Everything Weather Podcast

Telling the Weather & Human Story with Jane Minar

• Kyle David • Episode 21

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Join Kyle David we chat with Jane Minar, a meteorologist at Fox Weather. Jane shares her journey from starting in Augusta, Georgia, to joining the rapidly evolving Fox Weather team. The conversation spans her memorable experiences covering severe weather events like Hurricane Helene and Mayfield, the emotional impact of disasters, and her unexpected career path from local markets to a national platform. Jane also offers insights into staying current with meteorology advancements and the importance of risk-taking and personal growth in a continuously changing industry.

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About the Everything Weather Podcast

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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Kyle David:

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 Jane Minar. Jane is a dedicated meteorologist and communicator at Fox Weather since joining the network in August 2021. She first started in Augusta, Georgia, straight out of Rutgers University. She's now with the Fast Channel Fox Weather, pioneering the way for digital meteorology. Hey there, Jane, and welcome to the podcast.

Jane Minar:

Hey, Kyle. Happy to be on.

Kyle David:

Absolutely. I'm looking forward to our conversation. Before we get into the conversation, I've got a fun game for you. Oh,

Jane Minar:

let's do it.

Kyle David:

So I've got a weather themed and non weather themed game for you. So first, we'll start with the weather one. Rank these five clouds without knowing what comes next. So first up, you have cumulonimbus clouds.

Jane Minar:

Two.

Kyle David:

Two? Alright, coming out strong with that one. Alright, next up, you have lenticular clouds.

Jane Minar:

Ooh. Three.

Kyle David:

Okay. So you got one, four, and five left. We'll see where these other ones go in on the list. Next one is Momodis Clouds.

Jane Minar:

Oh, gosh, they get harder as they go. I'll go four.

Kyle David:

Okay. So we've got one and five

Jane Minar:

left. One and five.

Kyle David:

We've got the extremes on this one, Jane. This is going to be a tough one. All right. Next one up is Cirrus clouds. Oh,

Jane Minar:

that's easy. That's one.

Kyle David:

Number one spot goes to Cirrus clouds. All right. So then the number five spot will go to shelf clouds.

Jane Minar:

Oh, dang. Okay. I, can I explain why I put Cirrus as one? Because people are probably like, what the heck?

Kyle David:

Yeah, go for it.

Jane Minar:

Listen, you know, I love severe weather. It's what got me into wanting to be a meteorologist to begin with. Shelf cloud, cumulonimbus cloud, mammatus clouds, all of which in that same vein. I'm obsessed with. But the reason why I love a cirrus cloud is because, to me, it is such a subtle way of telling you that something is changing without it being such a in your face dramatic look. For me, one thing you learn about cirrus clouds is that it's the highest altitude clouds. They are made up of ice crystals. Oftentimes, they are Coming from a storm that is thousands of miles away. And I've always thought of cirrus clouds as like a way of an early warning that they're beautiful for now. Enjoy your life in the moment, but start preparing for change. And I've just always looked at that as a beautiful way for Mother Nature to tell us she's about to show up.

Kyle David:

Wow. We just started this and we're already getting deep into it and. Me, on the other hand, I just pick clouds just because they look cool. You have a whole philosophical, yeah, a whole philosophical thing, not just with the, the change in the weather, but the change in life as well. That that's awesome. Yeah. I love that. All right. This one may be a little bit easier for you though. Rank these Jersey Shore towns.

Jane Minar:

Oh, I love this one. Yes, bring it on. Jersey Jane is all in.

Kyle David:

Jersey Jane. You gotta trademark that, Jane.

Jane Minar:

Oh, I'll work on it.

Kyle David:

Alright, first up we have Cape May.

Jane Minar:

Oh, see, now this is, one to five. This is interesting. If you would have talked to me a year ago, I would have put it at five. But, now I'm gonna go I'm gonna go The first time I went, I had no idea what Cape May had to offer, and I was just, you go there and you think it's this like little charming town with the Victorian houses, and if you don't know where to go, you can quickly fall into like the tourist trap, or just mindlessly experiencing what Cape May has to offer, but I've since been back with my parents, with my sister, and yes, there's those touristy places, but like, The lighthouse, the beaches, that's the best kept secret. You don't want to go on to the beach or the pavilion, because that's where it's packed. That's where everybody who's coming for the day goes. You want to secretly go towards the quiet end with the lighthouse, which I'm a sucker for a lighthouse. So just being over that way, it's the place to be. The cute little town that I somehow missed the first time I went there with the cobblestone streets, the brick streets, and all the antique shops, and just, I think the restaurant scene is great. They have breweries, wineries, so. It's number two for me now.

Kyle David:

It's a quaint little town. I've yet to go there, but I've seen a lot of it, heard a lot about it. And

Jane Minar:

I think zero baby

Kyle David:

exit zero. Definitely. All right. Next up we have Wildwood going up North on the Jersey shore.

