoes across the Midwest and Great Plains, causing widespread damage to homes, trees, and power lines. The Derecchio and the larger system it was a part of also brought a tornado outbreak to the Midwest, with 120 tornadoes wreaking havoc between December 15th and December 16th. The strongest of these tornadoes were several ES2 tornadoes that touched down across Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The tornado outbreak was record-breaking in multiple ways, since tornado outbreaks at this scale are very uncommon for the month of December. It produced the most tornadoes in a single outbreak for the month of December across the United States, and produced the most tornadoes for Iowa for the month of December. It was also the first time that tornadoes were recorded in Minnesota for the month of December. The strong winds from the storm also caused a widespread major dust storm across Colorado and Kansas, as well as flaring up multiple wildfires across Texas and Oklahoma. The smoke of these fires would eventually reach storm-damaged parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota. The storm system finally disappeared on September 18th near the Great Lakes, but it left a wide span of devastation and damage in its wake. The storm system caused over$2 billion damages across the central United States and claimed the lives of seven people. The National Weather Service received over 400 reports of severe wind damage across more than a 600-mile stretch of the central United States, making it one of the most prolific wind events in U.S. history. We've been talking a little bit about his weather story, his experiences from Rutgers all the way down to Gainesville, Florida, up to South Carolina, and he's back in his home region of the country. But before we get back into the conversation, I've got another fun game for you, Alex. Let's do it. So I've got two questions for you. You're gonna guess the top things of each question. So you ready for it? Let's do it. All right. First one up guess the top five snowiest cities in the United States. This is based on highest average annual snowfall from 30-year averages from NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

SPEAKER_02 28:46

Uh let's start with the Great Lakes area. I think Buffalo's gotta be on there.

SPEAKER_00 28:50

Okay, Buffalo is number four on that list.

SPEAKER_02 28:53

All right, how about Rochester?

SPEAKER_00 28:55

Rochester is number three on that list. You're you might get a clean sweep here.

SPEAKER_02 29:00

Okay, I'm excited. All right, so we got Buffalo, Rochester, we're gonna have big is Syracuse.

SPEAKER_00 29:05

Syracuse is number one on the list.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

All right, okay. So far we're three for three.

SPEAKER_00 29:11

Yep, so you have number five left.

SPEAKER_02 29:14

Okay, now give me a little bit of a hint here. Are we all Great Lakes region, or should I start picking a little bit farther west?

SPEAKER_00 29:21

You got one that's in the Great Lakes, one that is outside of the Great Lakes region. That's the only hint I'm gonna get.

SPEAKER_02 29:28

I could work with that. I feel like Green Bay is really well known for its snow. But I'm gonna go with somewhere in Michigan. How about Marquette? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 29:43

Marquette is not on the list.

SPEAKER_02 29:46

How about my gosh, I'm trying to think like Ohio area. I feel like there's some spots in Ohio that get some good snow, but I can't think of any cities off the top of my head. Let's just go with uh I don't think Columbus is on the list. That's too far south. Um I'm trying to think what is like Toledo, maybe?

SPEAKER_00 30:06

You're closer, but it's Toledo.

SPEAKER_02 30:12

Is it Ohio? Like, is that the city? I'm gonna go west for a bit and I'm gonna say I'm sorry you broke up.

SPEAKER_00 30:22

Can you say that again?

SPEAKER_02 30:23

In Utah, how about what is that ski spot that everybody knows? Do I just say Salt Lake City? I don't think that the Lake City gets the most doubt, but I know it's somewhere to the west of the Cascade.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

Salt Lake City is not on the list. The other one that is not in the Great Lakes is not west of the Cascades.

SPEAKER_02 30:43

It's not west of the Cascades. I think you're gonna have to give it to me, Kyle. I can't.

SPEAKER_01 30:48

I was gonna draw the line. I got three.

SPEAKER_00 30:51

Alright. You got three of them. So number two was Erie, Pennsylvania. And number five was Boulder, and number five was Boulder, Colorado.

SPEAKER_02 31:06

Alright, that makes sense. And it would make sense if it would actually be east of the mountains because you would get better snow that way.

SPEAKER_00 31:13

Yeah, Marquette wasn't a far off guess.

