#28: Teagan Reeves: Life as a Vermont Meteorologist

This week we had the pleasure of sitting down with Stowe native and local meteorologist Teagan Reeves. Teagan has always had a passion for weather. She graduated from Northern Vermont University – Lyndon with a degree in Atmospheric Science. After she graduated in spring of 2023, Teagan packed her bags and moved to Michigan to work as a weekend meteorologist - after being there for a little over a year - she came back to VT and in September of last year, she became the Meteorologist on the Burlington TV Station Ch 22/44. In her free time you can find Teagan hiking, snowboarding and playing in the outdoors with an eye on the sky for the next storm!

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This episode of the Octagon is sponsored in part by archery close. Hey, this is Chris and Taste from Archery Clothes, your go-to boutique. For men's and women's fashion, we carry a curated selection of clothing, footwear, and gifts from unique and emerging brands. We're proud to sponsor the Octagon and even prouder to be local business owners here in Stowe. We love how the Octagon captures the history and characters of this incredible town. After coming off the slopes or the trails, stop by archery close. Located at 1650 Mountain Road in Stowe. Open seven days a week, or always open online@archeryclose.com. Welcome listeners to the Octagon Podcast, where we explore the stories, people, and places that make Stove mon so legendary. I'm your host, Mike Carey, joined by my co-host Ted Thorndyke. We are excited to introduce our guest today, Teagan Reeves. Teagan grew up in Stowe. And went to high school with my daughter and always had a passion for weather. She graduated from Northern Vermont University at Linden with a degree in atmospheric science. After she graduated in the spring of 2023, Tegan packed her bags and moved to Michigan to work as a weekend meteorologist. After being there for a little over a year, she came back to Vermont. And in September of last year, she became the meteorologist on the local Burlington TV station. In her free time, you can find Tegan hiking, snowboarding, and playing in the outdoors. Welcome, Tegan. Hi. Thanks for having me. That's a great introduction. Thanks for being here. yeah. we've been wanting a octagon resident meteorologist, so I know we have little inside track here. We're very excited. Here we go. And coming from TV and being on a podcast, this is gonna be really easy for you. Oh, yeah. A lot less stressful. Yeah. We're not live, Exactly. Totally. So let's start. What first sparked your interest in weather and meteorology? I've always been interested in the weather ever since I was a little kid when we had thunderstorms and stuff rolling through. My dad and I would always go outside to watch the lightning and I've always been really interested in specifically severe weather. So growing up as a kid, I got really into watching the Weather Channel and all of the fun shows they have on there, like tornado Alley, just watching the coverage of the severe weather out west. and so I've always just been interested in the weather ever since I was a kid and. My dad went to Northern Vermont University as well. Nice. And I remember growing up he mentioned that they have a great meteorology program. So when I graduated I was like, Hey, might as well follow this passion and make money off it. Nice. Totally. That's awesome. could you walk us through the path to becoming a broadcast meteorologist? you mentioned going to school. And then you've now landed at Channel 22 in Burlington. Yeah, so when I was going to school, I specifically majored in the broadcast concentration. We had a local news station at school that all of the students, our journalism students and the meteorology students would practice with. I was able to get a lot of really good clips with that. Our broadcast program over at Northern Vermont University. I cannot speak anymore highly of it. It's a great program. so I got a lot of clips from that, and you put together a demo reel of all of my best clips and just send them off to stations with your application. I originally applied, to be a meteorologist out in Michigan. Like you mentioned. I was out there for about a year. With nine and 10 and, I just wasn't loving it out in Michigan. I was ready to get back to the Northeast, so put together all of my best clips from that station and, applied out here and got back here. Is there a lot of competition in to become a TV meteorologist? It really depends on what market you're going into. Frankly, there's not a lot of competition right now. News, specifically local news cable is a dying industry. Yeah. Not a lot of people really watch cable anymore. It's transitioning to social media. And apps and stuff. Yeah. So I personally haven't run into a lot of competition with trying to get these jobs, but I'm also been in lower size markets. If you're going for a top market, Boston New, like a Boston, New York, you're gonna run into