Jane Minar:

Oh, five. I've never been to Wildwood. I don't really have much of an interest in Wildwood. Isn't that crazy? I don't know. For whatever reason, I've lived in New Jersey my entire life and I've never, it was never something that my family wanted to explore. I just don't have an interest in Wildwood.

Kyle David:

Ooh, Jersey Jane's got a hot take on Wildwood. I'd share that same opinion as well. I don't get the hype with Wildwood. I'm not gonna throw

Jane Minar:

shade at our neighbors in Pennsylvania, but I feel like that's just Pennsylvania's transplant Jersey Shore town.

Kyle David:

Where all the Bennys go and the Shoebys, as they say.

Jane Minar:

Yeah, exactly. I'm good. There's better boardwalks.

Kyle David:

Okay, alright, let's see where the other ones rank. Next up we have Asbury Park.

Jane Minar:

I'll go three with Asbury Park. I do love Asbury Park.

Kyle David:

Okay, so we've got one and four left on the list. One's gonna be interesting. So next up we have Seaside Heights.

Jane Minar:

Four.

Kyle David:

Four?

Jane Minar:

Yeah, Seaside Heights is what gave us a bad rep.

Kyle David:

And the Jersey Shore show?

Jane Minar:

Exactly. Oh, I'm interested to see what I'm gonna put number one now. Oh gosh.

Kyle David:

I understand your reason with Seaside Heights. I think you might like the number one that you've selected for yourself. Ocean City.

Jane Minar:

Oh, yeah. Yep. Oh, wow. They, my intuition put me in, in the good spot. You talk about a better boardwalk than Wildwood. Ocean City, the only downside Ocean City has for itself is it's a dry town. So if you're looking for that bar scene that a lot of Jersey Shore towns have, you're not gonna get that in O. C., but it's the perfect spot to bring your family. I grew up going to Ocean City. Um, the boardwalk is fun. It's changing from when I was growing up at the amusement park. It's not there anymore, but they have a quaint little town, the beaches are beautiful, and it's a ten minute drive to get to some of the other bars and beach towns, like Sea Isles. I love Ocean City. I, that will forever be. My number one, one and a half. My favorite beach town is obviously Manasquan, but

Kyle David:

Manasquan. Okay, that's an interesting pick.

Jane Minar:

Manasquan. Oh my gosh, you've got Legates, Osprey. I'm also partial because my family lives there now. But yeah, Manasquan was the beach living In, in Jersey, you always have one beach that you would go to for a day trip. And Manisquan was like right down 195. So that was always our spot.

Kyle David:

I think I've only been there like a couple of times, but not like to the beach, but. It's a good spot.

Jane Minar:

Yeah, they've got good bars, nice beaches, quiet, easy to get to in and out of the city. So that's my number one, but I'm happy with Ocean City. I think that was a good intuition.

Kyle David:

And for anyone listening who wants to go to New Jersey, getting some insights here from Jersey Tane on Well, if you

Jane Minar:

need restaurant recommendations, bars, beaches, I've got you.

Kyle David:

Now Turning the subject back to the weather, you've grown up in New Jersey and I always ask people on the podcast about what their weather story is. Everybody in the business says the weather story is what the day's weather is, the week's weather, or sometimes the month. But in the context of the podcast, we talk about the experiences that got you interested into the weather and what got you into where you are right now. Jane, tell me, what is your weather story and what got you interested in everything weather?

Jane Minar:

