Conquering the Storm with Sam Coplin

In this episode of the Everything Weather podcast, Kyle David interviews Sam Coplin, a meteorologist from WRGB CBS6 in Albany, New York. They discuss Sam's journey from his early passion for weather to studying meteorology at Rutgers and Cornell. The episode includes Sam's experiences working with broadcast legend Lee Goldberg, handling the challenges of weather forecasting in Albany, and how he navigates the changing climate and the complexities of communicating weather to the public.

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A weekly podcast where we talk with people about the weather world, explore and discuss everything weather and the many things that connect to it, and have a little fun along the way. The podcast is hosted and produced by Kyle David, a meteorologist and digital science content producer based in New Jersey.

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Transcript

Welcome & Introduction

Kyle David 0:06

Hello and welcome to the Everything Weather Podcast, where we talk with people about the weather world, explore and discuss everything weather, and have a little fun along the way. I'm your host, Kyle David, and today on the podcast, we're excited to have Sam Coplin. Sam is a meteorologist with WRGB CBS6 in Albany, New York, and he's the first of many, hopefully, fellow classmates that I've gone to school with to study meteorology. Hey there, Sam, and welcome to the Everything Weather Podcast.

Sam Coplin 0:37

Hello, Kyle. I'm glad to be here and I'm glad we get to uh cross paths once again.

Kyle David 0:42

Yeah, absolutely. It's been quite a while. We've been just doing our thing in the weather world, and here we are on the podcast.

Sam Coplin 0:48

Like the time flies. I mean, it was we started because we were at Ruckers together freshman year. What was that? At this point, that's almost six years ago. It's hard to believe.

Lightning Round

Kyle David 0:57

Thanks for making me feel old, Sam. We're the same age. Yeah, but still, you're making me feel old because geez, that six years flew by very quickly. But yeah, we've got you on the podcast. We're gonna talk a little bit about your experiences. But first, we've got a fun game for you, Sam.

Sam Coplin 1:14

Okay, I'm ready.

Kyle David 1:15

We've got lightning rounds. I've got some questions here that I'll ask. We'll do rapid fire style, try and get them in as quickly as we can. With that said, are you ready? I am ready as can be. Alright, so we'll start the hypothetical clock. First question: best weather for a beach day. Best weather for a beach day.

Sam Coplin 1:34

You want the high humidity, you want a lot of sun. This way you are uh most willing to jump into the water. Favorite season of the year? Used to be winter. I used to love snow, and I like tracking it, but I've become more of a warm-bodied person. So I'll go with spring. I like it a little bit warmer now.

Kyle David 1:53

Not summer, huh?

Sam Coplin 1:55

Summer's a little bit too humid. I don't like the humidity that much. Unless I'm by the beach. And in Albany, we don't have beachfront property.

Kyle David 2:02

That's true. Yeah, you miss out on the beaches up there in upstate New York. Most surprising forecast you've ever made.

Sam Coplin 2:09

You know what? I will go an interesting route, and I'll say when we had in June of 2023, the very poor air quality. I never thought when I came up here, I thought there'd be a potential I could be forecasting hurricanes, I thought obviously snowstorms, but forecasting AQI values over 350 was not something that was on my bucket list. So getting that, you of course remember those dense plumes of smoke from those Canadian wildfires. That was something that I'll never forget. And hopefully not have to experience again. That was actually scary. Yeah, back in June 2023. I yeah, I remember pancakes or waffles? Okay, this is the toughest question yet. It's a close one, I'll go pancakes because I don't know, someone's waffles could be a little dry. I feel like pancakes just the taste is a little better. It's perfect. Thunderstorm or snowstorm?

Kyle David 3:08

Snowstorm. Cats or dogs? Still a cat guy. Alright, so snowstorm in the city or in the mountains? City is probably most exciting. If you had to pick a city, which one?

Sam Coplin 3:23

Miami. No, I'm joking.

Kyle David 3:24

I feel like that would a lot of other things would be going on if there was snow in Miami.

Sam Coplin 3:29

I feel like it'd be very exciting in New York, just because it's a city that never sleeps, but when you're getting a cued snowstorm there, it's as quiet as could be when you get a monster snowstorm. It's a surreal feeling.

Kyle David 3:39

I don't want to say fun because I mean it's impact.

Sam Coplin 3:41

It's dark out, the snow's falling, there's that snow smell in the air, and everything's quiet.

Kyle David 3:47

Yeah, there's something with the acoustics with it as well.

Sam Coplin 3:50

Favorite movie soundtrack.

Kyle David 3:52

Making you think with these, huh?

Sam Coplin 3:56

Give me a moment. I I don't know if this is the favorite, because this will take time to think about, but I'll put I like The Lion King. A lot of the music is very fitting throughout the movie.

Kyle David 4:09

It's also written by Hans Zimmer, probably one of the greatest composers of our time.

Sam Coplin 4:15

So and then yeah, the Elton John singing, Don't Let the Sun Come Down on me. It's a very the music's very poignant.

Kyle David 4:21

Tornado Alley or Hurricane Coast, which is more exciting for you?

Sam Coplin 4:26

I'll say Hurricane Coast, because tornadoes happen a bit more frequently than Hurricane Council.

Kyle David 4:34

Favorite guilty pleasure TV show.

Sam Coplin 4:37

I'll go family guy.

Kyle David 4:39

Which weather event is the hardest to explain to non-meteorologists or people who aren't familiar with the weather. That's a good question.

Sam Coplin 4:49

I think in many ways severe storms could be very complicated because there's a lot of factors. Um you could have practically all the ingredients, but it might just not pan out. There could be a lot of capping. There could just be one ingredient that isn't high enough and nothing could happen. And it's tricky because on the phone apps, they'll say 30% chance of a thunderstorm, and you could still get a very strong storm that way. So it's hard to communicate that some spots might get nothing, some spots could get very bad impacts.

Kyle David 5:18

Yeah, that's a whole nother conversation in itself with weather apps. Favorite sports teams.

Sam Coplin 5:25

I like the Nets. Basketball has been my favorite sport for a long time. They haven't been that good the past couple of years, but I'm always going to be a Nets guy. I'm originally from New Jersey, so that's where that Nets roots come from. Unfortunately, I'm also a Jets fan, and this year has just been the cherry on top for all of Jets fans. With what looked like to be a Super Bowl contender now, it looks like a team that probably won't even make the playoffs. And I'm also a Mets fan. That's the one that I'm the most proud of. You could tell the other teams aren't doing well if I'm most proud to be a Mets fan. Because the Mets were very good this past season.

