Ken Meyer interviews Boston Area Meteorologist about his professional experience as a weatherman across the country as well as working as a local weather reporter for WB56 News Boston.
WBCA Podcasts
City Talk with Ken Meyer (Mike Wankum)
(upbeat music) - WBCA radio is proud to present City Talk, where fascinating conversation is alive and well, with your host, Boston radio veteran, Ken Meyer. - Hello everybody, you know what? Everybody talks about the weather. And one of the best guys that does it is on WCVB-TV Channel 5. And he is a meteorologist, Mike Wonkham, and Mike, it's good to have you with us. - Oh, you're too kind, Ken. Thank you so much for inviting me. - Well, I know from talking to you previously that you are from Iowa. So is my wife. So to make a long story along, how did you get from Iowa to Boston and work for Channel 56 for a while? - Yeah, well, I started off in Iowa. I grew up there. I grew up on a farm in Northwest Iowa, which is under flood water right now. But I grew up in Northwest Iowa. I went to college, I studied meteorology, and I worked at a small TV station there for about 10 years. And then from there, they invited me down to Richmond, Virginia, the South sort of, as my friends would say. And we worked there for three years. And then WLVI, Channel 56, was looking for a new chief meteorologist, and they gave me a call, and I came up, and I was gonna be here for like two years. That was 31 years ago, you know, because the nature of this business is you kind of move around a little bit. But I've been very gracious. I was over at 56 for a number of years, 13 years. And then I've been over at Channel 5 now for 17 years. - Was there something when you were growing up that, I mean, like I always was fascinated with radio. What made you get fascinated with weather? - Well, I grew up on a farm. And so, you know, in basic sense, if it didn't rain, you'd be deep. So it was very important to us. The weather was always very important. And I always enjoyed science along the way. I'm the first one in my family to go to college. So it was a new experience that way. I remember talking to one of the guidance counselors when I was in high school. And I said, you can make money talking about the weather? Okay, I like this idea. So we pursued that one. But it was really, you know, growing up. And, you know, I mean, for fun in Iowa, you chase tornadoes, that was kind of the fun thing to do. And so we did that kind of thing. And always very interested in the weather. The weather, actually, when I was a little kid, actually frightened me, you know, lightning, tornadoes, things like that. So, you know, to kind of overcome that fear, you try to learn more about it. So that's what I've done. And I just kind of made it into a career. And it's worked out reasonably well, I'd say. - Yeah, I would say so. But I always watched you on channel 56 with Karen Maronella. And I'm curious to see what you had to say about working there. And I think Jack Hines was there, one of the great newsmen. - Oh, yeah. - And whose father was here in Boston at one time. So tell me about working at 56. John Keller was there too, I think, for a while. - Oh, yeah, there was a lot of it. There's a lot of people who actually went through 56. I can look at the other TV stations and go, "I used to work with them, I used to work with that one. "I worked with this one as well." But it was a great crew that we had there. We did the 10 o'clock news, was an hour long. So you had a chance to really kind of delve into things a little bit more. I could go out and do some stories. I could do, you know, some science reporting. And we could kind of do what we wanted to do. So it was a much looser time, a looser format. Of course, Jack was wonderful to work with. I mean, the guy could read a phone book and it would sound interesting, you know, to you. He just had that kind of voice with him. Karen was fantastic to work with. We're, you know, we're still friends many, many years later. And it was just a really good crew. And we did some stuff and we did some stuff that, you know, people tried and didn't work, but we, you know, we just kept going back at it. And there are many things that we actually were kind of innovative in. For example, the seven day forecast, that was not in Boston until we put it on the air in '56. So we were the first ones to put that on the air. And even from a technical standpoint, some of the, you know, that was a time when you were transitioning from videotape to digital. And it was actually one of the first stations to do that, to go all digital. So there was a lot of, a lot of first things going on there. At the time we were owned by cadet and then eventually owned by Tribune. And both of those companies were really at the forefront of technology and journalism. And so they really pushed those things. So it was actually a very exciting time. I enjoyed working there. It was a great, great group of people. And we just did some really fun things, I thought. - What kind of stories did you do? - Well, I would do one story. I'd make sure every, yeah, I would make sure that every month I did something about it's great to be here kind of thing. You know, where I would go out and I would find something, you know, maybe it was, you know, a little odd sort of thing that I would go out and do a story on just to kind of tell people, hey, you know, these things are out there. There's fun things to do. And then of course, you know, if there was storms or something like that, I would obviously go do a story on that. Did