Here's How Weather Forecasters Know Where To Point On The Green Screen, And It Makes Total Sense
We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about what singers do if they need to pee mid-show.
We’ve even covered what actors really sniff when they’re filming “drug-taking” scenes.
But one telly mystery eludes even us ― how do weather people on TV know where to point on the green screen that the image of the country (little clouds and pressure lines included) gets edited onto?
Luckily meteorologist and TikToker Trevor Birchett (@weathetrevor) has answers.
The secret is monitors
While news readers can rely on a teleprompter placed directly in front of them to read their lines, the weather forecaster can’t look ahead to see what they’re pointing at as the camera needs to focus on them and has no live feedback monitor.
So rather than facing forward, the answer lies to the side of the meteorologists, Birchett revealed in the behind-the-scenes video.
“There’s our secret,” he shared, with an animated arrow pointing to a live monitor to the side of the weather forecaster.
“We’ve got monitors on both sides of the screen, so when we turn, we can see exactly where we’re pointing at.”
In order to keep track of what they’re showing the camera, forecasters have to subtly peek at these monitors while turning around or pointing to a particular area.
@weathertrevor How do #meteorologists know where to point on the green screen? #weather#weatherman#tvnews#studio#greenscreen
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The job takes a lot of training
To become a meteorologist, you need more skills than smooth talking and the ability to subtly eye up a side screen.“While nearly all meteorologists have a Bachelor of Science degree, acquiring a Master’s Degree or Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D.) is becoming more common,” weather.gov shared.
In a r/meteorology Reddit thread about the topic, site user csteele2132 wrote, “In the US, most meteorologist positions are going to require a degree in meteorology/atmospheric science ― that includes calculus, differential equations, physics, atmospheric dynamics, and atmospheric thermodynamics. You can see the requirements for a federal meteorology job (1340 series) here.”
So for all our grumbling about weather predictions, let’s take a minute to appreciate all the hard work it takes to get on our screens in the first place ― and everything it takes to point at their screen once they get there.