Sam's Weather Story

Kyle David 6:02

Yeah, don't discount the the Mets. They've been they they did a pretty good job, I think. I'm not a big baseball guy, but I was rooting for the Mets because that they're they had an underdog story with that. Yes. Alright. With that said, that is the last lightning round trivia qu or I guess regular lightning round question. So let's get into about you, Sam. So all the podcast guests that I have on, I asked them about their weather story. Because we in the business use the word weather story in one way, but I'm using it in a way to frame your passion for the weather, what got you interested in it. So tell me, Sam, what is your weather story and what got you interested in everything weather?

Sam Coplin 6:42

So I feel like most of the meteorologists or people in the business that have come on here have a story of a specific storm. Would I be right to assume that?

Kyle David 6:53

Some have said a specific storm. I don't have a specific event. I just remember having the passion since I was a kid. There were certainly weather events that piqued my interest, and I'm wondering if there's something that piqued your interest.

Sam Coplin 7:06

It's hard to pinpoint an exact storm. I was always very weather perceptive at a young age. I remember in preschool when I was four years old, crying and getting very scared, telling the AIDS at the school that I was worried because the trees were swaying with the wind. So I was always conscious of the weather. I remember being petrified when I was younger of tornadoes, four, five, six years old. One storm that I think really sparked the interest was you probably remember the Boxing Day blizzard of 2010. Anyone who's listening could look up December 26, December 27, 2010. That was a storm that maybe it was because I was very small, but I don't think I've seen snow rates as quickly. Maybe it was just my perception back then, but I recall my dad cleaning the steps at like 10 at night, and then 15 minutes later there was another what looked like two inches that just fell. It was insane snowfall rates and especially blizzards at a young age. I was captivated by the fact that all the pieces had to come together perfectly to get these storms that I thought were just so exciting and so beautiful. Growing up in New Jersey, we have all sorts of weather. Hurricane Sandy is a staple of my weather childhood, flooding events, severe storms. I just love that every day was slightly different. And what I really liked was hearing broadcasters on TV. Specifically, I'll give a shout-out to Lee Goldberg at WABC. I'd watch him all the time. Would love just the story of the weather, hearing again how all the pieces have to come together perfectly to get these massive storms. And uh, I remember coming home, elementary school, middle school, most kids come home and watch cartoons. I'd always flip on the four o'clock news to watch Lee Goldberg and get the latest forecast. So yeah, the the interest in weather really runs deep. And I knew at a young age that this is what I wanted to pursue.

Kyle David 9:08

And I want to go back actually to that time where you were emotional about the winds, you were afraid. How were you able to take that fear of the weather and turn it into something you're passionate about?

Sam Coplin 9:19

Well, I think a lot of fears I think for a lot of us were very intrigued by things that I guess frighten us. I felt that way. I just recall thinking of the power that was above us, the power in the atmosphere. And I wanted to understand how it worked and how it affects people. I always also like the concept that there's few things that affects everyone, no matter your socioeconomic status. The weather is one thing that everyone is affected by. And I think that's pretty cool. When you meet someone, you ask them your name, you ask them a little bit about themselves, but what's usually a question that comes up? You talk about the weather because it's something that everyone is affected by and everyone could relate to. And there's not many things like that.

Kyle David 10:15

Absolutely. The weather is unbiased in how it affects us all. And I actually want to go back to that. You mentioned that it's a conversation point for people, like in the elevator or by the water cooler. Has there been a moment for you where somebody is asked that, not knowing you're a meteorologist, and you wanted to go a little farther, but you couldn't because you may not understand it?

Sam Coplin 10:34

Yeah. Of course, yeah, the weather naturally comes up in a lot of conversations. I'm not gonna get into in show off my scientific word knowledge, start talking about bombogenesis and cyclogenesis. So I I usually when the weather comes up inside, I'm like laughing a little bit, but unless someone mentions that they recognize me, I'm not gonna go out of my way to tell them that I am a professional meteorologist.

Taste of Broadcasting

Kyle David 11:02

Alright, that's fair. So you sound like from a young kid you realized, hey, this is something I'm interested in. But I'm curious, when did you realize that you could make a career out of this?

Sam Coplin 11:14

As I mentioned, I always wanted to do was at the very least try broadcasting. Um I just I was so passionate about it and I wanted to share that passion on air. And the biggest concern for me was I knew that I had the interest. That's the first thing you need, but it was really a confidence thing for me. I struggled a lot when I was in grade school and even starting out in college a little bit, just public speaking. And obviously, if you want to be a broadcaster, you need to fine-tune your communication skills. I started Ruckers was the first school I went to, then I transferred to Cornell. I went into Ruckers with a major in meteorology, and I still had the interest in pursuing broadcasting, but I was skeptical that I'd be able to make much of a career of it because I wasn't that confident in front of the camera. But then at Ruckers, we had that broadcasting studio right in the building that we lived in. So getting reps doing that helped. I look back now, and those videos of me were god-awful. But just getting that exposure really helped boost my confidence and my belief that this is something that maybe I could do. Then when I was at Cornell, Cornell doesn't have its own broadcasting program, but Cornell is in the same town as Ithaca College, and Ithaca has a very good broadcasting program. So I would go there and get to do live shows. At Ruckers, it was pre-recorded weather casts. Ithaca was live newscasts. So really just repetitions and gaining that confidence from doing it and being able to prove to myself, all right, this is something that maybe you could pursue. I was considering going into operational work with the National Weather Service or maybe doing something finance related with commodities, but broadcasting's the thing that deep down I just really that's what spurred my interest in the field, and that's what I wanted to try.

Kyle David 13:12

And just curious, because you said that the program at Rutgers was all pre-recorded hits, and then when you went to uh Cornell and you participated in the Ithaca College program, it was all live. What was that transition like going from pre-recorded to a more live setting?