a lot more competition there. yep. So I know Lyden State has produced. Lots of legendary meteorologist. I'm a weather fanatic myself, so I know like Jim Kori of the Weather Channel. Yes. He's a big one. Tim Kelly? Yes. Who's a local guy here. Did they come, do they come to the school? Do you get to meet any of'em? Do you have any role models that you looked up to? Yeah. Jim Cantor was a huge one when I was growing up. He used to go to the school. He doesn't, visit the school anymore from. What I know, I never got to meet him, unfortunately. Tim Kelly, I don't think ever actually came to the school, but I, we have connections through my parents, so I was able to meet him at some point. Yeah. some big ones were just local meteorologists for me growing up. Dan Dowling, he was actually a professor at my school, and he was also on WCAX for years. He was a huge one for me. Sharon Meyers was a big one for me too, so yeah. what does a typical day. Look like for you, at the station? So I am the weekend meteorologist at the station. Okay. So I'm on air Saturdays and Sundays. Alright. a typical day for me when I'm on air, I'll go in the afternoon and I will normally do my hair and makeup first. So that's important. Fun fact, we don't have anybody doing our hair and makeup. I'm my own hair and makeup artist. and then I'll start, forecasting, which normally takes me about an hour. I have to go through all of the different models and all of the data that we look at. I'll put together a forecast sheet. And then I'll go into our graphic system and update it with all of the currents and my future forecast. put together my show, figure out what the weather story for the day is gonna be, what are the most important points that I should hit on that are going to be impacting people's days. Sort of put together my show that way, and then I'll. Throw on my mic, throw in my IFB and I go on at, we have a six 30, a 10 and an 11 o'clock, so I'll go on for all of those shows and continuously updating my forecast and figuring out stuff I want to touch on throughout the day. And then I of course, will update websites. I do. Radio hits too, Yeah. Is this all green screen, behind you? yes. I'm on the green screen. Green screen. Yeah. So that probably takes a little bit to get used to, or you probably did in school though, right? Yes. I was doing a lot of it in school. That was actually one of, our days in class. We literally just spent today where you would just point at stuff on the green screen. Our professor would be like, okay, point at this state point, at this state, and we would just practice figuring out where you were on the green screen. Yeah. how does that work? You have the green screen and then you're just looking at. that, that would seem like it would challenging, like it's reverse, right? You're pointing here, but you're looking at a screen that's opposite. my camera in front of me shows, myself, I have an image of myself On the screen. And then I have two monitors to the side of me where I can also see myself. So when I turn, I can see where I'm pointing and see where I'm at on the green screen. And you have a timer? Is there a timer that you're, I have. the director. We'll come into your ear and tell you how much time you have left. Okay. That was another thing that did take a little bit of getting used to.'cause you're in the middle of doing a weather hit and then you have your director and you're like, 90, 30 wrap. Wait, I gotta tell people about the snowstorm. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. There's a lot going on. Yes, there is. And then, so you know, you mentioned you do three different segments. Are they all recorded live at that time or do they do it. Beforehand. Yes. Yes. So all of my shows are live. Of course. if we have something going on, other circumstances, we are able to record hits that they can use. But most of the time it's just straight up. I am live until 1130 at night. Aggressive. Is it tiring? To be on. It can be. Yeah, it can be at times. But I personally, it's my favorite part of the job is being able to be on camera and explain the science that I'm so passionate about to the public in a way that people can digest it and understand.'cause weather stuff can be confusing, I know, to the general public. Yeah. There's a lot of crazy math and science that goes into that. Because if you hear 50% chance of rain Okay. Is that. does, I mean it's gonna rain for an hour or two does mean is it gonna rain all day A little bit. It's, there is a lot of nuance and I'm able to take that and explain what that means to people and I just love being able to, this is how it'll impact your morning commute, for example. exactly. Yes. Or your ski day or Oh yeah. Or your wedding day. Like you're probably freaked out if it's a it's Saturday and you're predicting rain versus a beautiful day. exactly. Yeah. I can either make or break people's days. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. so how much of the forecast. Are you getting fed to you from the models and whatever services you're buying versus applying your own personal analysis to,'cause I know you could watch all three local channels, right? And the weather's all a little bit different.'cause I've done this right in the winter where Yeah, some forecasters predicting a foot, some are saying six inches. I would say it's a 50 50 blend of both. depending on where you're forecasting, of course there's like different nuanced aspects that go in that the models just won't pick up. Pick up on, especially here in Vermont too, we have the greens. And they play a huge role in a lot of the weather that we have. And models won't pick up on that a lot of the time. Yeah. So it just takes a little bit of getting used to pattern recognition, seeing how different systems affect our area and applying that knowledge to what you're seeing in the models as well. Yeah. Especially, Mount Mansfield as well. That's like its own world. Yes. Mount Mansfield is a big player. Microclimate, yeah. Versus Burlington. It's a whole different weather. Oh yeah. It can be. It's completely different. Something completely different going on here compared to the Champlain Valley. Yeah. What would you say people do not understand about being a meteorologist? Oh, that's a really good question. a lot of the times I will hear the joke whenever I tell people that I'm a meteorologist. what's it like to get paid to be wrong? get that all the time and I wish people would understand that. I am predicting the future. That's good point. Yeah. I do wish that we would get maybe a little bit more grace on that front.'cause, predicting the future, it's not always gonna be a hundred percent correct, but I guarantee you that 95% of the time My forecast is on track, otherwise I wouldn't have my job. Yeah. And to your point too, you talked about all the variables. Yeah. Whether it's landscapes and mountain ranges, and that's where your. Yeah. Education and expertise comes into play to digest all the information. Yes. From the models and also lean on your experience and expertise. Yes. There's a lot of different details that you need to take into account when you're forecasting, so yeah. I wish people would know that. Another fun fact too is I actually don't read off of a script when I'm on the green screen. Wow. Everything that I say is ad-lib too. Wow. I know a lot of people don't know that. So that's a fun fact. That's a surprise. I've thought That's a fun fact. You people more reading on a on or No. So when you're doing the forecast, you've got all these different screens coming up, right? the radar, the future forecast. Yes. So you just know what's coming next and when you're scroll. Yes. so when I build my show, I know. What order the graphics are going to be in. Yeah. And then it's, for me personally, I find it to be pretty easy to ad-lib because by the time you're going on screen, you know your forecast really well. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So I already know what I'm gonna be talking about. yeah. And keep the sequence the same most times. Yes. Some majority of the times you keep the's, like the template graphics the same. Unless if there's something specific you need to hit on for your next show. But yeah, it's also just, what you've been doing, it's your passion. Yeah. It makes it easier to ad lib. Yes, it definitely does. you say you do the weekend forecast during the week. Are you? Preparing, just, looking at what's ahead. So during the week I do a lot of behind the scenes stuff. I will do a lot of work with our graphic system, like producing new graphics that the other meteorologist during the week can use updating stuff. I also do some, we used to have a show called The Two Degree Difference. We are no longer airing that. I used to produce that during the weeks as well. So I'm just working on getting out in the field and doing more weather stories. So it's a blend of. Working on our graphics, doing some behind the scenes stuff, and then reporting as well, Yeah. so to me, Vermont is one of the most dynamic weather places you can have. I lived in California one summer and I used to wake up and watch the weather. Yeah. And my friends were like, what are you doing? It's sunny every day and maybe the fog doesn't burn off. Yeah. you went to Michigan first. Michigan's probably somewhat dynamic, but maybe not as much as Vermont? Is Vermont harder, more challenging, or has it surprised you at how challenging it is to accurately predict? I would say it's just. It's different in Michigan, the biggest player was the lakes. Yeah. So you had a lot of lake effect snow events during the winter. And then those also help with affecting, severe weather during the summer. We don't really have the lakes that you have to worry about here. We will get a little bit of lake effect off of Champlain, but not nearly as much as out there with the Great Lakes here, the biggest challenge, I think, is seeing how the mountains can play into affecting the different systems that we