Students at Fitzgerald Elementary yesterday endured blizzards, hurricanes and tornadoes, but at the end of the day were no more the worse for wear.
Through the wizardry of computers, television meteorologist Harvey Leonard treated fourth- and fifth-graders to the fickleness of New England weather.
"You know it can be an adventure from one day to the next and one season to the next around here," Leonard told students who sat on the cafeteria floor. "We live in a very, very interesting place for weather. It's forever changeable."
Leonard's visit to the school was partially due to his co-worker at WCVB-TV, a parent of two students at the school. Audio and camera technician Rob Crowley's son Brian is a fourth-grader and his daughter Caroline is in first grade.
"A lot of the kids are really, really interested in the weather. He can talk to them on their level," Crowley said.
The visit also fit in with the school's curriculum. Most fourth- and fifth- graders have already started or are just beginning a unit on weather.
With the help of computer imagery he uses as part of his regular forecasts, Leonard taught students about the science behind weather patterns, such as the formation of tornadoes and hurricanes.
"A meteorologist studies the weather and tells people what it's going to be for days to come," said Karissa Waddick, 11. "I learned about how far winter storms can get up to on a scale."
Leonard talked at length about the Blizzard of '78, using several computer graphics to illustrate the severity the infamous winter storm had on the Boston area, dumping snow for nearly 32 hours. Leonard said the blizzard occurred during his first winter forecasting weather on Boston television.
"It shows you how bad the worst kind of winter storm was here," he said. "There were lives that were lost. Ninety-nine people died."
Hurricanes took up a large portion of Leonard's discussion, one student asking how weather specialists name them.
"Around 1953 is when the naming of hurricanes began. Here was the idea; Weather and meteorology was still in its infancy and it was very difficult to predict the behavior of a hurricane," Leonard said. "The idea at the time was it was very hard to predict the behavior of girls, so they were all named after girls ... (years later that was changed) and now they go back and forth between guy's names and girl's names."
Leonard also predicted today's forecast in Waltham per request of a student. Leonard said he did not expect it to rain, but it might be cloudy.
Students eagerly raised their hands to ask weather-related questions after the presentation.
"I liked when he told us about tornadoes. They could damage one side of the street but not the other sometimes," said Adele Julien, 10. "He always has to be prepared for every storm. Some storms can be very dangerous."
Leonard said he started as a meteorologist in Boston in 1977 on WHDH-TV and before that, worked at a television station in Providence, R.I. He's been in the business now for 35 years. He joined WCVB-TV in June 2002.
"I've been very lucky to have a long career in something I love to do," he said.
Jeff Gilbride can be reached at 781-398-8005 or at jgilbrid@cnc.com