Sam Coplin 13:29

It's a whole different animal. Remember at Rutgers, we would have on the whiteboard. I think I'm not gonna say the person's name, but there was someone we kept track of who did the most amount of takes. And there are people, I think the record was like 17 takes just to do one recording. When you're live, you just you have to remember that if you trip up, you got to get back up because there's no redoes when you're live. And that was a bit of a learning curve, but in some ways it helps a little bit because you just it's it's easier to forget because when you have a crutch when it's pre-recorded, knowing that if I mess up, I could do it again. When you're live, you're just you're thinking, okay, if I mess up, I gotta get back up. I even experienced that today, as you mentioned. I'm at WRGB in Albany. We do the live forecast, and then afterwards we record a pre-recorded weather webcast that we post online. And it's funny, the live forecast, obviously, I do it in one take, even if I mess up a little bit. And then the web forecast, after I just did five straight live weather hits, might take me like three takes because I know I want to be so perfect when it's pre-recorded because I know that I do have that option to fall back on if I mess up, if that makes sense.

Kyle David 14:44

Yeah, it's it's almost perfectionism in a way.

Sam Coplin 14:47

Everything in there if you're live, the perfectionism obviously you want it, it takes a back seat. You're you're more focused on getting to the end of the forecast and making sure all your points are hit that you're trying to convey.

Kyle David 14:58

Absolutely. Can you share an memorable experience during your time with the Ithaca College's news program that you participated in during your time at Cornell?

Sam Coplin 15:08

Probably the most memorable would be the first time I did it. Again, this was my first experience doing a live forecast. And I I think there was it must have been in November, and we were talking about Lake Effect Snow. And was it a great forecast? I got through it, but I I certainly was wobbly throughout it. But I think getting through that, and I remember we were I was so nervous. We were sitting at the anchor desk, and then it went to weather, and I think I like fell out of my chair. After you watched it back, you could hear like the ruffling of paper is in the chair. You could hear like my body falling a little bit. But just getting through that, and the first time's usually the most memorable time when you do something. Just getting through that, and even though there were hiccups along the way, knowing that I was able to do a live weather forecast, like I said before, told myself that this is something that I could do. And it was it was good to get that off my chest, getting through it the first time, knowing that at least even if I wasn't perfect, far from perfect, I was able to do a forecast live and I didn't have a heart attack.

Internship at WABC-TV

Kyle David 16:21

Yeah, because it's it's a little nerve-wracking doing it live. And the the fact that you can't do it re do it over, and you're being watched as you're doing it, it brings a little bit of pressure to you as you're doing it. You always got that in the back of your mind as you're recording and you're talking, and even just sitting there. But I actually want to take a moment to talk about an internship that you've done. You actually interned at WABC TV in New York with Lee Goldberg, the same meteorologist that you grew up watching, admiring. I gotta ask, what was it like returning or going to WABC intern to intern with them to learn from Lee Goldberg, the person that you watched as a kid? Yeah.

Sam Coplin 17:04

Oh my god, I did the internship for four months, and even by the end of it, it still felt surreal getting to just be there. WABC is the most watched local television station in the country, and it's no knock on the other New York stations, but it is by far, if you look at ratings, number one in the New York market. So you appreciate the level of talent there, and you appreciate that this is the cream of the crop of people in the industry. So every day I was there, I tried to just take in what I could, even the small stuff, even the non-meteorologists, just seeing how the producers and directors and anchors conducted themselves, showed me what I was shooting for because I'm the type of person where if I get into something, I especially feel strong that if I do something, I don't want to be mediocre at it. I want to be at the top. So I kept viewing myself and thinking, okay, this is the level I got to get to. Most importantly, I took out of the internship just how to be a professional. I saw the way Lee Goldberg conducted himself every day and really marveled at the fact of how easily he was able to turn on his persona. He would be at the computer putting the forecast together. He'd have a live hit in 10 seconds. He'd walk over to the screen and it's just like boom, he jumps right into it. And the way he conducted himself, his way with words, it's just I saw it on TV, but just really getting to see the way he presents himself was just an incredible experience. So glad I got to experience that.

Kyle David 18:37

Yeah, and you got to intern with a very knowledgeable weather team. Ali Goldberg's been there for what 20 years or so?

Sam Coplin 18:44

He started in on like Ali Goldberg Encyclopedia. He started in 1996. And he graduated Cornell also in 1994.

Kyle David 18:54

So you got to connect with a little bit uh with him about Cornell and district.

Sam Coplin 18:59

He came to Cornell while I was there, which is I got I got very lucky. The year I got there, he just happened to be coming back to give a presentation. So that was awesome. That that the stars aligned in that way. So I got to meet him there. I remember when I met him, I was very nervous, so I didn't get to interact with him too much. And then the internship, I saw there was an opening. Actually, someone from Ithaca College sent me, they saw online that there was an opening for this internship. So I figured, why not give it a go? Attempt it. This was something that I could have only dreamed of when I was younger. And just getting to see the studio of the channel I watched all the time growing up, multiple times a day. I know it sounds like I'm blowing out of proportion, but it's really true. It was just surreal. That's the best way to describe it. I also want to give a shout-out to Jeff Smith, who I also got very close with. He also went to Cornell and just a great mentor and also just a great friend who our conversations went well beyond just the weather. And I really appreciate the relationship I developed with him and the entire weather team I got to connect with throughout the internship.

Kyle David 20:15

Yeah, I mean, you weren't blowing it out of proportion.

Lessons from the Pros

Sam Coplin 20:18

Yeah, I tell people like to me, these people were celebrities. To other people, they're newscasters. But to me, this was the show I watched all the time. This was like earnest ones to me, or whatever everyone was watching.

Kyle David 20:30

Of the idols that you got to work with, Lee Goldberg, Jeff Smith, the rest of the weather team, or even other people outside of the weather team, what are some things that you picked up there during your time with your internship that you applied to your current job in Albany?

Sam Coplin 20:43

One thing I noticed Lee Goldberg did a lot is he would always look at the rundown, the show, how the show is set up, how the newscast is set up. So he would see what story is coming before weather. And he would actually go and do research on the story that was right before weather so that he'd have a smooth transition to weather. If it was a weather-related story right before the weather cast, he would make a graphic that would tie in the previous story to the weather that we're experiencing. So that's something that I thought was just very clever. It makes the whole presentation flow even more smoothly. And that's something that I go and I do if if applicable, if there's not a story that is. If of course there's sometimes stories that are unrelatable to the weather. But if I can, I try to go back and just make the show flow as smoothly as possible and make the chats that I'll have with the anchors right before I go into my weather forecast seem seamless. And also just overall, how everyone was just so professional. At the end of the day, this is this is their job. It's a lot of fun, it's a fun job, but this is their work. And when there especially is a big storm coming, New York City is the biggest market. In the country, there's 20 almost 20 million people in the viewing area, and I just appreciated seeing that and appreciated how much they took pride in their work. And I try to emulate that up in Albany.