a lot, a lot of school visits. Went out there kind of an outreach program where we would go that way. And it was just, you know, interesting to see the things you did. And of course, you know, because you have that opportunity, you can do stuff that maybe the average person can do. For example, you know, the John Hancock weather beacon up there, you know, everybody sees it every night looking over the city like it is. Most people never get a chance to go up and see it. Well, I can make some phone calls and I got to go up and see it and do a story about it. So there's some fun things that way. Maybe behind the scenes of Frog Pond in the winter and in the summer. You know, those kinds of things that were just really, you know, Boston is such a unique city. It has such these wonderful things to do and explore. There was never a shortage of things to do. And then we just didn't stay in Boston. You know, we went everywhere. So we went all over the place, you know, just to see what was going on and how it would go. And then of course, anytime there was a storm, well, then that brought it to a new level. You were doing that kind of thing as well. So it was a lot of fun, a lot of fun stuff we did. - Gotta ask you, did you ever do anything on or about Mount Washington? - Oh, I spent a week up there. Back in, would have been in the 90s. It was three, four cell phones. So I remember that because they set me up there and it was like really no way to contact anyone. I went up there in February and I spent a week up there. And by going up there, you know, we took a snow cat up and I spent a week up there, you know, learned all about Rime Ice, what they're doing, how they survive, what they do, you know, during the winter, the research that they're doing, and stayed overnight and ate their food. And it was really a neat, one of my leader experiences. And probably the really fascinating thing about it is when you get done with their shift, they got down with their shift and I left with them, you could take the snow cat back down or you could ride a little Kmart sled, you know, a little $7 plastic sled, and they would ride those things down the seven miles on the auto road. Well, at times there was deep snow, at times there was bare gravel, at times you would spin and go, oh, I better hold on or I'm gonna go off a cliff. And you would come down that mountain at incredible speeds, but by the time you got to the bottom, you had gone over like rocks and things like that, the sled was shredded, you threw it away at the end of it all. But it was a wonderful experience, you know, and so people would go up there, you know, in the summer and there's like a visitor center there. Well, that becomes a refrigerator in the winter. So they would, you know, instead of putting things in the refrigerator, they would just put it on the counter in the visitor center because it was freezing cold there. Anyway, you know, we had to wear carampons on our boots. We had to have ice axes to go. I learned a lot about what the proper gear is to wear. I still actually have the coat that I brought up there because they maybe wear special gear so that I can handle the cold and I still have that coat and it's still a wonderful coat and I use it quite often. It's just, you know, the kind of gear that you could use and what would work and what didn't work. It was really an exciting time and an exciting experience. - I was here during the Blizzard of '78 and I will never forget it being cooped up in a house for a whole week and going out on a Sunday night even when the governor still declared it a snow emergency. I was so desperate. I took a cab to visit some friends and need them. Is there any particular weather moment that stands out for you? - I have a bunch of them that, you know, and some of them are revolver on TV and some of them don't. Like you talk about the Blizzard of '78. For me, it was a Blizzard of '75 'cause at that time I was growing up on a farm in Iowa where we were locked in for about a week and the snow and the wind howled so much that the snow actually went under the doors of the barn and inside the barn there was about three feet of snow. So the snow will be only show just a very tip top of the windshield. We had to dig it out to get going there. In fact, the word Blizzard was actually invented in a small town in Northwest Iowa not far from where I grew up. So I know about Blizzard. So that has a memory from my youth. As we got older, there's things like the Springfield tornado. I remember David Brown was a meteorologist. We were working that afternoon and this storm was really developing and we were tracking it and interrupting programming all afternoon long talking about it and showing the pictures. And so that one has a special memory to me. I covered a ton of nor'easters, especially on the beaches and situate down by the lighthouse. So those storms, every one of them was just kind of fun and unique. You never want anyone to get hurt at all in any of these storms, but to see the power of mother nature is really awesome and amazing. So then I can remember being doing a morning show and I was under a porch down in Situate, under a beach house and the waves are crashing over us and we're doing a live shot. And then I think a station from Pittsburgh said, "Hey Mike, can we talk to you?" And so, "Yeah, I'm doing a story for Pittsburgh now." So there's many, many things there. Our coast is really fascinating. I mean, a bit of sailor in my life and boating and all of that. So to be on the ocean and to really see the power and majesty of the ocean is really amazing to me. - I enjoy a good, hard rain storm. I love having all the windows closed, hearing the wind blowing, hearing the rain, pitter patter. Is there anything that makes you sit back and say, "Oh boy." - Well, I still count lightning. When you see the flash and then you count 1001, 1002, and you'll five seconds per mile. So I just, out of habit, I do that. So I'm sitting there and watching a thunderstorm and I see the flash and I start counting in my head right away to see how far away the lightning bolt was. 