Oh gosh, my, my weather story, like I think a lot of us, uh, starts at a young age and, and for me, it actually, my passion for weather and meteorology went under the radar for a little while. I think my, my family and my friends picked I was always obsessed with storms. News 12 Network, uh, they had Channel 61 growing up for me, and it was just like weather and traffic every minute. And growing up I was obsessed because every two minutes weather would come back on and you'd be tracking the radar and all this. The peak behind the curtain, I come to find out that was pre recorded. Like every half hour, I really thought that a meteorologist was going on air, like every minute and like doing a hit, but I was a big softball player growing up. I started playing very competitively at a young age, like 10, 11 years old. That meant for me, I was outside on the softball fields three days a week for practice out every single weekend for tournaments. pretty much all year round. So I had a lot of interaction with Mother Nature in that sense because you're outside all day long, you're impacted by the heat, by the cold, that I have to wear underarmors, going to our eight o'clock game, you're impacted by storms. That's where I got my nickname Radar Menar because I had on my phone the Radar app. And so This is towards the end of my love for softball. I got burnt out when you play so much. But, um, I used to look up the weather forecast before our tournaments for my team and I would text it out to everybody. All right girls, we need the Under Armour because the Temperature's only gonna be, like, 33 when we step out of the field at 8 o'clock. Or, there's a line of storms in the afternoon, so our 4pm game, that might get cancelled. And then you would find me on the sidelines of the field during warm ups, like, tracking the storms on radar. And I'd be like, I don't know if we're gonna get this in, guys. This storm's, like, 20 miles away. And so they just started calling me Radar Menar because I always, like, whenever they had a question or whenever something was coming up, like, they'd be like, Jane's got the radar. She knows. So it was, it was great. And I just loved that. And once I started talking about weather a lot more, um, that's when my family was like, you could do this for a living. You can actually be a meteorologist and it just clicked for me. I was like, oh, yeah, I can definitely do that. Um, but oftentimes a lot of people have one storm or something that was super memorable for them that got them into weather. Again, I just loved it, but if I had to pinpoint, turning point, the solidification of, oh yeah, I want to do this, it was Hurricane Sandy. I was. A freshman or sophomore in high school, when Sandy came barreling into the Jersey Shore, and I just remember leading up to those days, obviously, we're watching the local news, we're tuned in to our favorite Mets. Shout out to Janice Huff. She's my girl. Also my mentor. I was her intern, but watching her for hours on end as this storm comes into the coast until we lost power. And I remember staying up all night when Sandy came pushing through New Jersey and just the wind. And the power of that storm waking up the next morning, we were without power for eight days behind Sandy. You had this dramatic cold that honestly made it really difficult to live in if you didn't have a generator because you had so many people who. We're in their homes without power for so long. I remember going to my family's. They somehow had power in the town over, so we would take showers there, and then me, my mom, my sister, my dad, we would cuddle up and sleep in the same bed because it was so cold in those overnight hours for the week after Sandy. And schools were closed. You had Halloween that was, like, pushed back. Just impact that it had. And then also, just seeing how destroyed the Jersey Shore had been. It was a storm that nobody thought. What could happen taking that that left hook and so that really again just drove home. Yeah, this is I really love this I love weather. I love helping people and Honestly what I love most about weather and probably just the competitor in me playing softball growing up as a kid I love beating mother nature at her own game. I love being able to forecast and Get an idea of a story that is going to unfold as weather happens and see how close I can get. Mother Nature, you didn't pull one over me. I saw what you were gonna do and I let everybody know. That's, I don't know, like, that's, that, that puts a fire under me.

Kyle David:

Beat Mother Nature. I love that little slogan. You should probably catchphrase that too as part of your Jersey Jane and Radar Menar brand. Um, but. You know, going back to what you were talking about with providing forecasts for your softball team, trying to get ahead of Mother Nature and what the forecast could be, was there a time that you got caught off guard and Mother Nature did something really unexpected? You mentioned that a little bit with Sandy, but was there something in between then and now that really caught you off guard?

Jane Minar:

Oh, there's probably so many times that I was wrong, but, and that stays with you. I, to be perfectly honest, there was one day in my first job, I moved to Augusta, Georgia, and I took that job, and we, I'm sure we'll talk about that coming up, but in this one instance, severe weather was where I really wanted to grow when I moved down south, because that's the southeast, that secondary tornado alley that sets up, and so I was really trying to hone in on those skills. But I was, I'm nervous. This is my first job. I'm the one on the screen now telling everybody there's a very real possibility we could have a tornado outbreak. It was a day that we had a moderate risk put out for the Storm Prediction Center. Never in my life had I been in an area where We were under such a high risk for severe threats, damaging winds, tornadoes. I didn't really know exactly to, I think any meteorologist gets it, the climate for where you live. I knew the Northeast. I knew that when we had a squall line of storms that was approaching New Jersey, as soon as it crossed the Delaware, two things would happen. Either It would zap up, and as it approached the Atlantic, the storm line would fizzle, or you could get something that would flare up usually on the south side. So central Jersey had this like weird bubble around it where it was like either the severe line of storms would go north or it would go south. I never had that, like, foresight for the first time in Georgia, being like, what is this line going to do once it crosses that state line and pushes in our direction? Is it going to go north? Is it going to go south? Is it going to come barreling in? So I was preparing for a moderate risk for the worst case scenario. And I remember coming in on that day. I was the morning met, so I'm prepared, like, I'm going to be here all day long. And I looked at radar, and still very powerful with our messaging, have a safety plan, where's your tornado shelter, all of that. And this line of storms was pushing across Alabama, and it did! There was an outbreak across Mississippi and Alabama, so I knew, like, previously how it had played out, but all of the storms had clustered in the Florida Panhandle. And the cold front was still pushing its way in, and I was awaiting all the activities down south, but once the sun breaks out, once we get that daytime heating, then This, this line is just going to blow up. 10 a. m. passes, noon passes, the sun is out, and I'm looking at radar, and I'm like, nothing's popping. What's going on here? This is weird. I'm still on digital, and I'm still pushing this message, the afternoon is going to be really dangerous. Finally, the Storm Prediction Center, they put out like an updated outlook, but they still, they went from moderate to enhanced. And I'm like, alright, that's still a big deal. We could still get some powerful storms out of that. And I'm thinking to myself, I don't know what could possibly be wrong. Everything is there. Why is it not happening? And Sure enough, the day came and went, and Kyla, I'm not even kidding you, we didn't get a raindrop. Like, nothing happened. We didn't get a single storm pop up. It was like a sunny day, and the sun set, we go into the evening, and, and I was so perplexed. When you have a moderate risk for severe weather, you don't expect That was one day where me and Mother Nature, I was like, what did you just do? Like, how did that, how could that have happened? But honestly, it was such a blessing because then, here I am, I'm young, in my career, with DMA, which is just a fancy way of saying this is my zone of the public that I have to answer to and communicate with. And they're looking at me like, you got that wrong. And I'm like, okay, where can I learn from this? Right? Because there's always something to learn when Mother Nature's beat you and you have to figure out what card did she play that you didn't expect. So I called the National Weather Service out of Columbia and out of Charleston and I got on with their lead Mets and I was like, Can you just give me some, what do you guys see? What did you think happened? And they were like, no, honestly, we're just as perplexed as you are, but we think this is what happened. So all of that thunderstorm development that kind of clustered itself on the Florida Panhandle, it robbed the moisture from North Georgia. So as that storm, as that line, that cold front pushed in, there just wasn't enough, there wasn't anything for it to grab onto. We had all the heat and all the instability in the world, but if there's no moisture You're not going to get anything to rise and to lift and to form clouds and form storms. So, that was ultimately the outcome. And so, from then on, I'm not kidding you, Kyle, like, I, every single time we had a severe threat and I knew it was a cold front that was coming in from the west, I would wake up in the morning and the first thing I would look at, are there storms on the Florida panhandle? And how much moisture is getting robbed from us right now? Because that will help me determine how the day is going to progress. And honestly, it's never failed me since then.