Kyle David 22:14

I actually want to go back to that strategy that you mentioned you picked up from Lee Goldberg. Can you share a time where you implemented that strategy in Albany where it went very smoothly, and then maybe one time that it didn't go so smoothly?

Sam Coplin 22:27

Okay. I would say it goes smoothly 90% of the time. The the producers generally try to put a story right before the weather forecast that allows the transition to be seamless. There'll be times we're talking about wildfires out west, and I'll quickly put together a graphic, do some research on what's going out out west. We just talked about Tropical Storm Sarah, which was in the Yucatan in Guatemala last week. I'll do my research on that, put together a graphic on what's going on with Sarah, who it's impacting, even if it's not directly impacting us. The great thing about the weather is everything's connected. Doesn't matter which side of the world you're on, you could find a teleconnection. I try to do that, and I think it works most of the time very well. Uh sometimes I try to be a little too clever. It will be a story, maybe not too related to the weather, and I'll try to be a little cute with the transition. And sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it's trial and error. You figure out what works, what doesn't. And I'm still trying to get better every single day.

Kyle David 23:34

Is there a specific moment that you recall where you got you tried to be, as you said, too cute with it, and it just did not stick well?

Sam Coplin 23:42

Well, my producer who I worked with probably wouldn't be happy that I shared this, but I remember there was a weekend morning show, and the story right before weather was about car accidents, and it was just a very sharp turn to talking about the weather, which at the time was very beautiful around here. That was a time where I I should have just jumped right into weather instead of trying to thread that needle, trying to acknowledge the story before and transition quickly to what was the antithesis of that story and the beautiful weather. But even though I hold myself to a high standard, I acknowledge that I'm a few years into this journey. So I view it as just a practice to get better for the next day.

Kyle David 24:28

It's a learning experience. And I'm glad you brought that up because there are times, and I've heard this from a lot of different broadcast meteorologists, where there is such a sharp transition from something that is very serious to the weather, and it's hard to do that. Talk about that.

Sam Coplin 24:45

We're we're woven the weather forecast is woven into the newscast. So sometimes it could be a little awkward trying to navigate around the mood of the day. Like I was on air the day after Trump got uh attempted assassination on July that was July 13th, and the day after was July 14th, and most of the stories were very heavy about what happened as a huge news day. So just trying to sort of appreciate the mood of the news day is important because it's all part of the same show, it's all part of the same show that people are watching on TV. So you want your the way you present yourself to be in some ways reflective of that, if that makes sense. Just that you're uh be aware of what's going on.

Kyle David 25:38

Absolutely. And to change the mood a little bit, go out on a lighter note before our break, what's been the most exciting weather event for you to cover up in Albany?

Sam Coplin 25:48

Exciting. There's been a lot. I've I talked about before air quality, which I guess is not directly weather, but it is the weather impacts our air quality. That is one that comes to mind because that is something that I never thought I'd have to deal with at that type of scale. Literally, those scenes you recall that, but look like we were on Mars with the acrid-smelling smoke and how poor the air quality was unbelievable. In July of last year, July 2023, it was the wettest July on record in Albany. It was the third wettest month of all time. And, you know, the opposite of what we're experiencing now with how dry it's been, but it was like every time we got rain, there was cause for concern, especially in Vermont. Vermont got absolutely hammered by um the flooding in July of that month. So, I mean, there's a lot of things that come to mind. I appreciate the power of Mother Nature no matter the time of year. And I don't want to say it's exciting because a lot of people are heavily affected by these storms. And fortunately, some people, I don't know if in the flooding in Vermont, I think I'm I'm pretty sure a couple people might have lost their lives. I'd I'd I'd say it's more like an adrenaline rush, knowing appreciating the magnitude of what's going on with the weather and how would there are times where the weather is front and center on everyone's mind, and it's your job to appropriately communicate the threat and also appropriately communicate how people should prepare. Because in a lot of ways, we are when there's a severe event, we are emergency managers, we are communicators of what the public could expect and what they should do.

This Day in Weather History

Weather Fast Money

Kyle David 27:44

Absolutely. We're gonna take a quick break right here, but don't go anywhere. We still got plenty more Everything Weather Podcast with Sam Coplin. Stick it right here. The day started seasonably warm and humid across the Mississippi Valley, with temperatures well into the 70s and lots of moisture in the air. Even though the day started somewhat cloudy, the atmosphere was ripening up for severe thunderstorms across parts of the lower Mississippi Valley, including Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee. In the early afternoon, severe thunderstorms were beginning to take shape, one of which started to develop a tornado about five to six miles to the southwest of the small town of Clarkdale, Arkansas. This tornado would begin to strengthen as it trekked northeast, ripping up farmland and damaging some buildings on the outer fringes of town. Around 4 p.m., the violent tornado passed directly through Clarkdale, destroying several buildings. One of the destroyed buildings was the Banks and Danner store, where it was estimated that 40 to 50 people were doing Christmas shopping when the tornado tore through the town. The tornado apparent thunderstorm would continue northeast, with the tornado eventually dissipating as the storm approached the Mississippi River. The storm would produce another tornado in Tennessee at around 5.15 p.m., less than 20 miles to the north of Memphis, Tennessee. Many in Memphis observed the fierce lightning spectacle from the severe thunderstorm, but the storm posed no severe risk to the city. The storm left behind a string of damage from Arkansas to Tennessee. The first tornado that struck Clarkdale took the lives of six and injured 60 others, many of which were shoppers from the Banks and Danner Storm. The first tornado was later estimated to be an F3 tornado with winds between 158 and 206 miles an hour on the Fajita scale, based on the damage it had left. This tornado caused an estimated $150,000 in damages in Arkansas, equivalent to more than $2.6 million in 2024. The second weaker tornado that later touched down to the north of Memphis was estimated to cause $20,000 in damages, but fortunately caused no serious injuries or deaths. So this is Weather Fast Money. We've got five Family Feud style fast money questions that are related to the weather. All these are based off of survey answers from a Family Feud website that I got. With that said, are you ready?

Sam Coplin 31:06

I am ready.

Kyle David 31:07

Name an occupation whose members dread rainy days.

Sam Coplin 31:12

Construction workers.

