New hardware for Weather Central’s “HD 3D: Live 3.0” is being installed now in the Wolfson Building’s television studio suite.  The equipment produces detailed topography and city-level high-resolution images allowing students to build on-air forecasts.

NBC6 meteorologist John Gerard has been hired to teach a broadcasting meteorology course this spring using the new technology.

“This is the big time. It’s major league,” said Steve Yavner, the school’s director of broadcast operations. 

The push to purchase the equipment came from the recently developed double major in Broadcast Journalism and Meteorology.

“This dual major has provided the impetus for us to get the program,” Yavner said.  “Before the dual major there was really never a big request.”

Yavner declined to say how much the school spent on the purchase, saying the information is proprietary and that the major vendors are extremely competitive. A Weather Central, Inc. spokesman also declined.

Weather Central is an U.S. industry leader in providing on-air weather, sports, and news systems.

In the Miami market, Weather Central is used by FOX and ABC affiliates while NBC and CBS use WSI, a similar system.

“Roughly a dozen universities use our systems,” said Steve Smedberg, a spokesman for Wisconsin-based Weather Central, in an email.  “Our systems are used at Western Kentucky, Arizona State University, Mississippi State (and) the University of Alabama, to name a few.”

“Schools that really want to help out their students, particularly involved with broadcast meteorology, buy equipment like this because it’s something they’ll see out in the real world,” Smedberg said.

Vanessa Alonso, who expects to graduate in May as the first student to complete the dual major program, had an opportunity to work with Weather Central at an internship with WSVN, the FOX affiliate in Miami.

“The program leaves a lot of room for creativity,” Alonso said.  “You can create a graphic that is really simple or a graphic that is totally out of this world.”

The program allows for dramatic visuals and animations that create a story that is easy for viewers to follow and understand, she said.

“It is great that the School of Communication is putting the money towards this,” said Brianne Winkler, a junior majoring in Meteorology and minoring in Broadcasting.

In addition to the new class, the program will also be used in the school’s student-produced newscasts. 

“I would like to add weather to any show where it makes sense, and I would also like to see us produce weather segments for the website,” Yavner said in an email.

Through Gerard’s class and student newscasts, students will learn how to make detailed graphics and create an easy-to-follow weather forecast. 

Faculty training in the software will take place in early January.