TV MET-4010: Weathercasting Spring 2009 Dr. Jay Shafer Office: T, TH 1:00-2:30PM, Vail 434 TV WEATHERCASTING SYLLABUS COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course involves preparing weather forecasts and communicating these forecasts to the general public via live on-camera presentations. Students prepare and present their weathercasts using WSI Weather Pro software. INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES: a) To develop your operational forecasting skills and increase your awareness of regional weather patterns and subtleties. b) To improve your oral communication and on-camera presentation skills. c) To improve your understanding of the challenges of modern television weather forecasting. More specifically, by the end of this class you should: Provide accurate, informative, and engaging forecasts to the viewing public Show increased knowledge of meteorological forecast and analysis techniques Demonstrate an increased proficiency with WSI software such that you can tell the weather story with simple but effective graphics TIME AND LOCATION: This course will likely be a lot of work for 1 credit, but your energy will be well spent learning and sharpening the skills you'll need to succeed in the modern TV Weathercasting business. Broadcast times: M-F 3:00PM and 5:30PM News7 TV Studio ONE-ON-ONE MEETING TIME: You are required to meet with me prior to your 5:30 show. The objective of this meeting is to ensure that you have a firm grasp on the weather situation so you can tell a great weather story. These meetings will last 15-45min (weather pending); I prefer to meet in the met lab annex. Please schedule this meeting at least 24 hrs before your show. My availability (with a few exceptions) is as follows: M, W, F: 10-12AM & 1:30-3:00, Tues: 1:003:00PM, Thursday: 1:00-5:00PM COURSE WEBPAGE: http://apollo.lsc.vsc.edu/cgi-bin/classes/met4010/met4010.cgi SUGGESTED READING: Television Weathercasting: A History, by Robert Henson, available in the Library *WSI Help Documents: http://apollo.lsc.vsc.edu/metadmin/lab_info/wsi/ *WSI Showfx Help: http://apollo.lsc.vsc.edu/intranet/WSI_Showfx/
*Note: in order to access the intranet pages from off campus, you will need to enter a login and password. Your login is your met login (i.e., shaferj) and your password is your 7-digit college ID as given on the lower left of your id card. If it is only 6 digits, just add a zero in front of it. GRADING/EVALUATION: 100% Forecast Evaluations: Your forecasts will be formally evaluated by your peers and the instructor during the SWEEPS periods. The teacher's evaluation is weighted as 60% of this grade and the cumulative peer evaluation as the other 40%. Additional informal feedback will be provided by the instructor, but this will not count towards the course grade. The evaluation is done using an online evaluation form (see course web page) and graded according to the total points: 50-46 pts: A 33-31 pts: C+ 45-43 pts: A30-28 pts: C 42-40 pts: B+ 39-37 pts: B 27-24 pts: C- 23-16 pts: D 36-34 pts: B15 pts or lower: F
Although a portfolio will not be collected and graded, it is highly recommended that you keep an organized portfolio that includes: 1) Each forecast and its parameters 2) Your forecast verifications 3) Peer and teacher evaluations (these will be emailed to you) 4) Reflective self evaluation ATTENDANCE/PARTICIPATION: Students are expected to do the show when scheduled. An unexcused absence on the day you're scheduled will result in a zero grade. You may switch times with another person, but please let Dan and me know. The only valid reasons (with appropriate written documentation) for an excused absence are as follows: a) Illness documented by a physician b) Participation in the college-sponsored activity c) Death of family member d) Jury duty COMPUTER ETIQUETTE: Non-educational use of the computers in News7 and the meteorology labs will not be tolerated. Non-educational uses may include, but are not limited to, surfing the web for personal means, chatting with friends, facebooking, or playing games. Computing resources are limited and should be used for academic means only. CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT: Nobody knows everything about the atmosphere. With this in mind, we encourage an open, non-threatening environment in which everyone is free to be curious and ask questions. When you have questions or don't understand something, please ask. STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: Lyndon is committed to providing a broad spectrum of accommodations for students with documented disabilities. Within the resources of the college, we are prepared to provide accommodations that are appropriate to the disability and the course. Any and all disabilities must be documented; please take care of this documentation as soon as possible so that we can readily accommodate you.
OFFICE HOURS: Scheduled office (Vail 434) hours are: Tuesday and Thursday 1:00-2:30 PM. However, I'm always willing to help, but during non-office hours, please send an e-mail: [e-mail] or call x6225 ahead to make sure I'm available. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FORECAST TRAINING INFORMATION NEWS7 WEATER MISSION: Our primary mission is to give the public a general overview of the current and future weather conditions across the forecast area, and to inform them about potentially high-impact weather situations, such as: frozen precipitation (snow, sleet, freezing rain), weather, severe freezes/frosts, high winds, flooding, and other situations that might adversely affect people's lives. Remember, you are representing the Meteorology and Television Studies Departments, so please be professional and carry yourself with dignity. VIEWING AREA: Forecasts should be tailored to the viewing area and include local variations in weather. This area includes 14 towns in VT and NH. The terrain plays an important role in local weather and is fairly complex with elevations from over 3,000' to less than 500'. More detailed information is given in a PowerPoint on the course webpage. In addition, you should report the regional conditions since people may travel. You should also be aware of local hotspots where weather (esp. in winter) may have a greater impact (i.e., Franconia Notch (I-93), I-91 in Sheffield Heights, Rt. 2 in Danville, etc.). DON'T BE AFRAID TO GET HYPERLOCAL! FORECASTING PROCEDURE: Please evaluate the entire forecast area when making your forecast. Your forecasts should reflect the general weather over the listening area (most people live from 500'-1500' elevation). On most days you should put the most time into the 0-48 hr forecast, and less time into the 3-5 day forecast period. See below for specifics. TEMPERATURE FORECASTING: Please include a reasonable range of values for high and low temperatures over the next 24 hrs. Any local extremes that deviate from this range should be explicitly stated. Also note any risks of early or late season frosts or freezes. For the days 2-5 forecast, please choose a number that is roughly representative (the mean) of the listening area; any forecast uncertainties should be clearly communicated. PRECIPITATION FORECASTING: If precipitation will occur, please include a range of amounts (in tenths, quarter, or half inch intervals) to account for regional variations. Also identify the precipitation type and any regional/topographic variations; this can get tricky in the winter. You should be clear if the precipitation is widespread or if will be more showery and localized. For snowfall amounts, please include a range of values. Also note any extremes and implications this may have towards flooding, traveling, etc. Only include precipitation or snowfall amounts during the first 1-2 days of the forecast. CLOUD FORECASTING: You should have a mental picture as to what the sky is going to look like...please choose the appropriate WSI graphic to represent the average sky conditions (cloudy, mostly cloudy, mostly sunny, sunny); you are also encouraged to be clever with cloud level in the 5-day by changing the vertical placement and transparency of
the cloud graphic(s). On days when it's going to be less than ~40% cloud cover, instead of saying partly cloudy, consider saying mostly sunny. In general, it's a good idea to forecast more of what the sky condition will be than what it is not. You may also want to include visibility, especially if conditions are going to be hazy or foggy. WIND FORECASTING: If winds are going to be light or calm (low-impact) there is no need to include them. If winds are going to be moderate- or high-impact, please include a range of wind speed (mph) and their direction through the next day. Also note any extremes and their location (e.g....