SPEAKER_02 31:16

Yeah, I think I lost snow. So I started running out of city names. I was like, I know all of these Great Lake cities get good snow, but yeah, Erie, Pennsylvania, that was a good one. All right.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

I got one more for you. Guess the hottest country for each continent. So this is based off of the Copernicus program. This is basically an international program that collects weather data and climatological data. So I'll give you the continent, you give me a guess or something. Highest average temperature. So this is over the course of you know a short period of time. So like average for I'm not sure what the period is, but this is for average temperature for each country.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

Okay, so it's the overall average.

unknown 32:02

Right.

SPEAKER_02 32:02

Not like not like Death Valley is the hottest temperature in the uh continent for us. It's more like, you know, Mexico would be hotter than the United States, for example.

SPEAKER_00 32:14

Right. So yeah, you just give like the country that you think is the hottest for each continent.

SPEAKER_02 32:19

Cool. All right, you give me a continent and I'll give you a country.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

So North America.

SPEAKER_02 32:24

I would say Mexico. Because, well, it depends. That's a little confusing because how far into Central America does North America go as a continent? Because I always think of just Canada, United States, and Mexico. So if it does go farther down, then I would go as far down as we can, like Panama.

SPEAKER_00 32:42

I I'm not sure of the the division between North and South America, but I know from the list I have here that would not make a difference in the country for North America or South America, because it's that far.

SPEAKER_02 32:55

What about Cuba? Cuba's very hot.

SPEAKER_00 32:57

I'll give you a hint.

SPEAKER_02 32:58

Oh, so they're they're saying the United States?

SPEAKER_00 33:01

Yes, United States is the hottest country for North America.

SPEAKER_02 33:06

So it must be the hottest overall temperatures then.

SPEAKER_00 33:10

Yes, overall average temperature. It's not like a specific day, it's more of like an average over at a monthly period.

SPEAKER_02 33:17

Right. How hot does it get? Not like a country's average, but the United States has been hotter than Mexico.

SPEAKER_00 33:24

Bad for clear not clarifying that part.

SPEAKER_02 33:26

That's okay. That was a test one. Let's do the next.

SPEAKER_00 33:29

All right. Next up we have Asia. This is actually two countries because the average temperature is tied.

SPEAKER_02 33:35

Alright, that's interesting. I do feel like India is incredibly hot. So, and Pakistan, I think, would be very hot.

SPEAKER_00 33:41

Those are some of the top countries.

SPEAKER_02 33:43

About the United Arab Emirates.

SPEAKER_00 33:45

A little closer with that one, but no.

SPEAKER_02 33:47

How about one makes sense, the other one is you'd have to think about there's like Iran, that's a pretty hot country. Iran is one of them. And the other one could be Kuwait, yeah. Thank you for helping me with that one. Thank you for that one on my own.

SPEAKER_00 34:12

Next up we have Africa.

SPEAKER_02 34:15

Africa's interesting too. I would go with maybe Egypt. Well known country, very warm.

SPEAKER_00 34:23

I think you're close, but it's not Egypt. I think we're gonna have to give this one to me. It is Algeria.

SPEAKER_02 34:29

Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

Yeah, I I I suck at world geography, so uh don't ask me where these places are. I have a general idea of where countries are.

SPEAKER_02 34:38

We get the climate.

SPEAKER_00 34:41

So the continent of Australia.

unknown 34:44

Australia, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 34:47

The feeling it should be named something else, to be honest. The the continent should be named something else.

SPEAKER_02 34:52

Some people refer to it all as Oceania and a lump Australia and New Zealand and all of that together. Australia is really hot, so that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 35:00

Yes, we got two more. I'm not gonna count Antarctica because that's obvious. There's no country there. Next one is South America. I think Chile. You're closer. Argentina would be pretty close. Argentina is the hottest. And last up we have Europe.

SPEAKER_02 35:17

Greece is pretty hot, but I think maybe uh Italy's hot. I think Spain. Let's go Spain.

SPEAKER_00 35:22

You're in good Spain? It is not Spain, but it is one of the countries you just mentioned.

SPEAKER_01 35:27

Really? Italy then?

SPEAKER_00 35:29

It is Italy. I think Greece is just like right behind it, too.

SPEAKER_02 35:34

Wow, good to know. My ancestors would be very proud. Maybe this is why I like warm weather so much. All Italian, both sides of the family, for like over about a hundred years now. Our family did in the United States. So, yeah, we're all Italian on both sides, but very much Italian American.

SPEAKER_00 35:52

That's a very interesting family history there.

SPEAKER_02 35:55

Look at the odds, right?

