Meterologist Peter Hall Visits ONS
Oñgwaweñna'
November 21, 2009

On Thursday November 5th, Meteorologist Peter Hall visited ONS’ fifth grade. The students were learning about weather in Ms. George’s class and in Mr. Powless’ culture class, the students were video recording their own weather broadcasts in our Onondaga language. Mr. Powless contacted Peter Hall to see if he would visit the school to talk weather with the class and he eagerly agreed.

Once Peter arrived, the class excited listened as he talked about how much he loves weather. As a young boy growing up on Long Island, he would always choose his academic fair projects that were weather related. When Peter went to college at Cornell, naturally he selected meteorology as his field of study.

Peter began working at WSTM channel 3 in 1993 living his dream of forecasting weather. In order to forecast weather for the morning television show, Peter’s alarm rings at 1:50am. The kids were further shocked to find out that he is asleep by 6:30 pm! He prides himself on trying to get the forecast right so he showed samples of the many different charts, satellite photos and data he is examining at 3 am in the morning. By 5am, Peter Hall is ready to go on camera to share his forecast with central New York.

The 5th graders were then able to ask Peter Hall about his favorite weather memory, what he learned since his first broadcast, the biggest storm he has ever been in and many, many others. But before he had to go, the class shared their Onondaga weather forecasts and he loved hearing the weather broadcast in Onondaga. We even shared our blooper reel.

On the next day’s news, Peter Hall showed the picture taken with the 5th graders and remarked on tv and on his web page that “…in my 15 years of visiting classrooms, these 5th graders were some of the best I've ever met.” It was truly a great time had by all.