Kyle David:

Neat little forecasting trick there for those who want to learn a little more about forecasting for storms in the southeast. Yeah. I'm curious. I'm thinking of How you may have reacted to that. Um, did you have a reaction of something like. Hey, what's up? Why didn't you do anything in terms of, like, the weather?

Jane Minar:

Of course. And then I also had to tell the viewers. I was just straight up honest with them. I was like, guys, I'm as perplexed as you are. This is what happened. And I think meteorologists can get a bad rap when the forecast doesn't plan out how they were told or how it was planned. But there's a learning lesson for everybody in, in that. And I'm always a big proponent of, if we tell you something is going to play out this way and it doesn't, it's also my job and my responsibility to tell you why. And to tell you how, that's just how this played out. But it doesn't mean that the next time that risk is in the forecast, it's going to play out the same way. I'm just telling you, this is what happened. And this was a learning experience for everybody, but hey, take away the silver lining. You had your severe weather plan top of mind. You knew what to do. You put that into practice. So that's, I take a lot of ownership. on that. As always, as much as I want to prepare people and tell them why something is going to happen, I also want to tell them why it didn't or why it won't happen.

Kyle David:

Yeah, I think that's very important. We'll explore that a little bit more later, but I want to go back to something you mentioned earlier that you interned with Janice Huff. For listeners who do not know, she's a very famous meteorologist at NBC4 New York. Very long time there, I think like 20 years at this point or 20 plus years?

Jane Minar:

She just hit

Kyle David:

30. 30. Wow. Okay. Milestone. Yeah. So you interned Janice Huff, who has 30 plus years of experience. I'm curious, what are some of the most rewarding and challenging moments in terms of interning? With the number one market in the country, and then also with a very experienced meteorologist like J. S. Hough.

Jane Minar:

Yeah, I just adore her. I owe so much of my success and my love for weather and just overall mental health and happiness to her. But, yeah, I remember the day that I got that internship. I was in Ocean City, New Jersey, on vacation with my family and I Being at Ruckers, and this is a plug for Ruckers. For anybody who's Interested in becoming a meteorologist. I'm a hardcore proponent of our program. We are so unique that we had an opportunity presented where we could take the train right into the city from campus. Unlike other universities that have a meteorology program. That meant that I had access to a top tier internship program in off semesters. Fall and spring, I would have naturally less competition than the summer semester would have. I took a risk and I was a sophomore going into my junior year and I was like, I haven't taken any of the big meteorology classes yet, but I've grown up watching you, Janice, I have such a passion for this. I went and met her that day, and I'll never forget the story, where my dad, he used to work in Manhattan, and it was like 60 degrees that morning, and he was like, whatever, you don't walk from Penn Station. And I'm like, why dad, it's so beautiful, like, why wouldn't I walk? He's like, just don't, you're gonna sweat. And I was like, no I'm not, I'll be fine. Oh my god, sure enough, I get to NBC and I had walked, and I was like, Profusely sweating and like it wasn't even it was like maybe a little mix of nerves But also to like it's Manhattan your adrenaline is up And so it was like two minutes before meeting with her I'm like in the bathroom like trying to calm myself down and she was just so sweet and so nice and took me around At the end of just chatting with her about like life and weather and and my goals and aspirations She was like, alright great. We'll see you later. And I was like, so you mean I got it and she was like Yeah, you're in. You got it. From there, I went on to do five consecutive semesters. Uh, I think still to this day, I'm the longest running intern that NBC has ever had. At one point, they were like, we've just hired you at this point. But I had a lot of opportunity at NBC and a lot of that Janice, of course, but then you had Raphael Miranda and Erika Groh and Dave Price. Wonderful Mets on the team that, they just embraced me like family and gave me so much opportunity to learn about TV and the industry and how you prepare and prep for getting onto the big screen and then what comes like in those moments and I just hit the ground running by learning and absorbing as much as I could, not even just on the weather side, but on the news side, how they folded weather into their news story of the day and it was eye opening it solidified that this is What I wanted to do and I enjoy creative thinking and storytelling and being the person who's communicating that. But I think Janice was so important for me because she was just She came at me almost like I felt like a niece or a daughter to her. She would support me, but also give me the hard facts about life. And I learned a lot about production and building graphics and all of that. But then also, too, she was the one who took me aside when I was doing green screen practice and stuff. I always felt like I needed to be perfect. Like, I had to get it right every time. And if I stumbled over my words or if I messed up, I just Oh, we're gonna restart. And she was like, Jane, you don't get restarts on live television. You just gotta keep powering through. And she was like, I want you to look at the camera, and instead of looking at the camera like there's a million eyes on you, look at the camera like there's one person who you adore and who you love and have a relationship with, who you can just be Jane in front of. And I picked my grandpa, my G, who loves weather as much as I do, and oftentimes our phone calls usually talk about the weather forecast or something like that. He calls me and gives me the countdown to spring every year. I decided, okay, I'll talk to the camera like it's G. And She was like, but you can't stop. If you mess up, what would you do with G if you stumbled over your words? I said, I'd probably just laugh it off and keep talking or say it. Oh, yeah, I just messed that up and she's good Just try that and so I did and I got there a full forecast and I stumbled a little bit but I kept going and I still have that video. Um, and looking back on it, it's funny how your voice changes over the years and you grow and you look different, but I'm still so proud of having that video and knowing that that was honestly like the catalyst for so much growth. And, you know, having her stand there next to that camera and give me that advice, knowing that like she was there to support me. And she just has been from day one, you know, pushing me like a little bird out of the nest, uh, encouraging me to, to grow. Take the job, you know, farthest away from home. It was only temporary, but it was how you needed to grow.

Kyle David:

That's really awesome, sharing that experience, and it's not only good advice for people looking to get into broadcast meteorology, but public speaking in general, just imagine you're talking to your friend or a loved one.

Jane Minar:

Yeah, I mean, it's really that simple. Because the thing is, if you mess up, it's really never as bad as you think it is. In your head you're thinking that's colossal, oh my god, I can't believe I just said the wrong word, or stumbled on that, or hesitated. At the end of the day, once you keep talking and you keep your confidence up and you just move on, people forget about it.

Kyle David:

Definitely. It's just a small moment. It's a drop in a water bucket, basically. But you had mentioned, Janice gave you the advice that you should go for the further station, get out of the bird's nest, if you will. Mm hmm. And we mentioned in the introduction a little bit that you went to Augusta straight out of your time and studies at Rutgers. And that's pretty far from the New Jersey bird's nest for you. Mm hmm. I'm curious, what was a high point and a low point for you during your time down in Augusta?

Jane Minar:

