Press Releases

May 15, 2002
Paul "Jet Stream" Vecchione Was Born to Be a TV Weatherman

Long Islander's Childhood Obsession WIth Storm Fronts and Vector Maps Pays Off

Contact:
Darren Johnson (PR@southampton.liu.edu)
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

People go out of their way to talk to Paul Vecchione. Known locally as "Jet Stream," he has the answer to the question most commonly on their minds: What's the weather going to be like?

"I get stopped all the time, by boaters, golfers, fishermen, just about anyone who likes to be outdoors," said Vecchione, a native of West Islip, N.Y., "and all they want to know about is the weather. I don't mind it at all. In fact, I'm happiest when I'm talking about the weather."

Vecchione, 22, through the College's Cooperative Education program, interned at radio stations and Brookhaven National Lab as a weather forecaster, is graduating from Southampton College on Sunday, May 19, with a degree in Communications and plans to be a TV weatherman. He has already landed an on-air summer job with News 12, and his internship success recently won him a campus award as Cooperative Education Student of the Year. He has a 3.75 GPA. Southampton College stresses hands-on learning and Cooperative Education jobs that give students experience in the field before they graduate.

Unlike most students who go to college trying to discover what they want to do with their lives, Vecchione has always felt that he has a destiny: He was born to be a weatherman.

"Weather has been my life, from the time I was three I was asking about clouds and storm fronts," he said. "Then, one time, when I was five I predicted the weather and it came true." He was hooked.

Vecchione was happiest as a child researching meteorological trends. He convinced his fifth grade teacher to devote a class to the weather. At Southampton College, Vecchione built an impressive resume with weather broadcasting internships at local radio stations - where he was given the on-air name "Jet Stream" - and, after two years of study in reading complex maps and computer models, became the forecaster for BNL on their weatherline. Side research has included Long Island's landfall hurricane history.

"I like the weather because it's something that people don't have control over, but it controls everything. It's something that can wreak havoc or bring joy," he said. "No one can ever look past the weather. It's always changing, and I like being the person that tries to predict it and, also, I like being the person who presents it."

Vecchione credits his parents, Robert and Rosalie of West Islip, for allowing him to follow his dream.

"They have always told me that I'm one of the lucky ones," he said. "How many people have a dream from when they were three years old that comes true? I am lucky."