The weather team at WCIA is using a number of digital tools in order to report the weather across different mediums and platforms. One service they utilize is called Ready Warn. “Anytime there’s a watch, warning or advisory issued for our area, it puts an automated Tweet out,” said Chief Meteorologist Derick Fabert. At less than $50 per month, the service is convenient because it allows Fabert and the rest of the team to retweet the content on their own pages. “We cover 20 plus counties here and typing in every county would be quite lengthy,” said Fabert. “It’s automated, so boom, we hit the retweet button and we’re done.”

Another piece of software Fabert uses is called Weather Fusion. Fusion allows Fabert to create custom weather maps and share them to social media.

Not only does the software give him and the rest of the team the ability to generate the images, but it also allows them to post the images to every linked social media account directly from the software.

Fabert demonstrating how Fusion works

This means that one map can be posted to Fabert’s Facebook or Twitter, Meadows’ Facebook or Twitter, Taylor’s Facebook or Twitter and even the various WCIA accounts. It allows for easy streamlined posting in one go, and in that sense offers a function similar to social media management systems.

At this time, WCIA is in the process of creating a mobile application for people to further connect with weather. Though the app is available in the App Store, it is still going through development so it provides users with the most accurate information. As a result, the station has not promoted the App to its audience yet. “The current issues is that a lot of apps come pre-programmed with an automated forecast,” said Fabert. “Automated forecasts are bad because they’re wrong.” Fabert looks at 10 to 15 forecast models per day. Of these models, at least two are incorrect and thrown away. Since automated forecasts are based on one model, oftentimes this projected model is the one that is thrown out. The team has experienced instances where the automated forecast calls for 36 inches of snow, when in actuality they expect about four. “Our battle right now with the weather app is to try and get our forecast in there instead of the automated forecast.” The app is made by WCIA’s corporate office and then edited by the team at the station.