SPEAKER_00 35:56

I don't think it's that deep with my family history. That's really cool though.

SPEAKER_02 36:01

Yeah, it's it's very it's fun to like be able to trace things back. That's the upside to, you know, to my dad's passion for ancestry.

SPEAKER_00 36:12

All right. Well, if somebody does an ancestry podcast out there, I got a guest for you right here.

A Day in the Life of a Meteorologist

SPEAKER_01 36:17

I got you covered.

SPEAKER_00 36:18

All right. So we talked a little bit about your weather story, how you eventually got back to uh news 12. We talked a little bit about what you do in News 12 with the garden guide, your weekend meteorologist. Uh, what does your day-to-day look like?

SPEAKER_02 36:34

So it depends. And that's what I like about my job is that every day is different. On the weekends, I start my day at 2:30 in the morning. I wake up, I like having breakfast even when it's early in the day, and I get ready for work, I meal prep and all of that, because I, you know, there's not a lot open on Saturday morning during my break. So it's just like a fun habit to sort of get into. I like going into work wide awake and not like, you know, just kind of crawling out of bed. Uh work starts around 4 a.m. for me, and we do our first hits for the show at five o'clock in the morning. And then our first uh live show for Long Island is at six o'clock. And then after that, I'm doing Bronx at seven, Brooklyn at 7:30, then Long Island again at eight. So we're, you know, pretty busy all morning long. In the meantime, I'm forecasting, I'm building graphics. A lot of people don't necessarily know, but we build our graphics as well as do our forecasting. So I'm forecasting for Long Island, Hudson Valley, the Bronx, as well as Brooklyn, all separately as separate regions, as opposed to like when you're used to watching something from the city, you're forecasting for the city, and then maybe you have upper temperatures on the map. But so we specifically go to all those regions. And after about I catch a little bit of a break, we have a pause and pow segment where we help get dogs adopted. So during my break at 8 buddy, we yeah, it's awesome. Sometimes cats too. So we bring them in, and for about an hour or so, I'm doing that. Get a quick little bite because by 11 o'clock, so sometimes it's maybe like a half hour between that and the next show. We're back on uh 11 o'clock. I've got another show, and then noon I have a last show of the day. It's busy, but it's fun.

SPEAKER_00 38:07

That sounds like a busy day, and you got some fun stuff planned in the day too. You got the the pause segment in the show, you do the garden guide. I want to talk a little bit about those segments that you do and how it uh makes you a better weather communicator and like what are the effectiveness. I want to talk a little bit about those other things that you do outside of the weather because those could be just as important for you know communicating the weather and just communicating in general. So, how do you think these other things, like the garden guide that you do, help tell the weather story to people?

SPEAKER_02 38:49

It's huge. I think it's so important because we're building a relationship and a connection with our viewers when we do these segments. So people know that they can count on us when the weather's bad. But you know, when you don't have rain for months, we've had barely any rain since August, we're still contributing to the community, we're sharing our knowledge. We are scientists and we have something to contribute. And also, you know, we're people. And I think like with the dog segment, it's nice because we're showing a different passion that we have, which is for advocating for beings that can't advocate for themselves.

Building Trust with Viewers

SPEAKER_00 39:24

Yeah, absolutely. And building that trust up is very important as you know, a weather communicator or communicator in general as well. What are some of the ways that you help build up that trust with your viewers?

SPEAKER_02 39:37

Uh, being honest, that's the most important thing. I will never hype a storm. I do not get excited when the weather is bad. I dread bad weather just as much as everybody else. I think having that honesty is really important. We don't want the weather to be bad. I live in the same community that I forecast in, and I don't want anything to happen to anybody. Terrible as it's been that we haven't had rain, it's been really nice to see businesses thrive this month. There hasn't been any rainy weekends. So businesses are doing amazing this year, always rooting on nice weather, and that is where the trust comes from because they know when the weather is bad, I'm going to be honest.

SPEAKER_00 40:15

Yeah, and you I'll go back to what you just said. We're not rooting for bad weather. We don't like to see communities get absolutely decimated by extreme weather. There are some out there that for whatever reason root for that sort of stuff. And I I don't condone that, but we as weather communicators, meteorologists, forecasters, most people in the weather community just don't root for that. We don't like to see that at all. And in your conversation just now, I I wanted to bring up what you said earlier about you exploring some of the you know community, the hyperlocal parts of where you work. How do you think that makes you a better weather communicator? Like what expertise does that bring to your work and your content? Well, it's huge.