Kyle David 31:14

Name a state where 100 degree days are common. Name a kind of weather event that makes the front page of the news. Name a place where it's always rainy. Seattle. Tell me a sport you might only play in the winter.

Sam Coplin 31:36

Ice hockey.

Kyle David 31:38

Alright, we've got our answer. We'll see how you do. Alright, so the first question Name an occupation whose members dread rainy days. You said construction workers. Survey says, number one answer. So 43 people said construction is the occupation. Next up is name a state where 100 degree days are common. You said Arizona. Survey says, number one answer. Name a kind of weather event that makes the front page of the news. You said hurricanes. Survey says, number one answer, 32 points. Maybe you'll be the first guest on the Everything Weather Podcast.

Sam Coplin 32:33

Podcast, you gotta keep records.

Kyle David 32:34

Yeah, we gotta keep stats this and keep it a challenge for any other guests that come on. Alright. Next up was name a place where it's always rainy. You said Seattle. Survey says, number one answer. Fifty people said Seattle was the number one place where it's always rainy. Alright. This is the last one. You think you got the sweep?

Sam Coplin 32:57

Yeah, I got the sweep. This is an easy one.

Life as a Meteorologist in Albany

Kyle David 33:00

Yeah. Alright. The last one was tell me a sport you might only play in winter. You said ice hockey. Survey says number one. Come on. Number one answer. So you are the first. You are the first in the everything weather podcast history to get a clean sweep at the Weather Fast Money. With that said, let's get back into our conversation. We've been talking to you about your experience, your weather story. We actually haven't really gotten too much into the specifics of what you do up there. So we'll start off with that. What do you do up in Albany?

Sam Coplin 33:39

So I am now on air Saturday, usually weekend mornings, and I'll do the weekday noon shows three days a week. There's only four of us though. So when one person's out, all the schedules get out of flux. So I've filled in on every single shift. But yeah, on a typical basis, I'm doing the weekend morning noon show, doing the weather forecasts on air during those newscasts. And then I've really dabbled more so. I've been up in Albany for the past year and three quarters. And really over the past year, I've dabbled into reporting a lot more. Generally, they tend to be weather climate stories, but not always. And it's a challenge that I take pride in. I think getting to report, which I'll do on the weekdays after I'm done with the noon forecast, I think it ultimately just helps me be a better communicator. And of course, I love the weather, but it's a great experience and a great way to feel like you're making an impact when you get to report on stories that are really impacting people. And it allows you to connect more with the community that you live in. I also just wanted to add one little fun fact. WRGB is the first television station in the entire world.

Kyle David 35:01

Really?

Sam Coplin 35:02

General Electric in Schenectady did experimental television in the 1920s and WRGB. See, I see you're checking it right now.

Kyle David 35:10

That's interesting. Yeah, 1928. WRGB was started as the world's first television station. Who would have thought?

Sam Coplin 35:17

I felt the same way. Like, who would have thought? I that's something that I tell my managers a lot. We need to promote more. That's pretty cool. There can only be one first.

Community Stories & Forecasting Challenges

Kyle David 35:24

Hey, maybe you should join their marketing team. That's really cool. Yeah. Not many people can say they worked at the first television station in the country. Yeah. And going back to what you were talking about with your work with the community, helping people navigate the weather. Can you share a memorable experience where you made a positive impact on your community and you actually helped somebody navigate that day-to-day with the weather?

Sam Coplin 35:48

Well, I'll first do a story that wasn't still weather-related. In fact, it wasn't weather-related at all. This was just a few weeks ago. I did a story about the fire that broke out a couple nights before Halloween. And a five-year-old boy woke up his father and alerted his father that across the street the house was on fire. The family across the street was sleeping. This was the middle of the night. And the father woke up that family. Now the family doesn't know for sure if they got woken up because their alarm was going off or the neighbors knocking the door. But either way, it was just a remarkable story of this little boy making this huge impact that really could have been very easily a life-saving. I did that story a few weeks ago, and then just last week we did a follow-up, and they had a reunion of the family who lost their home in the fire going over to their neighbor's house, and the fire chief is there, and it was everyone coming together, just appreciating the magnitude of the moment and appreciating the role that they all played in everyone getting out okay. And that was a story that is a reminder about just in general why we do what we do, not even in a weather sense, but just as a reporter, as a messenger of the news. Because we hear a lot of bad in the world today, but you have to remember that most people in the world are good and there's a lot of good out there. And in such a tragedy like losing your home, you could find a really inspiring story.

Kyle David 37:23

Wow, that's a very impactful story there. And in terms of like helping people navigate the weather on a day-to-day basis up there in Albany, just curious, do you have any experiences with that?

Sam Coplin 37:34

I like to say that every day. I'm on days where the weather's active, I am helping people, at the very least, inform them. Um trying to think if there's one specific example that comes to mind. I recall being on air earlier this year. Around so just to paint the picture of where I am geographically, there's mountains on three sides of Albany. There's the Catskills to the west, there's the Adirondacks to the north, and there's the Berkshires and Greens to the east. Those are in western New England. So winter weather forecasting is extremely tricky. Like our snow maps, because you could go in the valleys like in Albany, Schenectady, Troy, and get nothing. And you go over in the mountains and get over a foot of snow. I recall it was a March storm, and March storms in their own right are tricky because they're starting to introduce more warm air into the picture, but there's still, of course, some colder air battling in. And it was a storm that was really just evolving at its own speed, turning out different than what was forecasted. So I recall being on air on a Sunday morning, just really now casting live. And I think I spoke for like 70% of that newscast. It was just weather. So getting to walk people through what was going on, talking about really going town by town, what people were experiencing. You could go 10 miles away in this particular storm, and there were six inches of snow versus just plain rain. Those are the type of experiences that remind me about why I got into this. Just the adrenaline rush I get about forecasting and how unpredictable at times it could be, and also getting to share that deep interest by helping people and helping them figure out how to prepare for the unknowns of Mother Nature.

Kyle David 39:30

Yeah, and forecasting for Albany for those that don't know is quite challenging at times.

Sam Coplin 39:35

It's like the I-95 corridor in New Jersey on steroids. Because you know the I-95 quarter is like the battleground typically between or or I-287, much more snow to the north and west. There's always a thin rain snow line that decides if you're going to get a lot of snow, or if you're just going to get plain rain, a lot of times that'll happen.

