Peter the Meteor(ologist) - 1. Well, That Might Be Useful

Coming out of nowhere
Driving like rain
Stormbringer dance
On the thunder again
Dark cloud gathering
Breaking the day
No point running
Because it's coming your way

Deep Purple - 1974

1

I was told it was raining the day I was born, August 9, 2032. I have to believe that was an omen. It took me until I was about fifteen before I used my inherited mystery skill without realizing it. Up until then my childhood was pretty normal. It didn't click right away, actually not until my brother Avery came home from the Naval Academy and demonstrated his skills, did I even know I might have one. Dad shared his with us after dinner that day. Mads and I begged him to tell us when we would die. We could have asked for robo-cars and gotten a better response.

I had just started my second semester at the community college when he came home that January after his thyroid surgery and surprised the shit out of all of us by moving things with his mind and also reading our minds. Madeline called him a freak. I guess that wasn't too far from the truth. But if he's a freak, so are she and I. Shit! And dad. And I didn't find out until much later, mom too.

Anyway, it was hurricane season in 2047. I'd occasionally watch the news with mom, and dad if he was home. He was Pennsylvania's Attorney General at that time, so he was away a lot. When the weather came on and they'd talk about the different possible tracks the hurricane would take, I believed sometimes they were wrong. Okay, they were wrong often. But I believed that without realizing why or how I knew they were wrong.

I had started college at nearby Central Penn College because like a lot of eighteen-year-olds, I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. But I knew college was a requirement to get any kind of decent job. After Avery left that Sunday evening, I happened to be watching the news with my parents. The weather report came on. They were talking about an upcoming snowstorm when I had my epiphany. I had no idea whether they were right or wrong about the storm's path. But I realized that for the past few years, I'd been silently arguing with the weather men and women about hurricane paths. I didn't keep track in any way, so I couldn't be sure, but I felt that I was right in my thinking just about every single time I watched a weather report concerning a hurricane.

So, I applied to Pennsylvania State University and finished the semester at CPC. Penn State offered a degree in Meteorology and Atmospheric Science. I chose that major because I knew could bypass the science, to some extent, and succeed as a meteorologist. I was able to spend the next year at the Harrisburg campus, before completing the final two years at the main campus at University Park, in State College.

As graduation neared, I started researching television stations along the Gulf of Mexico. Knowing I couldn't jump in at a major network, I applied for positions all along the Texas coast and Florida panhandle. Independent KDF-TV in Corpus Christi, Texas, had an opening and was the most attractive option. It wasn't a major network, nor did they serve a major city, but they liked me, offered a competitive salary, and it was a way to get my feet wet in the business. Pardon the pun. So, in the early summer of 2054, I became a staff meteorologist at KDF-TV.

2

I agreed with the chief meteorologist when his predictions were close to where I felt the hurricane would hit land, but occasionally, I relied on the science to try to convince him that maybe he should look more closely at a different area. Sometimes I'd win him over and he included that as one of the more likely places for landfall. Sometimes not. If my prediction was close enough, say five or ten miles away, he'd include that area.

Twelve named storms into the season, this one was apparently heading straight for Corpus Christi. I knew it would hit a little northeast of us, at Matagorda Bay. Most of that stretch of land was rocky and provided a fair buffer between the coast and the mainland. But they would still experience some damage. Two days before expected landfall I confronted him. I couldn't justify letting him not warn the affected area. It was going to be a big one, that was agreed upon by his whole staff.

"Mr. Peller?"

"Steve, please, Peter."

"Can we talk about hurricane Lorraine?"

"Another prediction that disagrees with all the models?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, let me hear it."

I explained that another storm front further to the northeast would pull Lorraine in its direction. While this wasn't common, it wasn't unheard of either. (1) I made a few other minor points which I hoped would help convince him to at least include the Matagorda Bay area in his forecasts. He was still hesitant to take the word of a rookie.

"Have I been wrong yet?"

"Well... No, I suppose not. But eight of the previous eleven went pretty much in the direction the models told us it would."

"And what about Connie, Gloria, and Helmut?"

"Twenty miles is not a large distance when predicting landfall. But here, you're talking seventy-five or eighty miles away. What about the places in between? Do I recommend everyone from Corpus Christi to Matagorda prepare to bear the brunt of the storm?"

"No. Just those around Matagorda Bay."

