The Weather Channel went on air in the Spring of 1982 and the surfing world hasn’t been the same since. Before the advent of Surfline.com, Sean Collins, and the World Wide Web, The Weather Channel reigned supreme as the almighty prognosticator of storms and swell formations to be. While West Coast surfers may read this with an unknowing eye, East Coast surfers were born and bred on The Weather Channel. Come hurricane season, all east coast surfers await the arrival of the “Tropical Update” every 51 minutes after the hour and make statements such as “this is gonna be the big one!” and “I wonder what I’m gonna tell my boss this time around?” whenever they see even the slightest cloud formation off the Lesser Antilles.
Surfers also have a deep respect for the Weather Channel’s storm chasing meteorologist Jim Cantore. Surfers like throwing hurricane parties and watching Jim get pelted incessantly by rain and sand to get those money shots of grinding barrels in the background during the height of the storm. While Jim is not a surfer, surfers can relate to his real deal thrill seeking storm chasing much like surfers chase swells around the globe, putting themselves in potentially uncompromising situations to score waves.
*Sidenote*- Despite the numerous credible sources for meteorology and surf forecasting these days, it should be noted that many surfers consider themselves to be expert forecasters and will spout off an in depth analysis to anyone who will listen on such topics as winds, tides, wave heights, swell angles, and seemingly complex scientific terms like bathymetry in an effort to one up their bros, be forewarned!
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