have. Yeah. coming in, the greens can act either as a barrier or they can act as a lifting mechanism, right? So you can have severe weather coming in and all you really need is that lift for something to just explode. Is that up slope? Is that? Yes. Okay. Yes. Whoa. Yes. But then the opposite, make turn the opposite can happen too. You, you said you were a weather guy, Mike. I know up slope. I wasn't gonna embarrass myself for such a basic question. Shots fired. But the opposite happens in the summer. Thunderstorms roll through and a lot of times they'll go around the mountain. Yes. and snow will stay dry. Yes. The mountain, it'll be raining of Waterbury block. Yeah. Or it can also help to lift and create. Yeah. Crazy environments like Worcester Range too, I feel like. We'll, I don't know, man. I feel like we'll be playing tennis sometimes and we just seem protected sometimes. Yeah. Little in our pocket. Nebraska Valley. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. We could get into up slope, into a lot of detail here, but I think we already did that in one of our podcasts with Andre. Talked about her, Matt. Yeah. We talked about the up slope. Yeah. But, could you speak maybe even a little more specifically to the Mount Mansfield, just climate weather patterns? you talked about some basic stuff with, the Green Mountain range and the spine of that, but, just what makes it unique? it produces its own climate up there. Yeah.'cause it's, that's such a different elevation. Than anything else. Obviously it's the highest peak in Vermont. Yeah. As we know. So I think what makes Mansfield really unique is just the way that it can affect the weather mm-hmm. That we have going on. You get a good Northwest wind going on Mansfield and you can see an up slope event going on for days. Yeah. There where you're not gonna see that anywhere else in the state. Yeah. It you, champ Valley won't leave, isn't seen, leave. Those systems just won't leave. Exactly. So I think that's probably the most unique thing about Mansfield. So do you think JP gets the amount of snow that they say they get because this has been a contentious topic here? Yeah, because they say they more, unfortunately, they hate to report that they did. They had a great winter over at jp. You believe their numbers. What? Yeah, I believe you do. I do.'cause they also do get the same sort of events as Mansfield as well, so they had a great year over there, so yeah. All right, there we go. Do you ever, team up with your dad, Scott Reeves, the on operations, just live time, weather reports or, has he been able to help you at all to. He has definitely been able to help me with connections. I've done a couple of stories over at the mountain. I've even done some stories with him for the fire department as well, so I've been able to team up with him. That's been really cool. I actually interviewed him the other day for a brush fire story. Nice. So that was really cool getting to team up with him for that. And then this winter I did a, An avalanche story. So avalanche safety. So I was the notch able to, yeah. Which can happen. Absolutely. Yeah. So I was able to talk to him and, the chief of still rescue for that. So that was really cool. So you're not communicating with, their weather folks, their snow report people? There's no. Inside track. No. There's no overlap with that. No. You, you could text us and say, Hey, look, tomorrow morning is gonna be an overachiever. Get up there early. I'll try to hit you guys up next time. We're gonna have a big event. Let you guys know. I wanted to ask you this about,'cause you probably studied climate change in college, so I hear a lot. It never snows it like it used to. And I'm a big weather guy, like I said, and I've looked at the Mount Mansfield Snow State historical graph Which is, it's 75 years of weather data. And I've looked at years from the thirties and forties and fifties and there's dry years and there's good years. I don't think it backs it up. I do think it's warmer, wetter winters, but I do think it snows some years. A lot, some years, not a lot. Do you have any thoughts on climate change impact on Mount Mansfield Snow? I. Yeah, I agree with what you're saying, but that's also why we like to use the term climate change rather than global warming. Yeah. Because of course you are also still going to have winters that do perform, but overall over time, that longer period, we are seeing that winters are getting warmer and we are seeing less snow. This winter happened to perform really well. Yeah. But if you look at what's been going on for the past couple of years, we really haven't been seeing the kind of snowfall that we used to see before. Yeah. And it is because our. Fall periods are getting longer. And then our winters are shortening and we're going into spring faster. Yeah. So I would say that yes, climate change is going to continue to impact the amount of snow that we see on Mansfield. Yeah. Yeah. I always feel like even when I first got here 15 years ago, we had