News
Go where you're happy to go
NBC Weatherman At Fairview's Career Day
By John Burton
MIDDLETOWN - Despite what the weather may hold outside, for meteorologist Chris Cimino it's always clear skies and sunshine, because he is living his dream.
"It's a passion for me," Cimino told students at the Fairview Primary School, as Cimino attended the school's career day. "It's all good," he told them.
Cimino does weather reports for New York's NBC affiliate Channel 4, where he reports for Today in New York on weekdays and for the Saturday addition of NBC's The Today Show.
Appearing before the school's 325 students last Thursday, Cimino told of growing up in Queens, New York, where he had two dreams: playing for the Mets or being a television meteorologist. His baseball skills, notwithstanding, Cimino made his way first doing weather reports in Rochester, upstate New York, and later in Scranton, Pennsylvania, before making his way back, New York City.
His job, he told the kids, is to be, "somebody who predicts the weather." A distinctly different job from his colleagues on the news, none of whom get to stand before a bank and tell the audience that it would be robbed tomorrow.
"Is the weather forecast always right?" he asked, and many of the K-5 students have watched enough of TV news to answer no.
"The next day people come up to me and say, 'How do you keep your job?'"
Like every profession, meteorologists rely on tools to do their jobs, such as thermometers, barometers, ammeters and computer models. "Like many professions, we use Ouija boards - no," he added, joking with the children.
"Sometimes it's unbelievable how accurate the weather forecasts can be," he said.
"When it's not accurate," he acknowledged, "it's because we don't have all the pieces of the puzzle."
The weather can be trivial and insignificant or it can have a profound effect on people's lives, and even be life threatening, such as in severe blizzards, thunder and lightning storms or tornados, he explained. "Hopefully, what I'm doing is explaining how the weather will impact you today," he told the students and school staff.
Cimino gets up at 2:15 a.m. to prepare for his workday that begins with the 5 a.m. broadcast, and does another 25 weather spots, which can be as short as a few seconds or up to three minutes, depending on the situation, he said.
In response to a student question, Cimino conceded his least favorite part of the job is getting up at that early hour. And when another student asked about his salary, Cimino discretely answered he is earning, "more than I thought I'd ever make standing on a street corner in Ozone Park, Queens."
But work isn't solely about income. "It's a passion. It's something you really want to do."
When he began his career, he would drive to Rochester to do the weekend reports and sleep on a friend's couch, earning $8 an hour.
"Find out what you love, what you have a passion for," he advised the students.
"You have to go to a place you're happy to go," he said.
The school invites parents or friends of parents to visit the school to discuss their work, usually holding the career days every other school year, according to Matt Kirkpatrick, the school principal.
Cimino was invited through the efforts of a parent of one of the students, Kirkpatrick explained.
While all the participants offered perspectives for the children, such as those in law enforcement, the medical field, and even a former Olympic swimmer, Middletown resident Tom Wilkens, having a television celebrity, "spices the event up," Kirkpatrick noted.
