| Justin was born on February 20th in the 1980s in Palm Beach, Florida. He now resides in Sapphire, North Carolina where he operates Cashiers Weather Service and works as a weather writer for the Crossroads Chronicle Newspaper |
| 2003 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association Certified Forecaster 2004 WLOS Television Weather Spotter Enrollee 2004 North Carolina Press Association Award Winner 2007 North Carolina Press Association Award Winner Blue Ridge High School graduate with honors Western Carolina University Honors College, majoring in Journalism and Business Law |
Five Years of Forecasting
By Justin Caudell
Although it becomes harder to believe as the days go by, I can remember a time where I had no
idea what the weather was going to be like when I woke up.
Like all the other kids in my class, we could only hope that when we sprung up from bed at this
time of year is that snow would be on the ground and school would be cancelled. We had no idea if
snow was forecasted or much less if it was cold enough to snow. As a matter of fact, it could show
by my attire in middle school that the temperature outside was far from my mind, I would wear
shorts and it would be 25 degrees.
“You can get sick if you go outside dressed like that,” my mom always told me. “Do you know
how cold it is out there?” I always replied with a sense of sarcasm, “No mother, I don’t”.
As a child, the unknown always fascinated me. I could wonder why the sky was blue and what
the puffy white stuff was above me that seemed to just look like interesting shapes. I did not mind
the surprises of what was going to be happening outside of my window everyday. What I realized
Sunday, January 6 though was that all of that is simply a memory now.
Five years ago last weekend I started an initiative to bring the world of weather forecasting to
the residents of Cashiers. As I matured in age, I realized that the area I have come to call home after
moving to the Tar Heel State from Florida is that living in a rural town, news is sometimes hard to
come by – no matter how hard you look for it. Even if you wanted to know the weather, folks in
Cashiers could not get an accurate measure of what was going to fall from the sky. Meteorologists in
Asheville and Greenville could forecast the weather, but could not pin point what was going to
happen outside of their town – this is the mountains after all.
To try and remedy the situation, I started Cashiers Weather Service, with the slogan
“Revolutionizing Meteorology”, the idea that a weatherman could tell its residing towns what
Mother Nature had on her mind – no strings attached.
My beginnings for this new pursuit were by no means easy. I not only had to rely on my
family and others around me to believe in my cause, but also throw in a pretty penny to buy the
technology to make the idea a reality. I also of course had to make myself believe that it is important
to know what to wear before stepping outside.
Luckily for me, once I set my mind towards a goal, I complete it. I also was fortunate to be a
very persuasive person as well.
After gathering a short list of people who were willing to listen to a then 13 year old boy play
around with a few maps and tell them the weather – word of mouth spread quickly about my
adventure, and that what was I predicting was not far from reality. After all, there is not a day that
goes by now where I am not asked “is it going to rain”, “is it going to snow”, and even a couple times
“when should I plan my wedding”. Contrary from my childhood, it is also my mom who comes to
me about the weather now, not the other way around.
From an oblivious youth to someone who is now called the “weatherman”, I can only hope that
one day I will be on the Weather Channel. My dream probably started differently from others who
are in the profession I hope to obtain, but after all, I will have quite a story to tell.
I can always say that it started in a small town of about 3,000 people called Cashiers, that’s
“Cash-erz”, not “Cash-ears”, who were willing to put faith in a young boy who did not have
anything but a mouse and a keyboard.
By Justin Caudell
Although it becomes harder to believe as the days go by, I can remember a time where I had no
idea what the weather was going to be like when I woke up.
Like all the other kids in my class, we could only hope that when we sprung up from bed at this
time of year is that snow would be on the ground and school would be cancelled. We had no idea if
snow was forecasted or much less if it was cold enough to snow. As a matter of fact, it could show
by my attire in middle school that the temperature outside was far from my mind, I would wear
shorts and it would be 25 degrees.
“You can get sick if you go outside dressed like that,” my mom always told me. “Do you know
how cold it is out there?” I always replied with a sense of sarcasm, “No mother, I don’t”.
As a child, the unknown always fascinated me. I could wonder why the sky was blue and what
the puffy white stuff was above me that seemed to just look like interesting shapes. I did not mind
the surprises of what was going to be happening outside of my window everyday. What I realized
Sunday, January 6 though was that all of that is simply a memory now.
Five years ago last weekend I started an initiative to bring the world of weather forecasting to
the residents of Cashiers. As I matured in age, I realized that the area I have come to call home after
moving to the Tar Heel State from Florida is that living in a rural town, news is sometimes hard to
come by – no matter how hard you look for it. Even if you wanted to know the weather, folks in
Cashiers could not get an accurate measure of what was going to fall from the sky. Meteorologists in
Asheville and Greenville could forecast the weather, but could not pin point what was going to
happen outside of their town – this is the mountains after all.
To try and remedy the situation, I started Cashiers Weather Service, with the slogan
“Revolutionizing Meteorology”, the idea that a weatherman could tell its residing towns what
Mother Nature had on her mind – no strings attached.
My beginnings for this new pursuit were by no means easy. I not only had to rely on my
family and others around me to believe in my cause, but also throw in a pretty penny to buy the
technology to make the idea a reality. I also of course had to make myself believe that it is important
to know what to wear before stepping outside.
Luckily for me, once I set my mind towards a goal, I complete it. I also was fortunate to be a
very persuasive person as well.
After gathering a short list of people who were willing to listen to a then 13 year old boy play
around with a few maps and tell them the weather – word of mouth spread quickly about my
adventure, and that what was I predicting was not far from reality. After all, there is not a day that
goes by now where I am not asked “is it going to rain”, “is it going to snow”, and even a couple times
“when should I plan my wedding”. Contrary from my childhood, it is also my mom who comes to
me about the weather now, not the other way around.
From an oblivious youth to someone who is now called the “weatherman”, I can only hope that
one day I will be on the Weather Channel. My dream probably started differently from others who
are in the profession I hope to obtain, but after all, I will have quite a story to tell.
I can always say that it started in a small town of about 3,000 people called Cashiers, that’s
“Cash-erz”, not “Cash-ears”, who were willing to put faith in a young boy who did not have
anything but a mouse and a keyboard.