Two Sons of CT Use State University Program to Drive Local TV Meteorology Careers

Among the meteorologists reporting on the Blizzard of 2015 on Connecticut's local television stations are Dan Amarante and Sam Kantrow, who began their careers as student meteorologists-in-training at Western Connecticut State University and now can be seen on FOX Connecticut and NewsChannel 8.  Amarante has lived in Connecticut his entire life, growing up in Cheshire, and graduated from Western Connecticut State University with a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology. While at WCSU, he produced and anchored many school run weather broadcasts for the University’s website, as well as forecasts for the school’s radio station. Western Connecticut State University has the state's only meteorology program, which was run for many years by WTNH-TV meteorologist Dr. Mel Goldstein.  The WCSU website is chock full of charts and maps highlighting the latest conditions.The site includes the latest  Geostationary Satellite Images from the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin and the National Weather Service radar mosaic Northeast Sector loop.  Greater detail is offered in Surface Charts from the National Weather Service and a series of Upper Air charts courtesy of Unisys Weather.  The school has a Weather Center, where students produce forecasts and work with clients while studying meteorology.

After college, Amarante got his start at WGGB ABC40/FOX6 in Springfield, MA, where he was the weekend weather anchor.  He is a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist, the highest certification from the American Meteorology Society.

Meteorologist Kantrow joined "Storm Team 8" on WTNH in February, 2011, first as weather producer and web meteorologist, and is now the on-air meteorologist for the weekend editions of Good Morning Connecticut.  Born and raised in Hamden, he is a graduate of WCSU and has a B.S. in Operational Meteorology and Weathercasting. Before coming to News 8, Kantrow interned at NBC Connecticut.  The WTNH website reports that "Sam’s weather interest began at a very young age, when the tornado that went through Hamden on July 10, 1989 narrowly missed his house! Ever since then, he has loved the weather, and anything about the weather. Sam grew up watching the meteorologists on News 8 and always wondered what it would be like to be in their shoes."

WCSU's Bachelor of Science in Meteorology is the only such program in Connecticut, and one of only a few in the Northeast. The university  has developed a foundation of courses in mathematics, computer science, physics, astronomy and earth science, combined with meteorology, to prepare you for television and radio weathercasting, operational forecasting, or for teaching or research in the atmospheric sciences.  Students in the bachelor's program  earn credits while performing TV/radio weathercasts or doing real-time forecasting for clients in the university's on-campus Weather Center, according to the WCSU website.

The program meets recommendations for an undergraduate meteorology degree program from the American Meteorological Society.  Additionally, students graduating with this B.S. Meteorology degree will have all the course requirements for entry level positions as a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, the single largest employer of meteorologists in the country.

The university also offers a graduate program - a Master of Arts in Earth and Planetary Science, Meteorology/Climatology Option.

Last October, WCSU hosted the 5th Annual Tri-State Weather Conference on campus in Danbury, presented by the university's Meteorology Program  and co-sponsored by the WestConn Student Chapter of the AMS, the New York City/Long Island Chapter of the AMS, NOAA/National Weather Service/Upton, N.Y and NOAA/National Weather Service/Taunton, MA.  The purpose of the conference was to enhance education, professional development and communication among private and public sector meteorologists, researchers, educators, students, emergency management officials, and weather enthusiasts.  Amarante, who joined FOX Connecticut in early 2011, was master of ceremonies for the conference at his alma mater.

The meteorology program at Western also includes among its graduates television meteorologists in a number of cities across the country. In addition to his work in Connecticut, Amarante has filled in as a weather producer at CBS 2 in New York City, and became snowed in at the station during the Blizzard of 2010.  Kantrow, who will be on-air reporting on the Blizzard of 2015 beginning at 3 AM on Tuesday, may find himself in similar circumstances, if forecasts for the day's snowfall come to fruition.

Tri-State Weather Conference at WestConn Features Local Meteorologists

For weather experts and enthusiasts, all roads lead to Danbury on Saturday. The Fifth Tri-State Weather Conference will be held on from 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Science Building on the mid-town campus of Western Connecticut State University on White Street in Danbury. The conference is presented by the Meteorology Program at Western Connecticut State University and co-sponsored by the WestConn Student Chapter of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the New York City/Long Island Chapter of the AMS, NOAA/National Weather Service/Upton, N.Y and NOAA/National Weather Service/Taunton, MA.

The purpose of the conference is to enhance education, professional development and communication among private and public sector meteorologists, researchers, educators, students, emergency management officials, and weather enthusiasts.

Research posters highlighting high impact weather events that affected the Tri-State region of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut will be on display.

The master of ceremonies for the conference will be Lonnie Quinn, the chief weathercaster of CBS 2 News at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. weekdays. He also serves as the national weather anchor for “CBS This Morning” Saturday. Quinn is a native of Cheshire, who joined WCBS-TV in 2007 after a five year run at WTVJ in Miami.

Among the presenters at the conference will be Ryan Hanrahan, a Connecticut native from Guilford who joined the NBC Connecticut First Alert Weather Team in December 2005 and currently serves as the weekend evening meteorologist and as a general assignment reporter on weekdays. His interest in the weather was sparked by the 1989 Hamden tornado, hurricanes Gloria and Bob, along with the blizzards of '93 and '96, according to the station’s website.

Topics of presentations during the conference include:

Doppler Radar Signatures Associated with Connecticut Tornadoes 1995 – present. Ryan Hanrahan, NBC Connecticut – West Hartford, CT

Exploring Tri-State Climate Variability and Change Dr. David A. Robinson, New Jersey State Climatologist, Rutgers University

Hurricane Sandy - Boundary Layer Structure Affects on Winds and Storm Surge  Jeffrey S. Tongue, NOAA/National Weather Service, Upton, NY

NWS Weather Ready Nation initiative and how science is a critical and integral part Dr. Jason Tuelll, Director, Eastern Region NWS, Bohemia, NY

Operational Applications of GIS - The Development of A Flash Flood Potential Index for the Tri-State Area Nancy L. Furbush and Adrienne Leptich, NOAA/National Weather Service, Upton, NY

The GOES-R Satellite:  A New Eye in the Sky Eleanor Vallier-Talbot, NOAA/National Weather Service, Taunton, MA

Tornado Outbreak Quincy Vagell, Freelance Meteorologist – Naugatuck, CT

Tracking Hurricanes and Saharan Dust Storms from Space Jason Dunion, NOAA Hurricane Research Division in Miami, FL

Winter 14-15...Will Our Long Standing Ideas Win Out? Joe D'Aleo, Weatherbell Analytics LLC

Conference registrations are open to the public and may be submitted online atwww.wcsu.edu/weatherconference. The registration fee is $30 per person, and includes a continental breakfast, lunch and refreshments during breaks.

Quinn is not the only Cheshire native to handle weather forecasting on local television in the region.  The Western Connecticut campus is familiar turf for meteorologist Dan Amarante, who has been with FoxCT since January 2011.  He remembers being 8 years old and venturing outside during thunderstorms, much to his mother’s dismay, according to the station’s website. He spent a good chunk of his childhood reading weather books and watching tornado chasing videos.

Dan graduated from Western Connecticut State University with a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology. While at WCSU, he produced and anchored many school run weather broadcasts for the University’s website, as well as forecasts for the school’s radio station. After college, he began working at WGGB ABC40/FOX6 in Springfield, MA, where he was the weekend weather anchor. He also has filled in as a weather producer at CBS 2 in New York City, and became snowed in at the station during the Blizzard of 2010.