SPEAKER_02 41:02

Flooding, for example, coastal flooding is a massive problem on Long Island and in Jersey. Knowing the communities that are gonna flood is key. And driving through all of these, you can tell during high tide, this community is gonna flood, the streets are gonna flood. We're able to really look at the maps and analyze what the impact's gonna be like, and that's worth its weight in gold. It is absolutely imperative.

SPEAKER_00 41:24

Do you think that's the most important skill for weather communicators these days, knowing those hypervocal aspects?

SPEAKER_02 41:31

I'm sure, but people have other things to contribute as far as skills. I think that listening is the most important skill because even if you're not from a community, you can still be an expert in communicating. I wasn't from Florida or South Carolina, uh, but I listened to what mattered to people. I think like you don't want your forecast to just be generic temperatures. You really want it to be catered to the audience who's watching. That's how you make a forecast in 2024. People want that personal touch. They want to know that they're taken care of.

SPEAKER_00 42:02

Right there. You listening is a very important skill too. So talking about your experiences, what is your most enjoying aspect of your work?

SPEAKER_02 42:14

Uh, what I enjoy the most, I love talking to people. I think that's so much fun. I'm very grateful that people watch. So every time somebody says hello, I I think it's the coolest thing that I'm able to be a part of their day.

SPEAKER_00 42:28

I gotta ask, when people strike up a conversation in the elevator or wherever else, and they're like, oh, how about the weather? Nice day today, isn't it? Do you hesitate in like info dive with you know dumping on them about the weather, or do you be conversation? Like, what do you do?

SPEAKER_02 42:44

I try and keep it at their level. You know, I can read the room, and I know like some people really do want to geek out when they see me because they're like, oh my gosh, somebody who loves it just as much as I do. There are a lot of people who are meteorologists because of their love for it. There's so many more people who grow up loving the weather than people who actually become meteorologists. So it's always fun when you meet somebody who's like, you know, a meteorologist that just didn't end up following them as a career. We could still geek out. But yeah, for the average person, I'll just let them know it's sunny. I don't have to let them know how many days it was sunny for, as much as I love to.

SPEAKER_00 43:21

Yeah, I I resist the urge to dive deep into the weather and stuff and talk about stuff. Uh, what would you say is your most memorable experience with casual conversation about the weather? That's a good question. Um, wow.

SPEAKER_02 43:34

I've had some pretty fun ones. I think that some of my favorites have been just people talking about how I I think my favorite is actually not weather related. I think it's the plant stuff. Like I get involved with people, that's very interesting. I did a segment on watermelon two years ago, and very recently somebody came up to me and said, I love how you did a segment. about like watermelon growing in containers because I never knew I could grow a watermelon on my patio. And I did, and it did really well. And I was like, this is amazing that they remembered something that I did two years ago and I can't even remember what I had for lunch yesterday. I genuinely cannot remember. And so that was a real honor. And that they actually followed through with it and got something out of that.

Connecting Weather and Gardening

SPEAKER_00 44:22

That sounds like a very awesome experience. Having stuff that you did a while back still means something to that day. It's an awesome feeling. And I'm glad you mentioned that with the garden guide because I want to explore a little bit of that. So for those that are listening, tell me a little bit more about the garden guide program that you do at News 12.

SPEAKER_02 44:42

So with a minute and a half long segment and we talk about plants and how important it is to stay in tune to the weather. I mean that's not every segment but that's a general idea is that our gardening habits are going to change based on seasons and if we're having like right now a big year with drought, then my segments are going to be catered towards mitigating those hazards. It's all about appreciating nature and what to do to make your garden look really nice. And it's all local content. And I think that's my favorite part about it. It's nothing really super generic. It's all about like what you can do in New Jersey, what you can do on Long Island, what you can do in the Hudson Valley to keep your garden looking nice.

SPEAKER_00 45:25

Hmm interesting so of all of the plants and plant related things that you've done what would you say is your most memorable segment that you've done as part of the series?

SPEAKER_02 45:34

One of my favorites was I dig a segment involving an arborist's passion for trees and we did it suspended in a tree. I thought that was really fun.

SPEAKER_00 45:45

So you were in a tree?