stretches of minus 20, minus 30 degrees for lows. We never get that. Really anymore. Yeah. Super cold long stretches. But they also doesn't snow when it's that cold. It rarely snows. It's too cold to snow. Yeah, there, there were some cold stretches this winter, but if you look at longer term data. the last handful have not, been maybe just a couple below zero. Yeah. We had some cold stretches this winter. But to your point, if you look at, the long term data. Yeah. Yes. That's why I love that snow. I don't know if you've researched the snow stake site. yes. We have a's a camera up there too. That's fun to watch. Yeah. Yeah. just the fact that they've tracked snowfall for that long is pretty unbelievable. Yeah. Really very useful data to have. Yeah. exactly. Cool. Cool. Majestic Mount Mansfield embodies the spirit of Stowe heritage. And we're proud to present the Octagon Podcast, a true reflection of our amazing community. Stowe Living is honored to sponsor this podcast. We're helping you live your best life daily with stunning furniture, unique design, kitchenwares, thoughtful gifts sourced from around the world. Thank you Stowe for your continued support of Stowe Living and the Octagon Podcast. When it comes to luxury real estate in Stowe Trust, Meg Kaufman of Land Vests, Christie's International Real Estate. Meg Kaufman knows the market inside and out. She's been a part of the Stowe community for over 20 years. Whether you're buying or selling, Meg Kaufman offers a concierge level of service. Taylor, just for you. Backed by the power of land vests and Christie's International. She brings proven success and local insight to every transaction, luxury real estate, local expertise. Meg Kaufman and Land Vests are the team you want on your side. What is your go-to weather site that anybody has access to? The normal person can access. Yeah. Yeah. I use tropical tidbits a lot when I was in college. Never heard of that. Yeah, I use that. Okay. I have been converted. I'm now a pivotal weather gal. Yeah, so you use that too? Yes. I use Pivotal weather every day. I'm fading away after my up slope comment. I have not heard. I'll share the links with you. Yeah, there you go. Okay. This is good to know. I'm always a big proponent to people of the National Weather Service. Yep. Your local National Weather Service is going to know far more that just please don't use your iPhone app. That's all that I have for people. Whenever people come up me and they're like, oh, my iPhone told me that it was gonna be sunny today, why is it raining? Right guys. exactly. Yeah. Listen to your local forecasters. They're going to know the most. So I always like to point people towards the National Weather Service when I'm forecasting. Yeah. Pivotal Weather, tropical tidbits. the College of DuPage, I use their site a lot, for short-term forecasting. wait, what was that one? The College of DuPage. College of DuPage. Yes, they have, you don't know that. They have a few models that are really helpful. Ah, they have access to the Nam Nest, which is really good for severe weather forecasting. Ooh, so little side knowledge for you guys. New site for me. Yes. You can get soundings from that, which give you a good idea of what's going on in the atmosphere. and we also have, at my station we pay for a subscription to Weather Bell as well. So I use Weather Bell a lot, but. I don't know if the public will have access to that. you just mentioned all these sites. Would you say when you're putting your forecast together, it's a combination of all those sites you just mentioned, including this weather bell and just your experience and expertise? Or are there any other outside sources that you lean on? Yeah, I would say it's a combination of all of those sites and the model runs from those sites and then My knowledge, just a mix of all of that. It's a lot to digest and then spit out listeners. Yeah, because there's different models, right? Some models may say it's gonna snow or rain. Other models it might not. Exactly. And different models will perform worse or better depending on the season, depending on, actually, there's been a lot of. Layoffs at the National Weather Service recently. So they haven't been able to do balloon launches. Which are super important data to go into these models. So honestly, like the global model, the GFS that we use has not been performing nearly as well. Wow. Without those balloon launches. Oh, interesting. Yeah. Yeah. So we see the graphics that you're showing on tv does that, that must come from a different service that you. The TV purchases Yes. So we have a subscription. You're not creating those? no. we have a subscription at my station to Baron Weather is the graphic system we use. the two big ones are Baron and then WSI, yeah. WSI Max. that's what a lot of other stations use as well. Yeah. Cool. And then as far as your coverage area, is it. The whole state of Vermont, some of New York state, what are you covering? So it's a majority of Vermont. and then into the north