Junior high student a budding weatherman

By Matthew Daye
Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Most people spend their time bundling up against the severe storms that hit Cape Breton, but one seventh grader would rather report on them.
Greg Hanna, a student at Whitney Pier Memorial Junior High, is an extreme weather corespondent for The Weather Network. He reports nasty conditions as they ravage the island and he’s been doing it since he was in elementary school.
“About three and a half years ago, I went on the website and I applied as an extreme weather team member. The same day they e-mailed me back stating that I was accepted,” Hanna said.
He alerts the broadcaster to what’s happening on the island during storms and other severe weather.
“My busiest time of the year is the winter time and I call them and let them know about school cancellations and airport delays, because my dad works for the air port. I measure the snow and let them know what the conditions are,” he said. “Winter weather is my favourite.”
In his three years of reporting the weather, one storm sticks out in Hanna’s mind.
“There was one day, it was two years ago, we had a really bad storm. School was cancelled for almost the whole week, the snow was that bad,” he said. “We got 12 hours of freezing rain and that was the most interesting for me.”
He gets regular e-mail from the staff and on-air talent for The Weather Network, including Chris Murphy.
“He said one day he hopes to work side by side with me,” Hanna said, noting he plans to become a meteorologist and study broadcasting at Kings College.
Meanwhile, he hopes to continue to be part of the extreme weather team.
“It’s not paying,” he said. “Some people do it because they have the time to do it, but I do it because I enjoy doing it. I’m right more than wrong. Four out of five times I’m right.”
He said he knows what he does is important for everyone.
“Weather affects our daily lives. We’re not going to go outside with shorts on in -20 C weather,” he said. “Our eyes are always on the weather.”