SPEAKER_02 45:48

Yeah we got hooked up to a harness and they sent us up to the top of the tree and he was saying how it was part of a tree climb experience that they had at this arborist festival. And so they brought us to the top of a tree and we were talking about how he now is hooking kids up to these harnesses to go to the top of the same tree that he went up when he was a kid and how much he loves trees and how important it is to him to share this information. And our arborists and meteorologists really need to work together because like I said storm damage always the first thing you hear are trees down. Arborists have some incredible technology to actually determine like rot inside of trees and they can determine at what wind speed a tree is most likely to fall down and what wind direction will do it based on some of our Legos radar technology that they have for trees and drones. So we need to absolutely collaborate more with Arborist because that is so incredible that they have that technology.

SPEAKER_00 46:47

That sounds actually really cool. I feel like we could do a deep dive just on talking about trees the weather the science behind plant sciences and how that plays a role in the weather and vice versa this that's a lot of cool stuff there. But in your experience with connecting plants to the weather and your experiences with that person in particular what is the most important lesson that you have learned in connecting plants to the weather that it's very important for people to not get too involved as meteorologists behind the data and the numbers weather affects everybody and everything.

SPEAKER_02 47:28

And I think it's more important to focus on those impacts definitely. What would you say overall has been the most challenging part of covering plants and connecting it to the weather it's been so organic like no pun intended but honestly the only challenge is trying to fit it into my busy schedule because this is all something I do kind of for fun as just like a passion project. So that's the hard part is just finding the time to do it all. But otherwise I love it. And I have no complaints it's all been really wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 47:59

I I love the pun there. I don't know if you actually intended it or not but I I love the pun. All of it thank you overall you do a lot of stuff and you'd mentioned that you're trying to fit that into your schedule it it's challenging sometimes. So I want to ask like how do you maintain that work life balance and you know have time to do your passions but also do your job.

SPEAKER_02 48:22

Honestly I think that's it. I incorporate my life into my work. I just love what I do so much. So what I do for work is a big part of my life and I just save the rest of the time for the people I care about.

SPEAKER_00 48:33

I like that and whether it's a demanding field overall it's 24-7 stuff so like how do you like take a break when you're off of work? Do you shut your mind off because I know some meteorologists will do that. They'll turn everything off and just be like yeah I'm not looking at stuff right now.

SPEAKER_02 48:49

That's why I love gardening. I do that in the garden and I post a lot of content on my social media about the garden but when I really want to relax I'm not doing any of that and I just keep my phone far away and I just enjoy my plants enjoy the plants.

Career Reflections and Advice

SPEAKER_00 49:05

I love it. I got a couple more questions for you about career things you've learned. In your so in your diverse experiences you you've gone to school at Rutgers you went to Florida you worked in South Carolina you're back here in the New Jersey area what's the most important lesson overall in your career that you've learned to just accept all opportunities that come your way.

SPEAKER_02 49:29

You know you never know when a door is going to open or close. I've been very receptive to anything and that's it you just got to be you and the rest fall into place.

SPEAKER_00 49:38

Is there something that you would change like is there like a what if in your career that you think of no not really to be honest.

SPEAKER_02 49:46

I'm really happy with everywhere I've been in my career but that's not to say that it wasn't filled with a lot of stress at times because we work under certain contracts and when that contract ends that's your only opportunity to move on to the next job. So it's very stressful when you are bounded by a contract and when you're early in your career you want to move on. So you could reach a point like where I am now where you're happy I was always so happy every place I worked and that's the secret is that I always loved everywhere I work and I missed every single job I left. But ultimately I was building the experiences that I needed to be a place that I needed to be in and right now that's here. So I'm really happy.

SPEAKER_00 50:28

It sounds like it too you got a a whole bunch of things that you're doing you're incorporating the fun into your work and I think that's I think that's the most important thing not just for weather people but anybody in general and speaking of experiences there may be some people that are listening onto the podcast that are in the same shoes that you were say five 10 15 years ago so what would you say to them or even to a younger you if you could go back in time what would you say?

SPEAKER_02 50:55

Um I would just say reach out to me and all of the other people that you are listening to in this field. I'd be happy to help and I'm sure many people would as well I'm all about paying it forward. So you know send your reels send your questions because it changes so fast this industry things are different now or it'll be more of a happy pal.

SPEAKER_00 51:15

That's a very awesome offer and I'll make sure for those that are listening to the podcast I'll make sure to link Alex's email and his contact info into the show notes. But if you had that lifeline that line of communication to your younger self like if you could say one thing what would it be that you need to accept that progress is not linear.