'Cause for every five seconds, it's one mile. And my kids, when they were little, I taught them to do that too. I think they still do it. They probably won't admit it in public, but they still do it. So I, you know, to watch a thunderstorm, if you've ever had a chance to it and I've had that opportunity where I've chased tornadoes. So to see that up close is really, you know, unbelievable. And I've seen many, many thunderstorms, you know, that just couldn't, you know, explode. That's one side that's really fascinating to look at. The other thing is, you know, you know, just seeing the ocean, I can remember one time, it was after, to one of the nor'easters, I can't remember which one it was right off hand, but we took the Channel 5 helicopter and we went out and did basically U-turns around, mine at light, on the south shore. And it had been all, you know, the waves hit that thing. It's 80 feet high, but the waves hit it. They just explode and it was really cold. And so the power on that was all iced up and it was just unbelievable. And, you know, we're flying around and getting some great video and we brought that back to the station and shared it and stuff. So I used to do a lot of helicopter stuff as well. So we would fly out to see it before a storm and then after a storm to see how it did. I can remember, you know, Hurricane Sandy seeing how bad the south coastal areas have been hit, you know, and watching the barrier doors close at New Bedford as well. So, I mean, there's really some things that I've gotten to see in my life from a weather standpoint that most people never get the opportunity to. And I've been really, really blessed that way. Harvey Leonard retired after 40 years and Cindy Fitzgibbon was appointed, who we watch every morning here on the eye opener. Just let me put that on the record. He became chief meteorologist. What did it mean for you? - Not really didn't change much at all because Harvey had been kind of cutting back a little bit, you know, in the last few years and I had been doing that shift more and more for him. So I was doing kind of Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. So what it really did for me is I went Monday for Friday. So not a big change there. And Harvey still comes back in. He's still, you know, a meteorologist emeritus does that one. Cindy takes care of the morning. So she's got that all handled up and she takes care of all the paperwork. So I actually get to play with the weather. It's really enjoyable to me. So I enjoy, I enjoy the shift that I'm on. I work with a fantastic team, you know, Ed and Maria, every night you see them at six, Ben Cimino, Erica, Jessica. I mean, it's just a really phenomenal team that we have here at Channel 5. And they're really, they're very good. They're awesome journalists. They're great broadcasters and they're really nice people. I can't really say anybody that I work with I don't like. Oh, there's a few, but I can't, no, I was just kidding. No, they're really, they really, really are just wonderful people. And I just, if I wasn't working with them, I would be thrilled just to, you know, hang out with them because they're just that kind of people. They're all interesting and fascinating on so many different levels. Yep, I met and interviewed Maria a couple of years ago. And I agree with you, she's a very, very nice person. I liked her a lot. And Maria and I, you know, were competitors for a long time on the 10 o'clock news. She worked at Fox and I worked at 56. And so we were competitors. So I knew she was really a solid journalist and really good at what she did. But I wasn't sure if I was gonna like her, you know, she was a competitor and we're competitive, you know, we're competing. And she came over and I wasn't sure about it. And I've gotten to know her over the years. And she is really just one of the most fantastic people you could ever meet. She is the nicest, sweetest, she would do anything for you. She just really is just a wonderful person. And I'm so happy to say I was wrong in my first impression, you know, but that's just kind of the spirit of nature of television. You know, we're all competitors. We all know each other, but we're competitors. And so you kind of are that way. But, you know, then you get to know them as part of your team and you're going, wow, that was really a good move. So that was Bill Fine did that one. Bill Fine was general manager here for a number of years. And he put that team together and it's been really wonderful to work with. - Do you watch other weather men when you get a chance? - All the time. (laughing) - Do you really? - I'm not supposed to admit that. Yeah, I do. I mean, I look to see what, you know, you put your forecast together and you don't do it in a vacuum. You know, you're looking at stuff and I'll watch other stations say, oh, interesting, they're going to touch on that maybe. Oh, maybe I'll touch on that. Or maybe they have something I really like. I also see it where they're watching me 'cause