I'm a very honest guy with a huge interest in the weather! I'm a Franklin County native and I will always consider the Roanoke Valley my home!

By the second grade, I had developed an on-going quest to learn about severe weather. On a family trip to Myrtle Beach at just 6 years old, I saw tornado damage for the first time. It was from the 1983 Bennettsville, South Carolina tornado. During the same trip, we had to evacuate in the middle of Hurricane Bob! 

I can also remember the infamous Roanoke Valley Flood of '85. I recall the rain beating against my classroom window with the help of wind from Tropical Depression 'Juan'. In Franklin County, the Pigg River would always flood a store along it's banks: Riverside Minute Market.

By 1987, my father bought the store and the property. From that point on, anytime the river jumped the banks, I sprang into action. As a weather enthusiast, I was excited to see a flood. At times, I would be *inside* the store as the water rose up against the shelves. But there were also scary moments.

My father dodged death twice, in two different floods. While nearly 100 on-lookers crammed the sidewalk, I watched as a tree broke a power pole, sending blue flashes of light, sparks, and fire into the very water my father was standing in (he was trying to keep some of the outside merchandise from floating away)! 

During another flood in 1992, my father tried pushing back the ice box from one of the thick, solid glass windows as 4 feet of water pushed the box into the glass. Not only did the glass break, with sharp, jagged, pieces falling right on top of my dad...the water inside the store was only 6 inches deep. So, it was like a dam bursting! He was almost pushed into the torrent, as my mom screamed for his life while the locals stared in awe. Luckily, dad only suffered a small cut to the arm. The store wasn't so lucky, but is now essentially flood-proof - thanks to walls and boarding put up after learning our lesson in 1992.

I went to Benjamin Franklin Middle School and by the 7th grade, I was putting weather reports up in the hallways everyday for my classmates to read. I had tremendous support from my teachers and counselors. 

In January of 1994, I was approached by Franklin County's Cable 12 about doing my very own LIVE weathercast for their new morning show "Rise N' Shine". I jumped at the opportunity and created my personalized weather graphics and forecast, while still learning how to be a teenager in high school!

By the time I graduated Franklin County High School in 1996, I had the opportunity to provide weather columns and forecasts for the high school paper "The Eagle" for 4 years. And I helped teach my classmates how the weather works and how to do TV weather for the Franklin County Learning Channel. 

It wasn't unusual to see me wake up at 5am to gather weather information, do the Cable 12 show from 7am to 8am, go to school and change into my regular clothes...only to put my suit back on again for the Franklin County Learning Channel's weathercast around lunchtime. 

After High School, it was off to the University of North Carolina at Asheville. It was here that I learned just exactly how the weather works and how to better forecast the weather. I combined the TV experience with the science to come up with the style of forecasting I use to this day. While at UNCA, I interned at WSLS TV and was able to land a part time job doing weekend weather during my Junior and Senior years. I was offered a full-time contract right before I graduated in May of 2000.

While at WSLS, I was given tremendous opportunity to go inside some of the biggest storms and report LIVE from the field. I have reported in Tropical Storm Bonnie (Panama City, FA), Hurricanes Charley (Tampa, FA), Dennis (Panama City, FA), Ivan (Mobile, AL), and Katrina (Jackson, MS). It was a honor to get to see nature's fury so close, and to work with the local television stations on covering the details of the storms to help save lives. 

Of course, not all of the active weather happens outside of Virginia. I've reported from floods and windstorms and also from ice and snowstorms. I was lucky enough to have my reports re-air several times on CNN and The Weather Channel.

Forecasting the weather is my life - it will always be. As long as there's weather...I'll be part of it - one way or another!