Hello, weather intern Brendan Pham here! The past five days of this internship have been like a train rolling through five different passenger stops, each with different objectives.

Day 3 of my internship featured getting back into making surface maps and weather graphics for the evening news show. It took a bit of time to refamiliarize myself with the steps to produce each graphic from scratch, but I quickly got back into the groove.

Day 4 I found myself creating a new type of graphic. Instead of creating surface maps, I started making a “studio scene.” I made a 2-day weekend forecast graphic from scratch, where I used 2D panels in conjunction with text and background video. I was even able to reproduce a humidity forecast graphic made by the main weather team, and I am still able to update and use these graphics to this day!

Day 5 was one of the biggest days. It was the first day I practiced on the chroma key (green screen). It was quite tough at first. Even though I’ve had prior experience on the green screen back at Penn State, the new studio, new space, and new graphics here at WAVY made getting into the rhythm difficult. Nonetheless, I was able to push myself to get a couple practice runs in. Chief Meteorologist Jeff Edmondson and I looked over my rundowns, and I got some good feedback to work on for the next time I practiced.

Day 6 was different from the norm. We had the potential for severe weather in the region, so I came in and learned about the different radar tools used to track severe weather. I got a chance to fiddle around with the different tools belonging to our radar such as the tracking feature, which was extremely easy to navigate through after using it for just a bit. Overall, this is one keyset I will certainly be using for times I go live.

Day 7, I put together everything I had learned up to this point. Coming in during the late morning, I started preparing my graphics for my own weather show between the breaks of the newscasts. I was able to fly through the graphics, make a story with the radar, mic myself up, and go to the chroma key to start practicing nonstop. By the time I had gotten through the third run, I was feeling the most comfortable I had ever been.

It’s crazy to think that I have only been in the station for a week, yet I’ve learned more than I would’ve ever imagined. Coming in never feels like a chore, and this experience is locking me in to be an on-air meteorologist.

Forecast Discussion

Today is the day to do any outdoor chores for the weekend. It will be feeling very pleasant with temperatures in the low-to-mid 80s. The heat and humidity is back on tomorrow. Saturday will feature mostly sunny skies, but we can’t rule a shower or two, especially in the afternoon.

Sunday will feel the muggiest of all the days. A combination of temperatures in the mid-90s and dew points in the mid-to-upper 70s will make the air feel tropical. Heat indices will likely exceed 100-105 degrees. A cold front will drop in from the north on Sunday afternoon through the overnight hours, and temperatures and humidity will take a dive as well.

Conditions will feel very comfortable on Monday and Tuesday with temps back into the low-to-mid 80s.