Augusta was, I think the lowest point for me was just adjusting to life. Here I am, 22, 21, 22 years old. I'd never left New Jersey. I left New Jersey on a vacation with my family or friends for a couple of days or like a week. But never in my life did I move away from New Jersey. I went to college 20 minutes from my parents house. I took the train home when I needed to for Sunday dinner. So that was biggest. It was a low point and a high point, but the job itself and there, there's a lot that I could go in about the meteorology side, but real quickly just about life. I think for me, I needed to move away from my family and from that bird's nest that I had found myself in because there was such a comfortability in that, that I wasn't growing. And it was a hard adjustment when I moved to Georgia, that was the very first time I ever experienced depression or anxiety in my life, ever. I, I never knew what that could feel like for me, and it was worrisome, my parents were worried, they came down to visit me just to make sure that I was okay. But I remember having a very specific conversation with myself. Six months into moving down to, to Georgia, I was just in a rut. I did not know how to move forward. I had friends, but it didn't feel how it felt at home. My college friends and my home friends. I was missing my family. They would FaceTime me on Sunday dinners, and I'd be like, serious FOMO. And I had gone home for Christmas, and it was really great to be back with my family, but I also felt this weird tug. Oh, it's okay. I can go back to Georgia, and I will be all right. And I remember having this conversation with myself on the plane home, saying, It's a new year. You're here for the next year and a half, you have a contract to fulfill. Instead of worrying so much about what you're missing, why don't you build something for yourself here? And I did. I just hit the ground running. I started. Working on myself and my craft and meteorology and going on TV on the green screen and making sure I took pride in how I looked and building friendships and a family there because my family was a thousand miles away and I wanted to fall back on something and honestly, the next, that next year and a half. Was incredible when you talk about going from such a low point and how negative I was like viewing this amazing opportunity to leaving Augusta and The family and friends that I had made, who are still a part of my life to this day, and crying so profusely for leaving that stage of my life, so much personal growth, so much professional growth, had come out of that year and a half, once I made that decision, that nothing in life is permanent, this is temporary, but while I have this, Let's make the most of it. So that's like the personal side of the high and low. If there was a professional high and low, I would say just the growth. I went into that job actually expecting to be a weekend meteorologist. It was a station that was sourcing out their newscasts. To a Savannah sister station, but they were bringing everything back in house. So when they hired me, they were expanding their meteorology team. They only had one meteorologist on staff and I was the second one they brought on. They were like, we are gonna have you do our weekend show. But the thing was, the weekend show hadn't launched, so I came down there without any clue of what I was going to be doing. But I decided, hey, you guys need a new graphics package. I just learned how to do that at my internship at NBC, so let me build that out for the first six weeks that I started the job. And I built it out, I sent it to the corporate, because we were a small owned station, Lockwood Broadcast Group, so they only had a handful of stations across the country. It wasn't like I went to a Nexstar or a Grey or a Sinclair. This was really an opportunity for me to show my skills and to build something with this, we were Fox 54. So to build something with this station. And so they were very receptive. My general manager, um, Denise Vickers, uh, she gave me so much rope and I appreciate her for that because there was so much growth. Um, That came from her, I think in a lot of ways, believing in me, because not only did she take this girl out of college who had no experience, but then she allowed me to build a whole new graphics package, and then when they launched an evening newscast in the weekday, she came to me and said, actually, I'm going to have you do weekday mornings. So that was also, too, for anybody who works in the industry, especially coming out of college, to land a Monday through Friday job in a medium market, that was like striking gold for me. I was like, this is amazing. How many reps I'm going to get under my table, uh, To be able to grow. So that was really, I think the high point for me was just being able to embrace where I was at in my career. I always strived for more. And boy, does Janice Hough know that shout out to Janice. If you ever listened to this, all the hours of talks that we had on the phone discussing my dreams for the future and what I wanted and what I was grasping at. But she would always remind me like, this is where you are right now. So how are you going to make the most of it? And that was. The best advice that I had, and that I listened to, to then propel me to my next job, which was Fox Weather, which I didn't expect that in a million years. Not many people have that opportunity, but I know that me getting here also took a lot of hard work And it also took a lot of risk the sleepless nights that I had over leaving Augusta, Georgia I had to break a contract to get out of my job in Augusta