I'll put something up and go. Oh, next half hour, I just saw that on my station half an hour ago. So yeah, so that we do, you know, look at each other, we know each other, all of us know each other, you know, and, you know, we're watching to see, you know, maybe somebody's got a new toy, you know, a new computer, a new system coming in. I know they're all looking at us now because we've got a brand new radar. So they're all looking at it going, huh, I wonder what that'll do, oh, that does that, huh? Okay, so those are kind of the exciting things to do. But yeah, you know, you want to know who is out there, what they're doing, and you never know, in this business, you may end up working with them someday. You know, so you want to get to know them, just, you know, I really like them. I like the way they do that. That's a nice way of presenting, they're a good presenter, you know, and maybe someday we'll work together, you know? We have an opening and, hey, give them a call and say, hey, you're interested in coming over, channel five. So, you know, those things happen. - I'm curious too, there are less mistakes made now because of the sophisticated equipment. But if you give a forecast and it's entirely wrong, do you get a lot of criticism? - Oh yeah, yeah, you know, especially if it's a weekend. Yeah, if you mess the forecast up on a weekend, people will send you emails, they'll complain because they had plans, you know, if it's Monday to Friday, you know, they're going to work, you know, okay, it's all right. But if you, you know, let's say you have a picnic plan for Saturday afternoon and I said it was gonna be sunny and it rained, mine, this has never happened before. But if it did happen, you know, they're gonna be upset about it and rightfully so. I can remember, oh, about a month or so ago, I actually apologize for the forecast 'cause it really went bad, it went south fast. And so I actually, on Monday, apologize, and I got the most wonderful email from a guy saying, "Hey, that was really nice of you to do that." Most people never admit to making a mistake and you did and I tried to explain why it happened the way it did and, you know, and try to give them some insight and try to get the audience some insight too. You know, it's rare that I will have a forecast that goes wrong and not know why it went wrong. So I know why it went wrong and I go, "Oh, I should have done X, Y, and Z." And so next time I'm gonna remember that, X, Y, and Z. So that I put that together and I go, "Oh, yeah, I remember last time when this happened, "this happened, this is what could happen this weekend "or any day of the forecast." So that's where the advantage comes in having done this now for 40, 40 some years after. There's no math involved here. But, you know, having done it so long, I've seen so many storms ago. Yes, when that happens, this goes and this happens here and don't worry about that, this is more important, that kind of thing. So it comes in handy having been around the block a few times. Mm-hmm, tell me about riding a motorcycle. Oh, yeah. I don't know what you're talking about. It's management doesn't know I do it. No, I've ridden motorcycles since I was very young. I think we had our first scooter by the time I was probably nine years old. And then I grew up on a farm. And so, you know, we had motorcycles who rode them all the time. And then I took a fairly large gap. But, you know, I rode on the street when I got turned 16, I got my license, I rode on the street for a few years. And I think in my early 20s, I kind of put it in the back burner, like a lot of people do. And, you know, always kind of toyed with the idea of getting back into it. And then my son, who never really knew that I had new motorcycles that well, he, when he turned 16, he actually became a very good welder. My father taught him how to weld and he welded some stuff and he started building a motorcycle. And it was kind of neat, but he wouldn't let me ride it 'cause he knew I would know what was wrong with it. So he would never let me ride it and say, "Well, if he's not gonna let me ride it, I'm gonna get my own motorcycle." So I got a motorcycle and then I found out, "Oh, you can ride these things on the track." "Oh, that's kind of neat." And yeah, do track days. And then, "Oh, there's racing." "Oh, well, let's try racing a little bit." So I got into motorcycle racing. So I have been a licensed motorcycle road racer for probably going on 20 years now. I hate to admit, it's been that long. And then, you know, I'm not as fast as I used to be. Mostly 'cause I'm not as gutsy as I used to be. It used to be like, "Get out of my way, I'm gonna run you over now." It's like, "You go ahead, I'll follow." So I've done motorcycles that way. So I still race up at Loudon, up at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, as part of the Northeast Motorcycle Road Racing Association. And I do that. And then I also teach. So if you were a fairly decent street rider and you wanted to learn how to ride your motorcycle better, we have different groups and different organizations that actually will have track days and you can bring your motorcycle to the track. And you have to have the right gear, you have to have the bike ready to go. And then we teach you how to ride, you know, at speeds that are not legal on the street. So we can get you up to speed. We can teach you more in a day on a track than you will in a year or two years on the street. So just showing you how to do it. And then also beyond that, we actually have highway