Everyone likes to laugh — just not during a weather forecast! From seeing double on a
green screen to a bee bomb that sent an entire newsroom into hysterics,
these are the times that TV meteorologists totally lost it.
It can't be fun when a meteorologist has to go out into the field during bad weather. But at
least TV weather people go into the job expecting some direct exposure to the elements. On the other
hand, their colleagues over in sports will usually cover a live game outside. At least,
that's what sportscaster Mark Woodley of Waterloo, Iowa's KWWL News 7 was used to.
But when a blast of snow canceled all the local sporting events in December of 2022,
Woodley found himself as the station's unlikely man on the street during the storm.
All through the night, anchors in the studio cut to Woodley's live reporting. However,
the sportscaster turned weather reporter didn't seem up to the job. As a result,
he gave increasingly cranky answers to their questions. At one point, Woodley
half-jokingly accused someone at the station of extending the broadcast just to torture him.
"The good news is that I can still feel my face
right now. The bad news is I kind of wish I couldn't."
Needless to say, when daylight finally broke,
Woodley didn't hide the fact that he was thrilled to be going back inside.
On June 20, 2017, Global Calgary weatherman Jordan Witzel had to
present the daily entry from a list of 150 physical activities Canadians could
be doing. The list was put together to mark Canada's 150th birthday. But
things got really uncomfortable when Witzel learned that the daily entry was on swinging.
Witzel assumed that "swinging" was being used as a reference to spouse-swapping parties, and became
visibly disturbed. It took the weatherman 30 seconds to realize that this particular "swinging"
referred to the fun activity done on a playground. After realizing his error, Witzel quipped,
"So, either way, you get your activity in for the day, I guess."
What's a local weather report without a green screen? It's become as fundamental
to the segment as the forecast itself. But the technology behind green displays isn't
foolproof, as Jennifer McDermed of Fox 9 Minnesota learned one spring day in 2021.
Shortly after she reported on the evening temperatures, McDermed began seeing double.
Because of a glitch in the green screen display, the video feed was replicated with a slight delay.
This meant there were two McDermeds. Then three. Then four. And on and on it went.
Each replication was slightly bigger and more delayed than the one before it. Thankfully,
the display issue resolved itself when the screen cut to another graphic. However,
McDermed's laughter never completely died down.
"I can't even talk right now."
In 2016, the team at Denver 7 ABC decided to have fun with weatherwoman Lisa Hidalgo. Hidalgo had
just wrapped up her 7-day forecast, but the producer told her to stay on camera. She soon
found out why — the team had cut in footage of a raven on her green screen. However,
Hidalgo didn't recoil from the bird. She laughed off the prank and mimed
kissing it. She then joined the raven in cawing at the camera.
On August 4, 2022, ABC7 Chicago's weatherman, Greg Dutra, was using a digital monitor as he
talked through an upcoming change in the city's wind patterns. But when he made a
gesture to indicate the wind's direction, his hand slid along the display. In doing this,
Dutra was alerted to the fact that his monitor was indeed a touchscreen.
Dutra and the news anchors were shocked at the discovery. Dutra's forecast then went off
the rails, as the weatherman and the news team played around with the screen. However, Dutra
finally pulled things back to the weather. He even vowed to figure out how the touchscreen worked.
For 15 years, Global Edmonton's Morning News has brought animals from the Edmonton Humane Society
into the studio as part of an ongoing Adopt a Pet program. The animals are shown during the weather
report by meteorologist Mike Sobel. Animals are always unpredictable before the camera, and Sobel
has seen his share of funny hijinks from his guest stars. But one dog was in a league of his own.
That was Ripple, a cross between a German Shepherd and a Mastiff. While tall enough
to clear Sobel's knees, Ripple was only a puppy when he came onto an October
2014 weather report. He was also very interested in playing with his leash.
"Sit Ripple. Ripple, sit. Sit. No. Ripple's not sitting, that's for sure."
That soon turned into a tug-of-war with Sobel, who increasingly struggled to keep his focus
on the forecast. Ripple's performance might have frustrated some viewers who
were only tuning in to see the weather forecast, but it also worked out for the
pooch. A week after Ripple's appearance, he was adopted by a couple in Alberta.
As autumn 2014 came along, the news anchors at Fox 59 Indianapolis had one
thing on their minds: bees. There were a lot of them in the area,
and one of the anchors made her position on the insects very clear:
"As long as it's outside, not inside, you won't see me dashing out the studio."
When the anchors finished their bee chat, meteorologist Jennifer Ketchmark began her
weather forecast. The green screen behind her displayed the view from
the studio's tower camera. So, when a bee swooped in front of the lens,
Ketchmark and the anchors started cracking up. Ketchmark then said:
"Let's get past the tower cam! I don't want to look at it anymore!"
She also predicted that the segment was bound to end up on a blooper reel.
On July 13, 2020, WCNC's morning weatherman Larry Sprinkle seemed
well-prepared for his report. But as he stepped out to deliver his forecast,
he noticed that several counties were showing absurdly hot temperatures of 150-degrees.
No matter how hard he tried, Sprinkle could not stop laughing. The graphics eventually
transitioned to the correct temperatures — but Sprinkle's laughter persisted. The weatherman's
laughing fit got so bad that he finally had to beg for relief from someone off-camera named Ruby.