because I had re signed to stay there for another three years because other medium sized markets didn't want to take a chance on me and so I I decided to stick with what I had in Augusta, which was, okay, I could stay there for another three years, get more reps Monday through Friday. Five days a week under my belt. That seems like the best case scenario. And then here comes Fox weather knocking on my door. And I came to Fox weather as a producer. I broke my contract in Augusta moved a thousand miles back to New York, back to New Jersey with my family, which was really a motivating piece for me. But some of the best advice I'd given. I had been given was actually for my uncle. He is in the music industry. He's done very well for himself. Very successful. And I called him because I wanted to get His take on it. I had gotten advice from Janice Huff I'd gotten advice from all my mentors who worked in this industry and he like adjacently works in the entertainment world But the best advice he gave me when I when I was telling him I was questioning whether or not I wanted to take this Job and get off of television to take a producer role. He looked at me like I had ten heads. He was like Why are you why is this even a question for you? This is such an amazing opportunity This is such a risk, but think about the doors that can open up. Maybe you never make it on television at Foxweather That's what he would say to me He'd be like maybe you never make it on television there but because you stepped foot in that door and the people that you met You don't know where that can lead for you. You're in the number one market. It's New York City. Everybody wants to be there. And it's going to open so many doors for you. And he was like, I took some big risks in my career. I went in the red. I took contracts that were less than what I had been making because I knew and I believed in the product of what this next job was going to bring. And so he was like, you know, you have to sometimes Not be afraid to go in the red to, to build yourself up to that next level. And, um, I also came here because I had a lot of people who supported me, who helped bring my, me into the door here. Mike Rollins was over at NBC. He also, he's here at Fox Weather now, but he called me and said, I really want to bring you on. And so. It was the best decision I ever made. I think it was very untraditional because I jumped off of being on television with no promise. I wasn't under a contract, so I thought, okay, maybe I do this for a year, I can leave, and if I really miss being on TV, I'm not out of it long enough that I can't use my work to help propel me back into that space. It took a month. And I think also the reason why that happened for me, is because I got here knowing I wasn't going to be on television. I got here telling myself, if I'm going to come and be a producer, I'm going to be the best damn producer Fox Weather's ever seen. And I went to Mike and Greg and I said, listen, we do these, like, morning calls. I want to lead that. I want to be the person on our team who gives the weather story of the day. That was my way of trying to keep myself in the broadcast world, talking to others and communicating. And they were like, sure, go ahead, have at it. So I just made it my mission to give a really compelling three, four minute. Weather forecast at the top of each of these planning meetings every day and honestly, truly to my surprise that then led to Shari and David Clark and Diane doctor coming to me and saying, Do you want to do a screen test? And then I did the first screen test and they were like, maybe not. And I was like, I'm just happy you gave me a look. Another two weeks go by and they said, okay, you want to do another screen test? And I still had no expectations. And I think that's the thing. If you're going to take a risk and if you're going to be all in on something, be all in on it with no expectation that it's going to lead to something. Because that's when that starts to get a little iffy for you. You have to be intentional with why you're doing something. I wasn't doing that because I wanted to be on TV. I was doing that because I had committed myself to, again, being the best producer, best communicator that this team had. And because I did that, it then led to the unexpected surprises of getting an opportunity to I went through the trenches as well, and you still push yourself through the trenches every day. I worked overnights for the first six months, and that was grueling. There were a lot of times I'm up 8 p. m. to 8 a. m., and I'm like clawing your eyes out. But also, too, it's like what you do with that. Janice would be like, Jin, you're getting a paycheck, right? And I'm like, yes, I am. You're right. And she's like, how many people would love to be in your position? I'm like, thank you for the reminder. I'm really grateful for my network and my people because being humble is, I think, so important. And it's, I think, what's One of the more important characteristics for me, having an ego, everybody has an ego in television, but what you do with that, you don't want that to outshine anything that you do. Of course I'm competitive and I want to be number one or I want to do this, but at the end of the day, you have to be humble and Be grateful and work hard and as long as you do that, you'll be rewarded, right, with some risk taking at the same time. That's what I did. Kept my head down. I met a lot of people and that has opened doors for me and started relationships for me. That's been incredible and I'm very grateful for it. I count my lucky stars all of the time.