patrol. We also have local police officers who are motorcycle officers. They are, what they can do at slow speeds with motorcycles is absolutely amazing. But they never get an opportunity to really go high speed. So we bring them to the track and we say, okay, 'cause the motorcycle behaves differently at high speeds and we teach them how to do it. Most people think you're just on there and you just turn the throttle. But there's a lot of stuff that's going on, how you position your body, how you're, what fingers you're using to even use the clutch and the brake and the throttle and stuff. You know, how you approach the corner, what, how do you approach a turn to make it safe? So, you know, so those are some of the things that we can teach. Cambridge, for example, had, they had bought some new BMW motorcycles. This is a number of years ago, maybe a decade ago now, I think about it. But they had, they got these really great, awesome motorcycles, BMWs. And they were having a lot of crashes 'cause they were just different than the old Harley's. And, you know, they were, they were ready to kind of get rid of the bikes. And so one of our main instructors said, "Hey, bring them to the track. "We're gonna teach you how to ride these things." And their exit rate went way, way down. That's why I say it's really good to learn how to ride a motorcycle. And again, as we're riding at speeds that are way above what you ride on the highway. But at those speeds, you learn stuff, you learn, you know, how the bike behaves. And you can translate that to a much safer riding, you know, on the streets. So that's a little bit about what I do with motorcycles anyway. And then I'm fixing up if I need to. - What's been the reaction of your colleagues at Channel 5? They were telling you to take it easy or think about giving it up? - Yeah, yeah. Well, at my tender age, they're all wondering why am I still doing it. But yeah, I mean, they all find it fascinating. A Chronicle has done some stories with me about it. And, you know, and I've done some stories about it as well, kind of about motorcycle racing and friends and things like that that do it. And different, you know, motorcycle experts in different fields and stuff. And, you know, so I've had that opportunity to do that. So they all know that I have this kind of passion for motorcycles and they're very supportive of it. They think I'm personally kind of nuts, but that's okay. But I try to explain to them, I say, it's really calculated risks. You know, I know what I'm doing and I know how to do it well. And if I do everything right, there's no issue whatsoever. And if something does go wrong, I know how to correct it and how to save it from, you know, becoming a real bad scene. And so they do respect that. So I look at this calculated risk. All of us take calculated risk, whether it's just walking out the door and getting on a bus or whatever. You know, you say, okay, is it safe? Is it not safe? How safe will it be? I do the same thing with motorcycles. So at some point, I'll probably say, you know, it's probably time for me to give a bracing. But as of right now, I still go up a few times every year. And, you know, I know how the track behaves. So I can still beat some of those young ones. - I wrote on a motorcycle once. On a Sunday morning at eight o'clock in the morning. But I got to tell you, it was so much fun writing so fast and having the wind blow and, you know, wearing a helmet and all that stuff. I haven't done it since, but I'll never forget the one time that I did it. So... - Oh yeah, it's true of something. - It's true of something. - Yeah, we have to bring you to the track. We call it two up. I'll put you on the back. And I'll let you see what it looks like over 150. However fast you want to go. - Whoa. Oh, I would almost be willing to take you up on that. - I got to ask you about David Williams. - Yes, yes, yes. - The only reason I'm asking is because he was on the Celtics broadcast rally this past Friday, whenever it was. And they said later he was the biggest Celtics fan in the world. And he was so excited when he found out he was going to be on the top of the cast. - Yeah, he's a huge Celtics fan. In fact, they actually came to me because it's like Mike, you want to do the parade. And I said, you know what? I love to do the parade. I've done parades before with the Red Sox, with the Bruins, over the years. And I said, let's let David do it. He really is a huge fan. He has been since he was a little kid. Let's put him out there. He'll have fun. He'll have a great time with it. So I stayed back and maybe sat thunderstorm. So I missed that one. It was a huge parade. It was awesome. But yeah, he's a huge Celtics fan. And so for him, it was just kind of a thrill to be out there. And that was really enjoyable to all of us just to see that. - You have a lot of weather people, it seems to me, a lot of weather people on your staff, is that... - Let's see, I mean, there's... - Yeah, there's myself and Cindy. Yep, and then Kellyanne, Kellyanne to please, who shared this Sunday morning, Saturday and Sunday mornings. And then also helps out during the week. And then David is, of course, is there. And then AJ, who does most of his work is behind the scenes, but you'll see him on TV quite often. So yeah, it's a great team that we have. And then of course, Harvey drops it every once in a while. And maybe do a special on climate or climate change or something like that. Or usually what you see him a lot of doing is like, an outlook for the winter, an outlook for