Jul/Aug 2006

Eye on the Sky

Sometimes the weather outside is frightful, but don't blame Channel 13 meteorologist Craig Moeller-he's just the middleman.

By Patrick Evans-Hylton

It's 2:35 a.m., and most of Hampton Roads is asleep. There are policemen cruising the streets, stock boys at grocery stores putting up cans of corn and parents with colicky babies soothing their little ones ... and that's about it ... except for Craig Moeller.

Moeller rolls over in bed in his Great Bridge home and turns off the alarm clock. Dawn is still several hours away, but a day he hopes will bring blue skies and lots of sunshine begins right now for Channel 13's veteran morning meteorologist.

Of course, if a hurricane or severe thunderstorms were bearing down on the region, Moeller would have already been up and on his way to the television studio, located on the outskirts of downtown Norfolk, to organize his reports and get on air. But with a fair forecast, he can leisurely roll in-later-at around 4 a.m.

Moeller enters the cavernous studio and heads to the Weather Lab, an area across from the anchor desk that mixes a lot of science and a little Hollywood.

"When I come in, I will look over the models from the National Weather Service and see what Jeff [Lawson, the station's chief meteorologist] forecasted the night before," says Moeller, a youthful 37. "I'll get my information together and get ready to go live at 5 a.m."

Computers and a smattering of monitors stretch across the entire length of the Weather Lab. Moeller and his fellow meteorologists-Lawson, Evan Stewart and Julie Wilcox-use a series of high-definition radars employing the latest technology to extract real-time data in 256 levels of color to aid in their forecasts.

Also on display: computers illustrating visible satellite images, infrared satellite images and images showing water vapor. Some show the current temperature, while others have marine and other forecasts from the National Weather Service. Moeller emphasizes that the weather team does it's own forecasting, using weather service models and reports only as tools.

Somewhere around 4:45 a.m., Moeller picks up a microphone and records brief reports that will be played throughout the morning on local FM radio stations 92.9 The Wave and The New Star 94.1. Mid-morning, he will make some live calls into The Wave and banter a bit with radio personality Dick Lamb.

Close to 5 a.m., the rest of the studio lights come on, and morning- and noon-show anchors LaSalle Blanks and Janet Roach walk in and take their seats.

For the rest of this story, see the July/August 2006 issue of Hampton Roads Magazine, currently available on newsstands. -