For more than 25 years, Kevin Mannix has been almost literally in the eye of the storm – as a weather forecaster for television station WCSH, Channel 6. Forecasting for northern New England isn’t the easiest thing to do, and it’s particularly difficult in the winter, when a slight change in a storm track can be the difference between a dusting of snow and a blizzard. But Mannix – who usually dons a colorful sweater when there’s a storm forecast – enjoys the challenge and says he has no qualms about acknowledging when Mother Nature stumps him.
Between broadcasts, Mannix offered some thoughts on his career, and the surprising shift he’s contemplating.
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Q: When you and the newscasters on TV are wearing sweaters, we know there’s a serious storm on the way. Who picks out the sweaters?
A: We do our own. I have mine in the closet and I put the next one to wear at the front of line. That’s one of my anxieties – I don’t want to wear the same storm sweater more than once a year because that’s a sign it’s been a bad winter.
Q: Is it hard to forecast in New England?
A: New England is one of the more difficult places. It has mountains, the oceans and there’s such a contrast of topography. Like with the Jan. 27 blizzard – the ocean temperature was 40 degrees, but the air over land was cold and there’s always a question of where a storm will form and where the snow bands are going to be.
There are easier situations and easier storms. We were confident about the (January) blizzard and it panned out. I feel sorry for that forecaster in New York (who apologized for predicting a much heavier snowfall than what occurred), because he was only about 50 miles off. For me, if that happened, I’d be like, “Well, that’s what happened here and I’d rather be wrong in that way than tell you not to worry and then be buried in your car for two days on I-95.”
Q: How did you break into weather forecasting?
A: I was working in Presque Isle and the guy that was doing the weather – he didn’t own a TV and was kind of like a farmer – decided he didn’t want to do it anymore. He told them on a Wednesday, and they said, “When do you want to leave?” and he said, “Friday.” I said I could fill in and they said “yeah,” because they were desperate. By the second week, they were like, “Could you do it full time?”
Q: How did you get the job in Portland in 1989?
A: I came through Portland on the way to see friends in Worcester and stopped in to see Susan Kimball (at the time a reporter at WCSH, now with the Press Herald) and she told me about an opening. I did an interview and an air check and went to Worcester and thought nothing about it. When I stopped in on my way back from Worcester, they said, “Love it. When can you start?”
I originally did weekends and the rest of the week in Presque Isle. Then when I moved down here, after a couple of years, somebody left (and) they asked me to do the morning show.
Q: Did you take meteorology courses?
A: I never did. I only took broadcasting courses (at Northeast Broadcasting School in Boston). When they asked me to fill in at Presque Isle, I went to the weather bureau in Caribou and asked them if they could teach me. They sat me down and showed me the model runs and profiles and I found it pretty easy and got a reputation for good forecasting. It’s all a matter of opinion. I’m wrong sometimes, but the perception is I do pretty well and I’m really honest about saying I’m pretty confident that this is going to happen or, you know what, I have no confidence at all. People like that honesty and there are so many people, especially here, who really do rely on the forecast and appreciate when I say I’m not sure.
Q: Do people get upset with you when a forecast doesn’t pan out?
A: In the beginning, that bothered me a lot, but then, after a while, I realized that most people understand there are a lot of variables and we’re doing the best we can. There are always one or two people who get angry. Not everybody’s a fan. Fortunately for me – and it’s not said with a big head – but most folks are very kind and complimentary. I remember one guy who put a plow on his truck and loaded it with sand. It turned out (there) were only a few inches from a storm. He told me it cost him a lot of money. I said, “I understand, but I didn’t tell you to put the plow on and the sand in.”
So I let people vent.
Q: Twenty-five years is a long time on the air. In 2013, you did a television series about the impact of growing up as a child of an alcoholic father. Now, you and your wife, Linda Rota – whose mother committed suicide – are writing a book about your experiences, called “Weathering Shame.” What is your plan for the future?
A: I hope to be on the air for a while longer. We’re talking about how long that will be. I’m hoping until at least June when the book comes out and we have to see how that works out. I might just come in for storms to keep my hand in, but for now I’m here and I still enjoy it. I enjoy it as much, if not more, than when I started. I’m still excited about storms and still enjoy delivering the information.
That’s the fun part, seeing what’s up with Mother Nature. I think we do that pretty well. We’re pretty proud of that – getting it right because a lot of people depend on it. And we’re all weather geeks and love what we do and are really struggling hard to get it as right as we can.
It’s been really fun doing noon (broadcasts) and coming in on storms. But I enjoy sleeping in and I’m working on the book, “Weathering Shame.” I’ve got a publisher who thinks it’s important and I was surprised by how many people (my experience) has touched.
It was really my wife’s idea – she would see how people would respond when I gave speeches and stuff. The station was really great about it, too. I thought people might respond, but there was so much feedback (to the station’s series on his experiences) we thought maybe we should write a book. And we had a deal with a publisher in a couple of weeks. So we’re pretty excited about that.
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