E.news Weather Commercial

Well, I have been a busy guy these past 2 months. I have been in South Africa now for 64 days. I continue to love every bit of it. The 24-hour news channel is about to launch. Here is a promo-shoot that is airing on the terrestrial and DSTV channels in South Africa. Don't worry...I think I look funny too. Hope this brings a smile to your face. Miss you all!

Derek Van Dam

Pictures of Weather Studio

Just a quick update on my end: Things are going well here but very very pressured to meet deadlines. Our 24-hour channel is scheduled to air June 1^st. This continues to be the most difficult task I have even been given, but am balancing it with the fact that it is a great opportunity. It’s really stretching my knowledge of meteorology and IT. I am learning a lot about networking computers. How raw data is fed into meteorological work stations. What file formats work where. Developing graphics interfaces for meteorological work stations. How to schedule a department. Spending someone else’s money on equipment ;-). How to forecast in the Southern Hemisphere. Ect. Ect. It’s a lot to take in at once.

I have hired a recent meteorology PhD grad from University of Witwatersrand located in Johannesburg. She is a blonde is very intelligent and should be a good hire.

I was able to spend time at the Headquarters of the South African Weather Service in Pretoria. That is quite the operation. Think of it as the NSSL (National Severe Storms Laboratory) in Norman, but for South Africa. They have smaller offices (similar to the U.S.) throughout the country. I have also spent some operational time at the Cape Town S.A.W.S. Weather systems develop very differently here. There is so much to think about. Full on desert 100 km to the northwest; rainforest 150 km to the east/northeast; an escarpment that covers the eastern half of the country (this is currently providing a large fire danger with foehn winds (they call it a “berg wind” here) coming off the mountain; and of course, 2 ocean currents (warm and cool) colliding at the tip of the continent. How fun!

The biggest challenge has been the pronunciations of the different cities and provinces. I am getting there however!

Will update more when the time permits. Hope you are all well!

Derek Van Dam