The meteorologists behind “WeatherWhys,” a weekly installment to the nightly show “Weather World,”have been nominated for an Emmy by The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences for Environment/Science-News Single Story or Series.
Jon Nese, who writes and hosts the segment, said he was at trivia at Champ’s Bar and Grill on Aug. 14 when he saw online that “WeatherWhys” had received its nomination.
“I was a little bit surprised because the competition’s always pretty stiff,” Nese, associate head of Penn State’s undergraduate program of meteorology and senior lecturer, said.
Marisa Ferger, who helps to edit, add graphics and produce the segment, said she was asleep when Nese called and told her about the nomination.
“Well since I was sleeping, I wasn’t all that excited until I woke up and realized what happened the night before,” Ferger, an instructor of meteorology at Penn State, said. “It was a nice honor.”
“I’m excited because two weather weenies are against TV production people,” she said..
‘Weather weenies,’ by Ferger’s definition are, “people who get jazzed about the weather and what’s going on outside the atmosphere.”
“Most of the production is done by students,” Ferger said. “And they’re all mostly meteorologists.”
Nese said this is one of the reasons they are excited about the nomination.
He said he chooses a topic for each segment, making sure it is interesting and with a weather connection.
“We pride ourselves on getting the science absolutely right and presenting it in a fun way,” Nese said. “We don’t accept bad science for the sake of making good television.”
According to Nese, Penn State Meteorology has been producing a weather show for decades. He had a previous nomination in 2010, he said.
“I came here from The Weather Channel in 2005, so obviously I had a background in television. I actually had a previous relationship with Weather World since I was an undergraduate and graduate student here,” Nese said.
The show Weather World airs weeknights on WPSU (5:30 and 5:45 pm) and statewide on PCN (5:30 pm). WeatherWhys is on Wednesday nights within the show. It has been nominated once more in the past.
“We do good science in our pieces, and I’m just happy that these folks that judge our category recognized that,” Nese said.
The Mid-Atlantic Emmy winners will be announced on September 22nd.
