What's it take?

On the job with weather anchor Orelon Sidney

GALLERY CNN weather anchor Orelon Sidney stands in front of a cornflower blue wall that serves as the background for projected maps during her broadcast

March 21, 2001
Web posted at: 5:48 PM EST (2248 GMT)

DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Christy Oglesby
CNNfyi

(CNNfyi) -- In a little less than an hour, CNN weather anchor Orelon Sidney needs to stand between a cornflower blue wall and a television camera. There are heavy rains, tornado warnings and a few twister sightings. Any number of the network's 81 million viewers will be tuning in to her for details within the next 55 minutes.

Is she worried? Not hardly.

Without checking the numerous maps of air currents posted on the weather center's wall or the computer generated data, Sidney sets out for the CNN Headline newsroom. That's where she picks up a daily rundown, a list of which news stories air and when. Sidney discovers she'll go on air about 1:30 p.m.

VIDEO Watch CNN Meteorologist Orelon Sidney give a weather forecast Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     ALSO Additional information on CNN weather anchor Orelon Sidney     FIVE-DAY FORECAST What's the weather like where you live? United States: • Enter your zip code: Zip goes to nearest of 10,000 cities. • Or, choose a state: Select Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington, D.C. West Virgina Wisconsin Wyoming • Or, browse the text listing: Complete listing of U.S. states World: Choose a region: Africa Asia Australia Canada Caribbean Central America Europe Mexico Middle East South America     QUICKVOTE Which weather phenomenon do you find most frightening? Hurricanes. The wind and rain are double trouble Tornadoes. They are so unpredictable and destructive Blizzards. Big snowstorms stop everything cold Global warming. In the long run, this may have the greatest impact View Results

Does she check her data now? Nope.

"It's time for make-up," she says.

Sidney is not a meteorologist, but she's been in the weather business for 12 years. It's that experience, a degree in geography and her coursework toward a degree in broadcast meteorology that she uses each day to interpret weather systems and predict what conditions are on the horizon.

Sidney started as a forecaster in 1989 for a tiny TV station in Bryan, Texas. But weather has thrilled her all her life, she says.

"I've always liked severe weather, ever since I was a kid," she says. "I like powerful things -- big airplanes, earthquakes, tornadoes. (Weather) is an incredible natural phenomenon."

At 12:50 p.m., a make-up artist secures a black cape around Sidney's neck and starts blotting on foundation. Sidney chats about happenings in her personal life, including finding a lost puppy. With 40 minutes to go, when will Sidney prepare? When will she write her script or review weather data?

Well, there's no script. Sidney will ad lib the way she has for the last three-and-a-half years she's explained weather to CNN viewers. As for preparation, she insists there is still plenty of time.

"I already know what's going on. I keep up with the weather. I'm always looking at it -- on TV, on the computer, on CNN weather," she said. "If you keep up with it, there are no surprises. I went to bed looking at it and when you've done this long enough, you see the progression through time."

Just 19 minutes before anchor Lou Waters gives Sidney her cue, she breezes into the weather center and begins pulling updates from one of four computers she uses to access weather data, interpret information and create the maps and graphics that appear and move behind her while on air.

"Ooooo! This is a good day," she says, "we actually have some weather."

There are heavy rainstorms in the Southeast and tornado warnings and strong winds. But she notices that there is not a great contrast in temperatures on opposing sides of the storm front. There is less than a 10-degree difference, Sidney notes, and normally the variation would be greater.

"This must be an upper level system," she surmises. She suspects that the tumultuous weather must be occurring high above the surface. Whipping around to a map posted behind her that charts wind speeds, she confirms her suspicions. Above the Earth, winds are gusting as high as 98 mph. It's marked in knots, but Sidney does the calculation quickly in her head to determine the speed in miles.

She "mikes up" putting in an earpiece and clipping a microphone on her navy blue jacket.

She stands on a mark on the floor waiting for the anchor to give her a cue.

On camera at 1:31 p.m., Sidney explains the chimney effect and lofting winds. Her segment fits perfectly in her allotted two minutes. Years have honed her ability to know when to stop talking. It looks effortless.

"If you can love what you do, and I do love it, the rest is easy," Sidney says. 'This isn't a job for me. This is fun."

She'll be on again in 30 minutes and Sidney wants the next segment to be different. She finds that there have been tornado sightings, people trapped in cars and damaged homes.

Quickly, she finds her atlas to pinpoint little-known towns, gathers graphics and starts plotting the damage.

But before she finishes, she gets a call. The newsroom says they'll need her five minutes sooner. The maps aren't ready, but Sidney is. "How long do you need me to go? How long do I need to go?" she asks to determine how much time she must fill. Quickly but calmly she takes her place. And waits. And waits. And waits.

There's a news flash. The United States has accidentally dropped a bomb in Kuwait and there are casualties. The newsroom won't be coming back to Sidney.

Weather always gets bumped for news, she explains. A statement from the president, and definitely a bombing, will always take precedent over a weather segment.

"Unless it's really severe," Sidney says "and people are getting blown all over the place, weather is last."

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