K-12 teachers again named Ohio’s most trusted source for severe weather updates
For the eighth consecutive year, Ohio residents have named K-12 teachers as their go-to source for reliable, accurate and up-to-the-minute severe weather information.
According to a recent Battle Line survey, 57 percent of respondents gave teachers the top nod, followed by local news media (26) and knee joints (13). The remaining 4 percent said they do not believe in weather.
Longtime Columbus television meteorologist Jym Ganahl admitted nobody holds a candle to the state’s educators when it comes to understanding weeklong forecasts and serious winter weather patterns.
“I’ve been passionate about the weather since I was a boy,” said Ganahl, who retired last year. “But no one – not even me – keeps their eye to the sky more than teachers. They’ve been known to identify cold fronts and low-pressure systems that have yet to reach the continental United States.”
For 74-year-old Sherry Burnett, preparing for tomorrow’s forecast is only a phone call away.
“My daughter teaches high school math two counties over. We talk on the phone all the time, and I always ask her for the forecast. Lord Almighty, she just about talks my ear off, but she’s always spot on. When she was little, she’d get so excited when she got to stay home on a snow day. Some things never change, evidently.”
Rob Parsons, an English teacher at Van Buren High School, was not surprised by the survey results. When he is not teaching or coaching his defending conference champion bowling team, he spends most of his time poring over global weather reports. He once correctly predicted a two-hour fog delay three weeks in advance.
“I love my job, I love my students, I love going to work,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t also love avoiding it all for days at a time.”
When asked what he likes to do on a day off, Parsons said, “Oh, usually I just monitor the weather reports to see if we might get the next day off too. It’s really about the anticipation. Like a scratch-off lotto ticket – the odds are against you, but until every number is revealed, there’s nothing saying you can’t be a millionaire.”
He then released a high-pitched shriek of excitement. “Breaking: Flash flood warning in Tokyo! That could be heading our way in a couple weeks. Hell yeah!”