country. So St. Lawrence County over in Northern New York is bordering our coverage area. And then we go into Franklin and Essex County in New York as well. A majority of Vermont, Bennington County is on the outskirts of ours. Some people will get it, some people won't. and then we do also go into New Hampshire as well. Yep. So White Mountains. Little bit now. Not really so much. We go into cos county, Grafton over there. We get, it's really just the western side of New Hampshire. that's a lot of area though to happen. A lot of area and a lot of different things going on Absolutely. In different areas. So yeah, absolutely impressive. so you're back in Vermont as a young professional, what's that like? What's that feel like to be back here? You went to high school here, you went to college here, you went away. Now you're back. Yes. Yeah. STOs not the youngest place. To be, you can say that, I'm fortunate enough, enough in the fact that a lot of my, connections and friends that I made here in STO in high school, a lot of people ended up staying here. Yeah. So I have a nice little group here, but outside of that, yes, it is very hard to find other young people in sto, but, I really, I came back for just the climate and the mm-hmm. Community of Vermont. I think growing up here. you are itching to get out, right? You're like, I can't go see the world. growing up in this tiny community. Everyone knows everything. Everybody knows everything about everyone. And leaving I think, gave me a lot of perspective. Yeah. It made me a lot more grateful for what we had here. we have one of the best communities, I would say, yeah. In the country. Like we have such beautiful communities here. and just, you can't beat the natural beauty of Vermont either. I went out to Michigan. I look out the window. Look out the window right now. look at that. I went out to Michigan and I was talking about, I'm a big snowboarder. I was talking to some of my coworkers. I was where do you guys go snowboarding oh, we have a pretty big mountain. It's 200 feet. I'm like, guys, I don't think you understand where I'm coming from. That's amazing. I miss the mountains. I miss just the natural beauty of Vermont and the community that we had here. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. All good reasons. Yeah, I grew up in Stowe as well. Oh wow. Okay, cool. Yep. I went to college in the North country, Oh, okay. Went to St. Lawrence University. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. No, I left for a couple years and I just wanted to come back. Yeah. I love it here. It's a great place. It is. And once you've skied Mansfield, it's hard to go anywhere else. Yeah. Yeah. Special Mountain. Oh yeah. Special Mountain. Oh yeah. we mentioned you have come back as a young professional. In your opinion, do you think that is a trend, that there are more, whether it's friends of yours, people or just a general trend of people, young professionals looking to move to Vermont or maybe the other direction where people, more people are just leaving? Yeah, I noticed a lot when I was in high school and college. It was a lot of people wanting to leave, a lot of people wanting to get out of the state. I have also noticed a trend in classes. People who are in my class, classes a little bit above me, below me, that there have been a decent amount of people trickling back into the state. I think so. I don't know if it's maybe a comfortability thing With coming back to Vermont or if people truly wanna be here. Yeah. But it's a great place to be. Yeah. So I think that, or you get a taste of. city life, or you just realize, okay, Boston, New York, or Philly, it's not for me, right? it can be busy and very overstimulating, especially when you grew up here. Yeah. yeah. yeah. It's, and probably one of the challenges is the job piece, but with remote work. Maybe that's Or meteorology work. Yeah. Increased flexibility. Yeah. Fi finding the job, I think Can be a barrier for some. yeah, definitely. And I don't think the job market out here is great. Yeah. Luckily it was wide open for my profession, but I don't think a lot of other people are so lucky. And I think that's why maybe there's less young people until you've Built your career. Yep. It's a much easier place to bring your career and work remote. yes, definitely. Than definitely build up your career. Find that first big job. yeah, definitely. And move your way up. Yeah, definitely. So where else did you apply when you were leaving Michigan? Or did you see this opening and went for it? I saw this opening when I jumped at it. Oh yeah. I was ready immediately. Yeah. I was just ready to be back in Vermont. It just made the most sense for me. yeah. That must have been exciting to see that job listing. It was very exciting because I originally, I was refreshed on their career site. Have you gotten my application? Yes, because I was, I was freelancing for them when I was a senior in college, and then they Oh, okay. Originally offered me the job when I was