the summer kind of thing. - I've talked to other people that have been at Channel 5, and they would say to me, "Gee, I grew up listening to Don Kent." Or I grew up watching Bob Copeland or anything like that. Were there other people that you used to watch an envy? - Yeah, I mean, when you're growing up, you're watching a local person many times. There was one gentleman who we became friends years later on, Tom Peterson, who worked in Sioux City, Iowa. And Tom was one of these people that if he wanted to, he could have worked on Good Morning America, today's show or any of those things. But he chose not to. He wanted, he had done his service in the military. He came home, he's gonna stay there, his family was there, and that's what he was going to do. Very bright, very clever, very enjoyable to watch. And so he, as I grew up, and then I worked at a competing station against him. And we became friends over the years. He has since passed away, but he was a wonderful guy that way. Tom Skilling, who just retired from WGN in Chicago, watched him for many, many years. And we got to know each other later in our career. We both worked for the same company. So, you know, wonderful, you know, people to work with and to get to know Wizard Scott, you know, worked on the Today Show. Great guy, a lot of fun. He would come to Sioux City, Iowa, surprisingly, and do the weather from out there every once in a while. Because Tom Brokaw was also on the morning show at that time, and Tom Brokaw's mother lived in the ancient South Dakota. So Tom would come back, and then when he came back, then Willard would come back. And so we got a chance to work with those people. And even to this day, there's a lot of them that are out there that are floating around, either former interns of mine, or, you know, people I work with, or colleagues. And I really respect their work, and I enjoy seeing it. And that's the beauty of, you know, today's internet. I can actually watch them now. You know, the old days, you had to get a tape from somebody to get it sent to you, and you could look at it, you know, that kind of thing. I could just dial it in right now and watch them to see their show. So it's a lot of fun that way. So, yeah, in my past, there's a lot of people who were that way. I really enjoyed those who could make science and weather interesting and fun. You know, they took the job seriously, but they didn't take it too seriously. You know, so I think of, like, Nick Albert, Harvey Leonard, both were that way. You know, they kind of had this really light, easygoing personality. But if you work with them, they were very serious about their weather. So there were the great people to work with as well. - Yeah, I worked at BZ, and worked, and knew, and worked a little bit with Don Kent. And I would have said, at that time, I don't think there was anybody more respected and admired with the tools that they had to work with than Kent. - No, he, you know, drove by his family's, the store right there on Wallachton Beach for many, many years. I think there's a, in fact, I know there is a little park there named for him, right there on Wallachton Beach that the family put together. It's a lovely little addition to that area of Quincy. So yeah, it's, you know, there really are great people. And the thing about it, too, is that most people kind of like the weather people, they complain about us, 'cause we're always wrong, according to them. But we don't deliver the bad news. You know, we're not gonna tell about the fire or the murder or something like that. We're gonna tell you kind of what's gonna happen with the weather. And sometimes that can be really good and really fun. And I think that that's why, you know, people, I think gravitate or enjoy the weather people more sometimes than the news people. So the news people have to tell you bad news. And I'm hopefully gonna tell you good news, you know, most of the time. - Now, you had rotary cuff surgery a while ago. Was that due to a motor? Was that due to a motor side? - No, it had nothing to do with motor. Any time anybody sees me with a band-aid on, they all think, "Oh, you crashed your motor." So I go, "No, it is not for that." No, actually, it was a very interesting thing. I had to have rotary cuff surgery. I was in a car accident. And to make a long story short, basically I was, as you're going down route three, if you drive it, you know, a certain time of the day in the morning or in the afternoon, the breakdown lane is actually an open lane and you can drive on it. And so you know, everybody drives on it. Well, I was driving on it and there was a Canadian trucker who didn't think I should be driving on that. So he took this truck and ran me really hard and crashed and, you know, totaled my car and did a little damage on me as well. So don't worry, the troopers took care of it and said, "You can't do that." So it was all done about that way. But yeah, so that's what it's from. It's not from anything but the motorcycle. It's basically road range. - Now, you live in a situation, you have a family, are any of them interested in pursuing a broadcasting career? - No, they're not. And they all do different things. My son is an engineer, one of my daughters is a baker, the other one has worked with animals quite often. So they all have different interests and things. I think they're, 'cause when they were little, they would always go to events with me. And when you go to the events, we're very, you know, want to have fun, have a great time. But remember, you're representing not only