"I'm sorry, son. I can lean five or ten miles northeast, but there's no way I can tell people eighty miles away from where everyone is saying the hurricane will hit and be believed. Or even keep my job, for that matter. No. I can't do it."

"Okay, you're the boss. But when I see you in two days and say, 'I told you so,' I'll want you to own up to the fact that you were wrong."

"You're one hell of a cocky kid. How would you like to make a bet on this?"

"I'm not betting on people's lives. If you don't want the egg on your face, let me do the forecast on tonight's nine o'clock news."

"And you'll still include Corpus as the primary landfall site?"

"Yes. I'll just add the bay area as a possibility."

"Fine. But if you're wrong, don't expect to get in front of the camera again anytime soon."

"I agree to the condition. But I won't be wrong."

3

So on September seventeenth, 2054, I was in front of the camera. The anchorwoman introduced me.

"And here with tonight's weather, staff meteorologist Peter Noonan. Welcome to the broadcast, Pete."

"Thank you, Inez. I'm sure everybody wants to know about hurricane Lorraine. As you can see behind me, the models are mostly telling us that Lorraine is on a direct collision course with us here in Corpus Christi. While a few of them vary to the north or south by as many as ten miles, Corpus appears to be looking at a category three hurricane when it hits land. I've done a little of my own research and believe the models aren't right in this case. I won't bore you with the science, but my feeling is that Lorraine is going to be making a sharp right turn in the next twenty-four hours. This would put landfall at Matagorda Bay, some eighty miles to our northeast. So, Corpus residents, continue preparing for the hurricane as you already were. But if you're near Matagorda Bay, you may wish to prepare to be hit harder than just being on the fringe of the storm. Just in case."

I also covered the typical five-day forecast before signing off, "This is Peter Noonan for KDF-TV weather. Good night and stay safe."

"Thank you, Peter. Well, there you heard it folks. If Peter is right, you folks to the north may want to keep close tabs on the storm and be prepared."

The rest of the news followed. I went back to my desk and after the news ended, I got a call from Jerry Welsh, the station manager.

"What the fuck was that Noonan?"

"It was a weather forecast Mr. Welsh."

"Don't be a wise ass. I don't believe that was what the station decided would be included. Matagorda Bay? Are you nuts?"

"No, sir. I believe everything I said on the broadcast."

"You'd better hope that people in Corpus Christi that get hit hard because they believed that bullshit don't die because they weren't prepared."

"I made it plain that Corpus Christi was the most common expectation for landfall."

I thought, but I didn't say, 'besides, anyone that dies, we'd never have known if the forecast swayed their decision anyway.'

At nine-thirty the next morning, Lorraine did indeed make a hard right turn. She wasn't pointed directly at the bay until almost noon, but that still left the people who lived in that area around twenty-four more hours to prepare for the worst. Steve Peller stopped by my desk after lunch.

"I can't understand how you did that. But you've got me convinced. I've checked around, every other station was completely surprised by this turn of events. Nobody expected the models to be so far off."

"What can I say, I guess I have a gift."

"Yeah, well, that gift will probably save a lot of lives. People around the bays up there are getting more prepared than they would have been. We don't do it often with the weather, but I've arranged for a camera crew to head up to Port Lavaca and get some shots this afternoon. I want you in that van."

"On location?"

"Yes. You called it, you deserve to get the additional screen time. It won't be live, but our parent company, KRIS, wants to run the report on KRIS 6 News at Six. Mr. Welsh is trying to negotiate with CBS and ABC to get time on their broadcasts. Your report last night got a lot of people's attention."

"Wow. Um, okay. When do I leave?"

"Go get some rain gear and meet Paul and Tony at the back door. They'll be ready to go in a few minutes."

"Okay. Anything specific you want?"

"Find a couple people out making preparations, ask them how they're getting ready for this storm that's different from others. Ad lib the rest. I also want a summary with the bay behind you. The waves are already almost three feet high."

"You got it, boss. And thanks for giving me the opportunity."

"You did that yourself."

I grabbed my phone, its power cord, my tablet, and a poncho and went to wait by the back door. It only took Paul Baker and Tony Reed another minute to meet me. We were in the KDF-TV news van another minute later, heading to the northeast. Tony would digitally send the video back to the station to make sure the footage got edited and ready for relay to any other stations that would run it.