graduating. And I was just like, no, I need to leave Vermont. Yeah, I need to get out. I gotta do something else. I went to Michigan, then I was like, wait, I should have taken that job. I should have stayed in Vermont. but that's good perspective right now that you're back. Oh yes. You're probably much more invested in it. Yes. And it made me Much more grateful to be back here. Yeah. And to just respect what I have here too. And Yeah. I know that I wanna be here now too. Yeah. and it did gimme that perspective. so you live in Stowe, do you go to Burlington a lot? Like what's your activity night life routine, or if you have one, I do know you go to Alfie's. I. I had a feeling that was gonna come up. Oh, yeah. Alright. honestly, when I do go out here a lot. Yeah. Just because my group of friends happens to be in STO and we happen to be here. Yeah. I don't go out and I'm in Burlington for work. Yeah. So when I'm here, this is where I get to relax, go out, unwind. So we are a big Alfie's crowd. we're also fans of Burt's Irish Pub, which is moving. Yeah. Which has moved. Yeah. Oh, it's moved. Yes. Yes. I don't know if they're open yet, but I saw the sign out front when I was driving by earlier. That's a cool spot in the building. Yes. it's the only two bars that stay open till midnight. That's right In town, exactly. Lower bar. We do go to lower bar sometimes, but, that's a. A little bit of a quieter atmosphere. Little older crowd. Yeah. Yeah. That's where you find me. You sit around, you sip on your espresso martinis, you chat about work. What about rim? Rocks not open. That little, maybe a little bit. Now. Not, I have heard some good things about rim rocks. I haven't gotten the chance to. They're staying open later. I know that they have a shot ski. I do. Yep. I've seen it there. Yeah. So what about the Matterhorn? Is the Matterhorn not open to the Matterhorn? Actually is open late. Okay. It's far. And they'll stay open later if they have a good crowd there too. Okay. all right. But that's normally the trickling crowd. So yeah, we try to avoid that'cause it can get weird sometimes. No doubt about that. So you mentioned snowboarding, any other. Outdoor activities, that you like to do around town? Oh my gosh, I love to hike. Yeah. Nice. IL we are, the hiking here is so good. Nice. I am always outside, hiking, snowboarding. I've been getting into winter hiking. Yeah, absolutely. A lot more this winter. Huh? which has been really cool. I did almost kill me and my dog trying to do it one time'cause I went out totally unprepared. Oh yeah. We ended up being the first tracks after a huge up slope event. Yep. it just got stuck out in the snow. But yeah, I'm just always outside doing something. Yep. Pickleball, huge fan of pickleball. Sweet. Yeah. So nice. What's your go, what's your go-to hikes? Oh. for a go-to quick hike, I like Sterling Pond. Yep. And the Pinnacle. Yep. the pinnacle can be a tough one though. Yeah. Big bang for the buck. Very steep. Yeah. Very steep. Yeah. Big bang for the buck. It can be crowded sometimes. Yes. Pinnacle can get, just gotta go at the right time. Sterling Pine can be crowded for sure on the weekend. Weekends Sterling, but ster can't really crowded. Yeah. I'm a big fan of the Ridge for just a quick hike. You drive up the toll road, do the ridge. Oh, yeah. Or if you wanna start from the bottom. I You can do halbrook. Yeah. Up to the top. Yeah. I've been exploring some new places recently as well. I just did, hunger Mountain Hunger for the first time. big hike. that was a brutal one. Yeah, that one was brutal. It's long. And then the top is the scramble steep at the very top. Steep. yes. And it was still, there was still snow up there when I went there too, so that was a tough one too. white Rock I did recently as well. I think that's the same range as Hunger Melon. We shoot you a Worcester Mountain. Highly recommend. Yes, that is on my list. Yeah. Access it off Route 12. Okay. I've never done that. Not many people hit it. And it's, yeah. Beautiful. Heck, because that's part, I think that's part of the same range. It's as hunger, it's, yeah. Okay. Yes. Worcester. Worcester Mountain. That's definitely on my list. I wanna do all of the accessible fire towers in the state this summer as well. Belvedere Mountain, that's on my bucket list. Yes, I have that one. Um, Elmore. Yes, of course. That's a classic. yeah. Any excuse to get outside, right? Yes. All right. Do a little rapid fire questions. Oh, boy. All right. Here we, these are gonna be good. Yeah. Hot. These are gonna be good. forecasting winter storms or summer storms, summer. Ooh, that's a surprise. Forecasting snow is a pain in the ass. So I could see that, but you didn't hear it from me. Explaining the science behind Mansfield, UPS slope snow to your friends or playing beer pong with them. Beer pong. Exactly. storm chase tornadoes in the Midwest or fly in a hurricane tracking plane in the Caribbean storm chasing in the Midwest. That's not even a question. Is that a rush? Actually, I did