Here Comes the Story of the Hurricane

Glen "Hurricane" Schwartz, he of the collegiate-style sportcoat, glasses, and bow-tie, is the class of all the weather forecasters in Philly. He's certainly the big horse in NBC's weather stable, which includes the reliable Bill Henley, the up & coming Michelle Grossman. I'll even argue that Hurricane has clearly separated himself as the star of the City Line weather teams, especially since WPVI's Dave Roberts is just doing the early evening gig these days.

Except that his job calls for weather predictions, you have to wonder how the diminutive Schwartz ever earned the powerful nickname. Well, those kooky weather people. Seems Glen was videoed "blowing in the wind" while covering a killer storm for a Florida station. A cohort at his next job in New York saw this old footage and came up with the "hurricane" moniker, as a goof, of course. Ron Burgundy would have even chuckled.

Nowadays, having paid his weather dues, Hurricane doesn't do much on-location work. He's an award-winning meteorologist whose prognostications have gained Walter Cronkite-like trust (see Cronkite link if you don't get the reference). Staying inside means Hurricane can really study his trusty computer weather models, the ones that often disagree in projected storm paths and accumulation totals. It's up to him to figure out the disputed information and translate it for us, the weatherly-challenged. Which, he does, quite nicely, even if he does get a trifle dramatic at times (part of his schtict).

Well, I know I'm in the minority, but I'm praying for this weekend's snowstorm to make a right turn and mosey on out to sea. I've got plenty of things to do that require my getting out on the road.