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Published on Friday, 27 April 2012 09:04
This week was declared the first ever "National Severe Weather Preparedness Week" by the NOAA and FEMA, as a way to help inform Americans with tips and strategies to safely make it through severe weather. In that spirit, WGN-TV has declared next Monday through Saturday, April 30th-May 5th, as its own "Severe Weather Week." For that entire week, WGN-TV will have special weather-related stories on its newscasts and online, with it coming to a big finish with a live weather education event in Arlington Heights, hosted by WGN's Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling.
Highlights of next week's "Severe Weather Week" include:
- The severe weather tip of the day airing each weekday during the WGN Midday News.
- On Monday on the WGN News at 5, Tom Skilling will interview the head of National Weather Service in Chicago, Ed Fenelon.
- On Tuesday, WGN Meteorologist Paul Konrad will host a live Facebook chat at Facebook.com/WGNMorningNews at 9:00am, immediately following the WGN Morning News.
- On Thursday and Friday on WGN News at Nine, Tom Skilling will have special reports, including new information about lightning safety and the state of emergency preparedness of local schools.
- All week long on Twitter, viewers will be invited to join the conversation by using the hashtag #WGNSevereWeather.
- All week long, WGNtv.com will feature stories, activities and events about severe weather utilizing the power of the WGN Weather Team.
After five days of severe weather segments on the television and online, WGN-TV will end the week with a big live event. Saturday, May 5th will be "Tom's Weather Day," taking place from 11:00am to 2:00pm at the Walgreens, located at 235 Palatine Road in suburban Arlington Heights.
For this event, WGN-TV is teaming up with the Midland Radio Corporation and Walgreens to have presentations which will seek to educate and prepare those in attendance for the possibilities of bad weather. Tom Skilling will be hosting the event in an effort to talk about the importance of advance warning to save lives during severe weather outbreaks.
Midland NOAA Weather Alert Radios will available for purchase at the Walgreens on Saturday. The NOAA radios transmit immediate notification of severe weather or emergency alert signals broadcasted by the National Weather Service to users, which is helpful when severe weather strikes quickly. National Weather Service meteorologist Amy Seeley, as well as Suzi Voss and Matt Gillen from the Chicago Forecast office, will be on hand to help NOAA radio purchasers program their radios to receive warnings for where they live. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of these radios will be donated to the American Red Cross.
There will be much more going on at this event Saturday, as well. At the event will be a WeatherBug Weather Station. A WeatherBug representative will be onsite to interact with guests and explain how the WeatherBug station works. These stations are transmitting weather data all across the Chicagoland area from local schools as well as other locations. The Arlington Heights Fire Department will be at the event with their severe weather tornado simulator truck, showing guests how to take precautions during a severe storm. Of course, attending this event will give fans a chance to meet with the beloved Tom Skilling.
Tom Skilling has been working in the weather forecasting business for 46 years, since he was just 14 years old. He has been with WGN-TV since 1978 and continues to be one of the most well-respected meteorologists in the United States.
This is the second annual "Tom's Weather Day" event, with the first one successfully taking place
last May. The event is free and open to the public and no advance reservations are needed.