our family, but also the station. And so they always had to behave. And they were always very, very good about that. But I think at some point they said, "I'm tired of behaving." So none of them have chosen broadcast as a career. - No, just me. - I've interviewed an announcer in Washington, D.C., who A was without sight, and B, who used to work with Willard Scott. - Yes. - And I had a chance to meet both of them at one point, when our senior class went to Washington for a senior trip. His name was Ed Walker. - Okay. - I asked him if he were going to get into broadcasting without, did he think he would make it? And he said, "No, I don't think I could have either. "How do you feel about keeping my mind good?" - I think you're probably right with me. You know, I mean, what, you know, I think about the mistakes that I made when I was younger, you know, just broadcast, it didn't work. Computers that didn't work. You know, learning the process, all those things. You know, now today, that would be on YouTube and around the world before I even got out of the station at night. So you can't make the mistakes that you made in those days. I mean, we've made a lot of mistakes, especially when you're working in a small market, you try things. No, that didn't work today. Let's try something different tomorrow, you know, kind of thing. You know, so, I don't know that you, first off, the ones who are coming into broadcasting now, they are so much more talented than I ever was. And I just see them and I go, "Wow, this person is really good "and they're 20-something. "Oh, great." You know, (laughs) So it's taken a long time for me to get to where I am at this point in my career. And there were a lot of mistakes along the way. And I don't know that I would probably be able to do that. I mean, you know, as you pointed out, I grew up on a farm in Iowa. What do I know about broadcasting and television and weather and all that stuff? But I was able to learn it. And I had people who were willing to teach me. And, you know, I tried to learn as much as I can from all those who went before me. I interviewed Mark Rosenthal a couple of years ago. And he had a chance to do some work on the network. He said he got a call from, "Here's a name for you, Spencer Christian." - Sure. - And I'm Spencer. - Yeah, and he did that. Do you anticipate ever working for the network or thinking about it, even on a part of the agency? - Oh yeah, I actually did it for a few years. So what David Muir, who is the main anchor at World News on ABC. So David used to work here. And so whenever David needs something from Boston, he calls us up and say, "Hey, can you help us out?" So anyhow, this was back in, well, I wanna say 2015, 2014, 15, someone in that neighborhood there. Anyhow, David was doing the weekends. They needed somebody to do weather on the weekends 'cause he likes to put weather in his show. And so they called up and said, "Hey, Mike, can you do it?" So I actually did it from here and would do the national broadcast with him. And we did that for a couple of years and then we added a newscast and then he went to the Monday to Friday and I've done a few drop-ins for him every once in a while. He'll have something going on and he'll say, "Hey, Mike, can you come on the show and do something?" And he's always been very, very gracious, very just a wonderful gentleman. And so we try to help him out that way. But the idea of going to network, no, I have no desire to do that. Especially now, like Ginger Z, they've got a flying all over the place. It's like, "No, I like to go home "to sleep in my bed at night." - Yeah, she spent some time in Boston. - Oh, yeah, she spent her many times. I have not actually met her. We've talked. I actually was when she was beyond the road, like, you know, she was doing weekends with GMA, Good Morning America. When she was doing weekends there, she would hang around and help out David in the evening, but then when she was out flying around, she couldn't. So our careers have kind of crossed each other. And I can remember she was up here for one blizzard and I think I was sleeping in the back room 'cause we were on a 24-hour shift. And I missed her. So we've not actually ever met. We both know each other, but we've never met itself. - So what advice would you give to people that, I mean, when I was getting into it, they said to me, go to a broadcasting school and they can teach you everything. And then when you get to a radio station or a television station, they won't have to show you anything. You'll know how to do it. (David laughs) - Yeah. Oh, that's you, they know everything, right? - Yeah, and you knew it then too, right? - Yeah. - No, yeah, I mean, the advice I would give right now is going to accounting. No, I just got a TV. But, no, I mean, what I see a lot of now is because there is such a demand for on-air talent that you don't see people coming up to the ranks like we used to. You know, as I mentioned, I spent 10 years in Sioux City, Iowa and then I spent three years in Richmond, Virginia and then I spent 13 years at a smaller station in Boston and kind of worked my way up through. So, a lot of times you see people who have very limited small market experience and they get thrown into Boston. Now, sometimes, singers swim. They do very, very well. But they also don't get a chance to do different things. So, I know how to edit. I know how to shoot video. I know what looks good, what doesn't look good. I can remember previous stories ago. Oh, let's go this direction with this story. So, there's some