go storm chasing one time. Wow. In fact, my school offered a program Wow. Over the summer, so I got go storm chasing out in the planes. Very cool. That would be frightening. I think flying in a hurricane plane is frightening. Two of my worst fears. Hurricanes and planes. Yeah. No thank you. I'm okay. So I'll take storm chasing any day. Nice. Having a nice, easy week of high pressure, boring weather, or an active week of completely hard to forecast. Unpredictable weather. Oof high pressure. Makes my job a lot easier, but it's a lot more fun. Yeah. To forecast. Okay. More difficult week, so I'll go with that. All right. Rain and January or snow in June. Snow in June. Of course. Nice European weather model or GFS. Euro, the Euro's been performing a lot better. Yes, it sounds like it. Without the weather balloons. All right, this is another, question of interest to the Octagon listeners, which is more accurate, the JP Peak Snowfall report or the legendary OW Snow Report report. Oh boy. I'm gonna get myself in trouble here. You can take the fifth guys. Yeah. Yeah. Guys, I plead the fifth. I don't wanna get in trouble, but I'll go. So I have to go. all right. I have a bias. I have a bias there. Alright. Fall foliage or spring bloom. Ooh, fall foliage. Yeah. Tough to beat. Low pressure or high pressure? Low pressure. El Nino or La Nina? Ooh, LA Nina. All right. This next one, I got a little insight into line dancing or karaoke. Oh, I was actually just practicing line dancing last night. That's crazy that you mentioned that. And I'm going to karaoke tonight, so I'll say karaoke'cause I'm going tonight. Oh, that's a shock. Really? Yeah. Okay. I was a Peter kid in high school, so they're both close though, that Yes. Where's karaoke? Where are they? Alfie's. Oh. and I think maybe I hear line dancing coming soon. Wow. Are you going too Mike? maybe. Alright. Yeah, you guys should come. I hear that the instructors for line dancing are really cool and they really know their stuff. I think line dance would be super cool. All right, it's coming soon. You got show It's coming soon. To Alfie's. To an Alfie's near you. Yep. Good tacos too. At Alpha's. I've never had their tacos. Which is more painful? Forecasting a rainy Saturday in September, knowing you will ruin many people's dream, outdoor wedding and leaf fever's time here, or forecasting a rainy Saturday in February knowing you will ruin a lot of people's ski day. Ski day. Yeah. Yeah. Good. Good. Good one. You only get one wedding? yeah. Maybe one. Most of the people aren't from here, so you know you're not gonna rather ruin their day than our day. Yeah. Also the leaf peppers I don't feel so bad for, so parking everywhere on the side of the road. That's probably the hardest thing to predict. the fall foliage report. Yes. it's impossible to know what it's gonna be. Yes. Even a couple days before you got one storm while the leaves come down. Yeah. Yeah. Fage is impossible. I leave that up to the tree scientists. Nice. So talk a little bit about Stowe. you've grew up here, you left, you came back. Have you seen Stow change, do you think in those years? It's certainly changed a lot from when I was in high school. Yeah. When I was growing up here. I think that Vail played a really big part Yeah. In changing the town a lot. I think the, infrastructure in town has been built up a lot as well since I was a kid. Development. Yeah. There's a lot of redevelopment going on in STO since I was a kid. And it's just different, I think just because I'm not in the school system anymore as well, so it's different community, different group of people. Yeah. Yeah, totally. from when I was growing up here, but it still feels like the same sto Yeah. just in a different font, Yeah. Yeah. What would you say is your hope for STO in the next five to 10 years? I just really hope that it stays the same little ski town that it's always been. I really hope that it doesn't get so overdeveloped and become,'cause we're already seeing it. With the amount of people that flock here in the winter. Now under. Vail's influence as well, and I just hope we're able to keep the nice small ski town community that we've had ever since I was a kid. I hope it doesn't become super overdeveloped. Yeah. All right. we wrap up all of our episodes with one question. This is gonna be hard for you. Oh God. If Stove Vermont did not exist, where would you live? Ooh, okay. It doesn't exist. I would love to live somewhere out in the Pacific Northwest, I think. Yeah. Nice. I would like to be in the Washington, Oregon area. Yeah, I think probably Washington. Somewhere in Washington state. All right. Yeah. Yeah. Two states I've never been to. They're on my bucket list. Me neither. They're on my bucket list for sure. Nice. Yeah. Beautiful place. Yes. All right. Thanks Tegan. Thanks, Tegan. That was awesome. Appreciate it. Hope you enjoyed that episode of the Octagon Podcast. Remember to like us on Instagram and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. See you next time.