Kyle David 39:54

Yeah, I think a lot more of our listeners will know of the I-95 quarter rain snow line. Yeah. But going back to Albany, you had mentioned you're trying to communicate the rapidly changing aspects of the weather. And you had mentioned your particular instance with that winter event. I'm curious, how do you balance your passion for the weather and also communicating these complexities, uncertainties in your forecast and in your broadcasts?

Sam Coplin 40:22

You have to remember that most people watching, actually, I would say 99% of people watching don't have the weather background that we do. I like to add in with these storms why they're happening, how all the pieces are coming together, because maybe part of it is me personally. That's my best workflow about explaining the weather we're seeing now. I try to make sense of it in a broader atmospheric sense. But you have to remember that most people just want to know what the weather is going to be in their neighborhood. And you don't want to scare them, but you also want to find the appropriate volume or tune to have to warn them adequately about what's coming. And that's again something that you need a pretty quick learning curve on. But in some ways, it is sometimes a trial and error, especially when you're first starting out. Unfortunate because my the chief meteorologist here is Steve LePointe. He's been here for 30 years, and he has been the best mentor you could ask for. Really, when I first started watching my forecast, watching my routine, and uh giving me advice about better ways to appropriately communicate uh impacts to people. And I think you also just need to uh you just need to keep remembering who your audience is, uh go back to just like a snowstorm in the winter. The tone should be a little bit different if they're getting six inches in the mountains where they're more used to it, than six inches in the major urban areas, like in Albany, Schenectady, Troy. Maybe not as much attention needs to be devoted to areas that are much more accustomed to winter impacts than those who are not not as accustomed to it, or there's a lot more people impacted. Little things like that that take some time, number one, to get to know the geography of the area and also just learn what before what's the typical tune that they'll strike. Because I'm originally from New Jersey, I'm not from this area. You have to learn what's the typical tune that the meteorologists here strike with particular storms and particular impacts.

Kyle David 42:44

And you had mentioned you're from New Jersey and then you went to Ithaca, and now you're in Albany. Yeah. I'm curious, what are the differences that have stood out to you in forecasting and communicating the weather between New Jersey, Ithaca, a different side of upstate New York, and where you're currently at in Albany?

Sam Coplin 43:01

Well, as we live in a very weather and geographically diverse area, even though Albany is only about 160 miles from where I grew up, the storm impact could be vastly different, especially this time of year. And then Ithaca, you introduced Lake Effect Snow, which has a mind of its own and could really just be a constant impact throughout the winter. I recall in Ithaca, I mean, from November to March, it's just cloudy 90% of the time, and there's just off and on snow showers. And lake effect snow is so tricky because as I'm sure a lot of the viewers here have some knowledge of the weather, you know, you can get lake effect bands where a spot could get six inches, and you go a mile away, and you can get nothing. So that's a problem, that's a forecasting challenge in its own right that you don't typically have to deal with in New Jersey. Sometimes we'll get snow flurries coming down from the lakes, but as 90 per 95% of the time, very little impacts from the Great Lakes. Albany is in between. We have a vast geographical coverage area that expands a little bit closer towards the lakes, but we're still further off towards the east enough that lake effect is not a huge impact here. We get a lot of clouds from the lakes, but we're not usually getting significant snow from the lakes. I'd actually say Albany and New Jersey have similar we're far enough east in Albany that we're more so impacted from nor'easters in the winter. Whereas Ithaca is usually on the western cuff of um any sort of nor'easters. So I guess the challenges are similar in Albany and New Jersey with the mountains. Obviously, New Jersey it's a little bit more uniform. The mountains are all typically off towards the north and west. Whereas Albany, as I said, there's mountains off towards the west, the north, and the east, which creates even on a nice sunny day, you could get, if there's a gusty wind, you could get some downsloping, which could create vastly different temperatures in the valleys versus in the mountains. So it's a great forecasting, really. It's like a forecasting classroom because even on days where the weather's quiet, there's a lot of interesting little microclimates in place. I I think each area has its own diverse microclimate. And that's that's ultimately why why I like the weather so much. Even on quiet days, there's interesting stuff going on, at least interesting to me.

Climate Change & Communication

Kyle David 45:40

There's probably somebody who will care about the same thing that you do. And you had mentioned climate, even though it's this next question is not microclimate related. It made me think of a story that you covered back in 2023 in November on the alcove reservoir during a drought up there. How is covering stories like that changed your perspective on local climate issues and even regional climate issues?

Sam Coplin 46:02

It's a good question. I'll just say that climate change is happening. There's no question about it. I don't know if every single storm that happens, like the media tends to portray sometimes, could 100% be pinpointed to climate change. It seems like anytime there's a disaster, the headlines are about climate change and how this storm was made worse because of climate change. I will say that there's no doubt storms are happening more frequently than they will continue just based on science. If the waters are warming, which we have evidence that they are, storms are going to be worse. Storms are going to have more energy. And just being around the community, not just even my area, but I think about a lot that 80% of the country's population lives on coastlines. And you see cities like Miami that are just really building up along the coast. And Miami's an area that's gotten pretty lucky. Really since 1992, no major hurricanes have impacted the Miami area. There was Andrew. Of course, they've had smaller storms, but you know, I just I get concerned about impending we have people moving along very vulnerable, the population increasing in very vulnerable areas, plus this increasing threat of climate change, and these two forces are coming neck. And we're seeing today that with storms, the impacts are just worse. The threats are just much higher than they were even 100 years ago, because we've really put ourselves in position to come face to face with the threat of increasingly powerful storms, especially hurricanes and storms that utilize the ocean. Most of our population lives right along the ocean. New York City with Hurricane Sandy, 14 feet of storm surge. That's the most populated city in the country. Obviously, Sandy was a very unusual storm the way it made landfall. The ingredients are there to cause a lot of havoc.

Kyle David 48:13

And on that note, how do you communicate these changes, these seasonal shifts, climatological shifts to your audience?