opportunities that you get to explore when you, you know, work in the small markets and you do it. Now, granted, you don't make any money doing it. I see, you know, but you enjoy it. It's fun. And so, I see that a lot of times where people come up through the ranks really, really quickly, much more quickly than what, you know, what I did or it seems like it anyway. And so, they don't have those experiences. They don't have that world experience that they can come, you know, can rely on, you know? And also, when you get to a certain age, you remember a lot of things. You know, I can remember this or that or whatever and you could add that context to a story. So, it's, you know, it comes in handy being of a certain vintage. - You know, I always, and even now, doing the show on the internet, I still get excited knowing that I turn on that microphone and I'm in hundreds of thousands of homes, especially when I was at BZ, which had 38 states in Canada. And that was always a great feeling. Does that ever go away? - I don't think it does. I mean, there's still, there's still the, you know, still the idea that, you know, you're able to do it and, you know, share with it. I really like what I do about my job is I like, is that hopefully I can keep you safe. That's really my main focus. So, you know, like, you know, I'll be, what happened just this past weekend, there was a tornado in New Hampshire. I interrupted baseball game to talk about the severe weather and we're gonna warn people that there's a tornado there and this is what you need to do and this is what you do. And so, keep people safe. That's what I really try to do. On a sunny day, it's frankly boring in the weather department. You know, when the weather's exciting and I can share that with people and I can say, here's why I'm looking at this. Here's why this is important to you. Here's why I think you need to do this to stay safe. And so, you know, and that goes back to, as I told you earlier, it's like, I was frightened by some weather when I was a kid and I learned about it. And the more I learned about it, the less frightening it becomes. And I can then kind of embrace what it's going on with it. And I hopefully can share that with my audience and I love to explain the weather to the people. You know, so people, when they tune in, they go, you know, maybe a little inside baseball, but here, let me explain to you what's going on and why I think this is gonna happen. Here's why I think this much snow is gonna fall and I'll show them a computer model and I'll show them another computer model and say, see what these are doing? I don't like that. This is more likely what's going to happen there. So, I love to be able to share that. I come from a long line of teachers. I think in my ancestry and I just keep doing it. - You've ever seen a summer like this one then, brother. Pete really got started in the 90s in June? - Yeah, I have seen that before. What was kind of amazing was how cold we were until we got to the 90s. And then once we went to the 90s, we just boom, right, went right into it. I think the thing I'm noticing most now through the years is the increasing humidity. You know, when I was growing up, we didn't have air conditioning, supposedly because we were poor, but we didn't have it. You know, you just, you survived. My kids did not have air conditioning growing up. Any more now, you almost have to have air conditioning because the humidity levels are so high, it just doesn't cool down at night. So, that's what I'm seeing more and more of. And that is really kind of the climate change that we're seeing more and more of too. - Is there anything left in the broadcasting business that you want to do that you have not done? - Oh, good question. I have done so many things that somebody's got to come up with something to go, let's do that. I mean, I've done everything from fly with the blue angels to flying B-17 bombers. I've shown motorcycle racing. I have chased storms. I have been in the beach. I've been in nor'easters and snowstorms up to my armpits. I've been in Buffalo, New York and been in snow. It's went over my head, you know? So, I've had the opportunity to do many, many really interesting and exciting things. And stuff that people would say is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I've probably done 20 of those things. So, I don't know what the next thing is going to be, but that's why I keep coming back 'cause it may be there tomorrow and I go, wow, this is going to be really exciting. Let's try this. - Well, I'll tell you. I have enjoyed talking with you very much. I watch you every day. I've admired you ever since I saw you on channel 56. And for me, it's a great thrill to be able to sit here and talk to someone that you like and talk to someone that you admire. And I thank you for that. - Oh, Ken, you're way too gracious. And thank you so much for inviting me on and having an opportunity to talk. I mean, I'm on TV. We love talking about ourselves more than anyone. So, thank you so much for the opportunity. And, you know, and anytime, please, give a holler. - I will do that, sir. Thank you and good luck tonight and tomorrow night and whatever else happens in the summertime. - Thank you so much. - And that will do it for this edition of City Talk. - Thanks for listening to another great conversation with Ken Meyer and Friends. You can contact Ken by email. He addresses KJ Meyer7@gmail.com. That's KJ-M-E-Y-E-R7@gmail.com. Tune in next time for more conversation with Ken Meyer on City Talk. (dramatic music)