SPEAKER_02 51:38

Sometimes you're going to have your days where you're like way worse than you've ever been before and that's okay. Eventually you do get better. And I think that is my secret and that you will never love watching yourself but you're going to have to keep doing it because it's the only way you're going to get better is by watching your work.

SPEAKER_00 51:57

Progress is not linear. I love that uh got one more question for you. If you could go back in time and change one thing about how we talk about the weather or plants or anything that you have worked with, what would you change?

SPEAKER_02 52:13

I think that's the most important thing is I wish that there was a way we could just talk about weather and enjoy it. You know, I think that's what I do with my garden segment. It's the closest that I've ever gotten to celebrating the weather when it's nice. I think a lot of times we're always looking at the next storm, the next thing that's going to ruin your week your day and that's really important. But I do like celebrating the now we're meteorologists so our literal job description is to look ahead but that doesn't mean that we can't enjoy the moment enjoy the moment.

Weather or Not

SPEAKER_00 52:47

I love that little last piece of advice there. I think with that we are going to go to our final segment of the show this is whether or not we're going to test your weather and non-weather trivia with a few questions. Alex are you ready? Let's do it all right this is whether or not your question is related to hurricanes and New Jersey when was the last hurricane to bring hurricane force winds to New Jersey is it 1878 B 1903 C 1944 or D 2011 I'm sure that we probably had some hurricane force gusts with Irene so we'll go with 2011.

SPEAKER_02 53:31

I'll see if I'm right that you final that your final guess it is definitely a guess so let's do it it wasn't it was kind of on the verge of hurricane strength but if we're going with wind gusts I will say Irene all right so I'll clarify maybe this hurricane force wins.

SPEAKER_00 53:50

Got it so we're talking sustained all right I will go with the 19 did you say oh three so I'll repeat the answers A 1878 B 1903 C 1944 or D 2011 it was a hurricane I'm you know what let's just dig all the way back I'm going to say 18 well in a 1878 I think you said wherever it was let's go with it I will give you that it was one year where New Jersey did see hurricane force winds from a hurricane but it was not the last hurricane correct answer is 1944.

SPEAKER_02 54:31

That was the great Atlantic storm of 1944 it was just right offshore too so this is whether or not your question is related to gardening which plant holds the record for the fastest growth rate is it bamboo I'm not even going to I mean to repeat the is it not bamboo it's totally right I I love the confidence with that I'll read the answer choices anyways it is so we have a hybrid poplar b bamboo c algae or D duckweed oh it could be algae but I'm gonna go I'm only good with the land plants but as far as I know it's bamboo.

Closing

SPEAKER_00 55:16

But if it's not maybe algae you are correct it is bamboo and it has the world record for the fastest growth rate of any plant there we go fun one. I love the confidence you were just like yep bamboo bamboo I would not think they're on an actual game show this snowstorm holds the record for biggest snowstorm at Central Park New York dumping 27.5 inches of snow when did it occur? Is it a February of 2006 b December of 1947 C March of 1888 or D January of 2016 I think it was a January snowstorm 2006 was a big one though I remember that but I'm gonna go with um I'm gonna go with the with the last option January 2016 yeah you are correct it is January of 2016 one that I uh got stuck in I repeat in the weather forecasting at Rutgers that that's a heck of a snowstorm to get stuck in I'll say all right I've got one more for you Alex this is whether or not your question is related to future Rama finish this line from the episode the devil's hands are idle playthings. The quote goes your music's bad dot the continuation is what a and you should feel bad and you're bad c and you look bad or D and I hate you I'm pretty sure it's a and you should feel bad yeah unless it unless that's a quote from a different episode I think and you should feel bad. You're correct it is and you should feel bad and with that is our last question of whether or not and at the end of the all the everything weather podcast but before we go Alex how can people stay in touch with you and follow your stuff?

SPEAKER_02 57:21

Instagram I'm Alex Kalomia TV Facebook Alex Kalomia Twitter not on as often but I'm alexalomia WX there and I'm on TikTok too but I forget where I'm on for that one.

SPEAKER_00 57:33

Just find me Alex Calomia and I'm on all the socials even threads and we'll make sure to link all of those socials all that stuff down in the show notes for this episode. Thank you so much Alex for coming onto the Everything Weather podcast and thank you to the listener for listening to this episode and we'll catch you on the next one