Sam Coplin 48:21

Yeah. Well, everything seems to be political these days, as it's like I view our country as we're two separate teams. We're just any issues that one party supports, it seems like half the country supports. So there's this a little bit of too much of a just tribalism where if you talk about climate change, half I'll see it a lot on our social media pages. Most of people only comment on things if they're very angry or very passionate about it. And that's where we are as a country. It's just a lot of angry and very passionate people. It's a touchy subject. I think the problem is people view climate change as some sort of conspiracy that they don't like being told that something is happening that they don't fully believe. A lot of times you'll see comments like you have some people say I've been here for 50 years, and these storms today are much worse than they were 50 years ago. People that have lived here for a long time just seeing the impact that storms today are having on their community. But then you have other people who are saying, I lived for a very long time. We had storms just as bad 50 years ago. So, and it's hard, it's hard to prove climate change, but science, and it's happening slowly. Fortunately, our bosses, at least at my station, don't ever give us any feedback on what we could say and what we can say in terms of climate change. If I think it's relevant to bring it up, I'll bring it up. The effects of climate change are most palpable when you show them statistics. I'm a big statistic person, so I'll show like the hottest July is on record. And it's pretty darn clear that when five of the past 10 hottest Julys have all happened in the past 10 years, that is telling that something unusual is happening. It's not just an anomaly one year, it keeps happening over and over again. This year is likely again going to be the hottest year on record. So the numbers speak for themselves. I like to show it through numbers. So that's my opinion.

Social Media & Misinformation

Kyle David 50:18

Yeah, that's a fair point as well. I want to actually talk about something. You briefly mentioned social media and seeing different people online stuff. Now, I actually talked with Matt Lanza, who's very active in the social media meteorology world. But I'm curious about your perspective because you are in the same generation as me, where we grew up almost in the digital era with social and digital medias coming into the fold as we're starting our careers. What unique perspectives do you think our generation brings to meteorology, science communication onto social media?

Sam Coplin 50:55

Well, at a young age, I I don't remember the website, but I'd always be involved in weather blogs online. I would get excited to see the postings of the newest computer models that always as computer models come out at specific times. And when there is an impending big storm, there's be a lot of excitement building to see what the latest model shows. As now I'm a young professional in the industry, I get annoyed when I see postings online of outputs on a specific model run of what will happen a week in the future. I get it, it's exciting that this is a possibility, but there's a lot of misinformation online and posting a specific computer model that's showing that there might be a snowstorm a week in the future is a waste of time. And again, most people don't have the same weather knowledge that we have. So if they're on Facebook real quick and see that, they could be entirely misled. And then it just fuels this ongoing belief that meteorologists don't, you know, are wrong 99% of the time. Well, it's probably because where you got your information from was just poor information. My point is that social media has its pros and cons. I like that we're more connected than ever. It's good that just from a weather point of view, people could get weather information easier than ever. But it's ironic, we have more information now than ever, but there's also more misinformation now than ever. There's a lot of people online who are just posting for clicks and posting to garner attention. And I get it. If you post a model simulation that shows a foot of snow, that's gonna get clicks rather than showing the more likely situation or being clear that we don't have enough information at this time to make an appropriate foretest. So my opinion is I like social media, but there is a cloud of misinformation that comes with it. And that was no pun intended, no weather joke there, cloud of misinformation.

Kyle David 52:57

But I caught your earlier pun with atmosphere.

Sam Coplin 53:00

It makes it harder to be arbitrators of truth, especially when there's already a stigma against meteorologists, which by the way, I'm so tired of the you guys are wrong 99% of the time, because when we're right, we never get credit. We only get harped on when we're wrong. And of course we're wrong sometimes, but meteorologists are trying to predict what's happening in the future. And for anyone who is a stock trader, I think they could agree that trying to predict what's happening in the future is not easy. If it was easy, there'd be a lot of very rich people in the world who could just buy a stock and know when to sell it or know when to buy a stock. It's the same type of thing with the weather. We are predicting what's going to happen in the future. So people need to bear with us a little bit and just make sure you find a reliable source of information and hang your hat on that source.

Advice for Young Professionals

Kyle David 53:51

Yeah, the the point is it is very challenging. So, got two more questions for you. We've talked earlier about how broadcasting was your childhood dream. You grew up watching Lee Goldberg, WABC. What advice would you give to young professionals interested in going into the meteorology world or pursuing less conventional, highly competitive career paths?

Sam Coplin 54:15

Well, again, I am certainly not an old wise man who is speaking from decades of experience, but from the short experience I do have, I just really believe that you should have the mindset that life is short and pursue, at least attempt to pursue what you're passionate about. There is an understandable concern, especially for broadcast meteorologists, about the trajectory of the industry. I'm not gonna lie and say that it is completely rosy because the the media landscape is changing. But bottom line is if you have an interest in something, you gotta go for it. And I believe the money will follow. If you're very passionate about something, that passion will drive you to excel in the industry. You maybe want a little bit more money in your paycheck to start, you'll be able to get to a point where that will come if you're very passionate about something. And obviously, passions change. Do I know for sure if I'm gonna be a broadcaster in 10 years? I don't know, but I'm so glad I tried it. It's almost a boost of confidence. I think back 10 years ago where I didn't think I could do it. I didn't think I could be this weather communicator. Fast forward 10 years, it gives myself confidence, even though I know I may not be in it in 10 years. Knowing that I was able to tackle something that I really wanted to do tells me that I could tackle whatever comes next. So my advice would be not ever I know never not everyone has a passion, or at least haven't found their passion yet, but really think what you want to do. Think about things that you're good at, think about things you like, and just go for it. I'm speaking now as someone who is 24. I'm young, I worry a lot about the future. I gotta stay a little bit more grounded in the present and just appreciate the ride because life's short. And if you do what you love, it makes life, especially through this chaotic time period that we're living in. So that would be my advice.

Kyle David 56:32

Wow, some very good advice there, not just for people looking to get into the weather, but anybody in general. Very good advice there, Sam. Got one more question for you. You had mentioned earlier that you have some interest in business. So I'm curious if you could create a startup combining meteorology, some other interests you have, and turn it all into a business, what would it be? And please tell me it involves some sort of swag and stuff so I could get some.

Sam Coplin 56:59

Swag will come eventually. I've developed since the pandemic, I've developed an interest in finance. I've been aware of it for a long time. That is something I could potentially see myself getting into. During the pandemic, when I had some downtime, I really researched a lot about the world of finance and how financial markets work. And there's a very interesting blend between meteorology and finance. Commodities, energy, metals, agricultural products are heavily impacted by the weather, especially all three of them, but especially energy and agriculture. Corn, soybeans, cocoa beans, obviously the impact of how much rain you see in a specific year, how hot it gets, then if you're talking about energy, the impact that hurricanes could have on oil drilling sites, a lot of them are in the Gulf of Mexico. So, of course, this is already a business, but if I were to start my own business, I would probably try to combine those two interests and try to create a business where I'm forecasting and making predictions about how this will impact the price of specific commodities. And maybe also combine my passion of weather communication, telling the weather story by making videos and diving into specific areas, like maybe a cornfield in Iowa, talking about the forecast there and the longer-term forecasts. And there will be swag also.

Kyle David 58:36

Can I possibly get a t-shirt or a mug future for that?

Sam Coplin 58:40

You could get an umbrella. We'll have umbrellas.

Weather or Not Trivia

Kyle David 58:42

There we go. I love that. All right, Sam. With that said, that's our last question. But we're not done yet. We've got whether or not this is going to be a few weather-related, non-weather-related trivia questions based off of what you're interested in, and we'll see how you do.

Sam Coplin 58:59

What's the problem? The bar was already set very high, like mass money, so I can only go down from here.

Kyle David 59:05

We'll see. I I don't think we've had anybody do a clean sweep of uh weather or not yet. So maybe you'll be the first person to clean sweep, but also the weather not trivia as well.

Sam Coplin 59:14

I am ready.

Kyle David 59:16

All right. This is whether or not your first question is U.S. geography related. What is the longest river in the United States? Is it A, the Colorado, B, the Mississippi, C, the Missouri, or D, the Rio Grande?

Sam Coplin 59:34

This one gets a lot of people. I know it's like super close. I think it's the Missouri, just slightly, right? Is that your final guess? That is my final guess. I'm telling you, it's the Missouri. Check it.

Kyle David 59:46

You are correct. It is the Missouri. Isn't it by like the smallest of margins? I don't know the exact number, but I know it's not a huge margin. Yeah. And I know the Missouri, Mississippi combined, because the Missouri drains into the Mississippi is the fourth largest river complex in the world or something like that.

Sam Coplin 1:00:06

Mississippi gets all the attention, but give the Missouri some respect. It's even bigger.

Kyle David 1:00:11

Sounds like you're passionate about rivers too. Yeah. Alright. This is whether or not your question is related to the tropical weather for the northeast. What was the name of the hurricane in the late 90s that caused severe flooding across New Jersey and caused $250 million in damages and six casualties in the state of New Jersey? Was it A, Bonnie, B, Bertha, C, Irene, or D, Floyd? D. Floyd. Final answer? Yes. You are correct. It was Hurricane Floyd. I couldn't say the exact year because that would give it away, obviously.

Sam Coplin 1:00:50

It was 1999, right?

Kyle David 1:00:52

Yes, it was 1999. Alright, this is whether or not your next question is related to sports, specifically the Brooklyn Nets. Who is the Nets all-time scoring leader? Is it A, Vince Carter? B Jason Kidd, C, Brooke Lopez, or D, Kaon Martin?

Sam Coplin 1:01:12

It is number 11, C, Brooke Lopez. Final answer? Yes, sir.

Kyle David 1:01:18

You are correct. It is Brooke Lopez. So far, three for three. Let's keep the streak going here. This is whether or not your next question is related to blizzards in the northeast. Or across the east. A blizzard in 2003 dropped 15 to 30 inches from DC to Boston and also brought nine confirmed tornadoes across the southeastern United States. What holiday weekend did this blizzard occur on? Was it A. Christmas? B President's Day. C New Year's or D St. Patrick's Day?

Sam Coplin 1:01:53

It was July 4th. No, I'm joking. It was uh President's Day.

Kyle David 1:01:58

Presence Day final answer? Yes. Correct. It was President's Day weekend. So far you're 4-4. The pressure's on for this last one.

Sam Coplin 1:02:06

So when do the hard questions come? I'm joking.

Kyle David 1:02:09

Oh, okay. Well, let's see how you do with this last one. This is whether or not your last question is related to food. Spam is considered a popular Hawaiian treat, but the canned meat actually originated from which state? Is it A, Minnesota, B, California, C, New Jersey, or D, Florida?

Sam Coplin 1:02:32

It's funny. I asked for a hard question and you give me one. Alright. All right. I am gonna mentally eliminate Florida. I just feel like it didn't come from Florida. Doesn't seem like a very California thing to create spam.

Kyle David 1:02:45

Okay, this is an interesting thought process.

Sam Coplin 1:02:48

They are a very it doesn't seem California to me. It doesn't fit with unfortunately. Eliminating down to New Jersey and Minnesota. See, here's my thought process. Because I'm from New Jersey, you might maybe you threw in New Jersey as a trip answer because you think, yeah, maybe you just threw it in there because I'm familiar with New Jersey, or maybe it is from New Jersey because I'm from there and you wanted to make a question about New Jersey. It feels like a Minnesota type invention, though. I feel like I would have known. I'm a New Jersey historian, I would have known if spam is created there. I'm gonna go with Minnesota. Let's go. Lock it in.

Kyle David 1:03:27

Minnesota, your final answer. I'm gonna go with it. I I will say before I say the answer, your your thought process of eliminating the answers is very interesting. With that said, final drum roll. You are correct. It's Minnesota. So you are the first person, to my knowledge, that has done a clean sweep of all of our competitive games. So congratulations to you, Sam. How does it feel? The claim the gauntlet.

Sam Coplin 1:03:57

Look, I've accomplished quite a few things in my short life. This is at the top of my list. I want a plaque for this. So I appreciate it, Kyle. Well, maybe in the future. I'm gonna go get some spam and celebrate.

Conclusion

Kyle David 1:04:10

I've actually never had spam. So let me know how that tastes. All right. With that said, that is the end of Weather Not Trivia and the end of the Everything Weather podcast. But before we go, how can people stay in touch with you and your work, Sam?

Sam Coplin 1:04:24

Sure. So you can follow me on Facebook, Sam CoplinCBS6, Twitter, I believe it's CBS6 Sam, Instagram. I actually don't have a work-related Instagram. It's more private. But if you would like to send a request, I will highly consider accepting it. It's just Sam Coplin. I'm also on YouTube, Sam Coplin. And thank you so much, Kyle, for having me on the show. This was a lot of fun. And I won't forget this incredible trivia run that I've been on today.

Kyle David 1:04:54

Definitely. I don't think our listeners will forget that either. And we'll make sure to drop all of Sam's social media links down in the show notes for you to find. Thank you so much, Sam, for joining me on the Everything Weather Podcast. And thank you to the listener for listening to the Everything Weather Podcast. And we'll catch you on the next episode.