Kyle David:

That's a big transition from right out of college interning with NBC4 New York. Down to Augusta and then to a national network that's just starting up huge transition and we're gonna explore that more After the break, but I'm just curious before we get into the break What was the biggest adjustment for you from going from New Jersey weather? Learning the Southeast weather and the severe weather, like you mentioned, and then going to a national scale having to cover all different kinds of weather across the country.

Jane Minar:

I think the biggest thing that you learn is you don't know everything, but you have to be open to learning it. I knew nothing about the West Coast. I never had to know anything about the West Coast, but then I got thrown into the spotlight where you better know the West Coast because you have to talk about it for five minutes. So that was a huge transition, really opening up the meteorology textbook again, but also leaning on my co workers that we have an incredible team here. And I think for me, just knowing, hey, beyond being honest with myself, I don't know. Um, so I don't know everything about the entire country's weather and climatology, and, but you might know something. So for me being able to accept that I wasn't an expert and learn from people who were.

Kyle David:

Definitely, we're going to get in a little more of that. After the break, we're going to take a quick break right here, but don't go anywhere. We still got more Everything Weather podcast with Jane Minar coming up. On this day in weather history, we revisit the tornado outbreak of March 10th through 12th, 1986, a significant and widespread event that produced 44 tornadoes across the central and eastern United States. On March 10th, a low pressure system between Missouri and Illinois was ripe to produce severe weather as it moved east. It drew in plenty of warm, moist air from the south and cold, dry air from the northwest and had strong upper level winds available during the day. At around noon eastern time, severe thunderstorms began to blossom across Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana. The first tornado of the outbreak break occurred at around 1. 30 p. m. Eastern Time near Paragon, Indiana, just to the north of Bloomington and southwest of Indianapolis. This F3 tornado would track northeast through the southern fringes of Indianapolis, leaving behind a 35 mile path of destroyed and severely damaged homes, barns, and infrastructure. Shortly after, at around 1. 50 p. m., a weaker F1 tornado struck the Indianapolis suburb of Mars Hill. causing moderate damage to houses and roofs during its brief two and a half mile trek. The Indianapolis area would continue to see tornado activity throughout the day, with two twin F2 tornadoes occurring to the southeast of the city at around 2 p. m. eastern time and tracking northeast through the Indianapolis. Suburbs of New Palestine, Bogstown, Sugar Creek and Greenfield, the severe weather outbreak would continue to spread across the region on the 10th, with several more tornadoes occurring in Indiana and Ohio. This included several tornadoes on the outskirts of Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, during the afternoon between 2 p. m. And 4 p. m. One of these tornadoes was an F3 tornado that caused considerable damage to multiple homes in Lynn, Indiana, despite dodging direct impacts from these tornadoes. A strong thunderstorm downburst hit Cincinnati with winds estimated up to 100 to 140 miles per hour. Windows were blown out of the control tower at the Greater Cincinnati Airport, injuring six air traffic controllers and causing widespread damage. spread structural damage across the city and suburbs. Towards the south of Kentucky, the severe weather was just ramping up. Just before 5 p. m. Eastern Time, a strong tornado tore directly through the center of Lexington, Kentucky, inflicting severe damage, including to the University of Kentucky campus, the Parks Hill Shopping Center, and over 900 surrounding businesses and homes. Despite going directly through the city and causing widespread destruction, only 20 people were injured and no fatalities occurred. The region would be hit by more severe weather on March 11th and 12th, as another low pressure system originating from the Rockies swept east and produced 24 more tornadoes across the region. However, the majority of them would occur in Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. The strongest of these tornadoes was in F. for that tore through Meridian, Mississippi, causing significant damage, though miraculously, there were few injuries and no fatalities given the typical nature of such violent tornadoes. The two systems produced a three day outbreak of severe weather and tornadoes, producing a total of 44 tornadoes across the East Central United States. The outbreak caused six fatalities, 122 injuries. And over 25 million in damages, equivalent to more than 75 million in 2025. Hello and welcome back to the Everything Weather podcast. I'm your host Kyle David, and today we've been talking with Jane Minar. She's a meteorologist over at Fox Weather. She has a very unique experience from getting to intern with the great Janice Huff at NBC4 New York, then getting to work down in Augusta, Georgia, getting A lot of reps and spotlight attention down in Augusta and then transitioning to Fox Weather, which is a more recent national weather network. So we're going to get back into that conversation a little more, explore a little bit more about what it's like working on the national scale of weather. But first, I've got another fun game for you. This one is going to be a very interesting one related to weather and cooking. So we've got, you have 15 to create the ultimate weather and cooking show. You got four things to spend the 15 on, and you have to be a little strategic with it and budget things out as you go along. But with that said, are you ready to build your weather and cooking show?

Jane Minar:

Wait, hold on. Am I buying tools or am I buying food?

Kyle David:

Of the shows you get to have a Uh, famous chef and a meteorologist as well. You also have a theme that you have to pick. How will the weather be incorporated into the show with the cooking and the overall program. You also have cooking style, what type of food is going to be featured. And then you also have a special feature, what makes your show unique. So, with that, are you ready to budget out your show and create it?

Jane Minar:

Yeah, let's do it.

Kyle David:

You get the Swedish chef from the Muppets and a student meteorologist for $2. You get binging with Babish and Tory Smith at WFXG in Augusta. Not sure if you've worked with her though, but she may sound familiar to you. For $3, you get Adam Richmond and Britta Merwin. For $4, you get Rachel Ray and Janice Huff from NBC four And for $5 you get Gordon Ramsey and Jim Canto.

Jane Minar:

There's because I love my girl Britta and I think we could have a lot of fun with that.

Kyle David:

And that sounds like a very interesting combo. So you got Adam Richman and Britta Merwin as your host for the weather cooking show.

Jane Minar:

Okay.

Kyle David:

So for level two, you have the theme. How will weather be incorporated into your weather cooking show? For 1 you get occasional weather mentions in your cooking segments. For 2, you get a basic forecasts and meal pairings that go along with the forecast. For 3, you get cooking to match seasonal weather patterns and seasonal climate patterns. For 4, you get recipes inspired by historical weather events. And for 5, the cream of the crop is cooking and weather challenges based on real extreme conditions.

Jane Minar:

I think I like number three.

Kyle David:

The three dollar for cooking to match seasonal weather patterns and

Jane Minar:

yes, because I am that is I think such a cool idea I actually have a passion of making a cookbook that is surrounded by that using seasonal vegetables and whatnot you can Build a table around that. I love that idea.

Kyle David:

All right. Good pick. You can, you can ball out with one of the categories coming up, but the next one up you have cooking style. What type of food is going to be featured in your show for 1? You get plain everyday recipes, like college recipes that you would cook at a dorm. For 2, you get simple, quick, and weather ready meals. For 3, you get comfort foods that are designed around those seasons, those weather patterns, those climates. For 4, you get global and regional dishes tied to the meteorology and the climate. And for 5, you get gourmet and innovative cuisine that's really on the forefront of cooking with a meteorology twist.

Jane Minar:

I think I'll do two because listen, nobody has time to sit down for hours to build a meal unless it's in a crock pot. I like the quick and easy weather ready meals.

Kyle David:

All right.

Jane Minar:

I'm going to write that down. That was nice.

Kyle David:

Hey, feel free to use it for your cookbook as well. So you got seven dollars left for this. Next one. So you can really ball out and hey, you can even use the dollars left

Jane Minar:

over.

Kyle David:

Yeah. You can use the 2 elsewhere as well. So for your special feature, what makes your show special? I'll just go down from 5 to 1. So for 5, you get celebrity guests. And live weather science demonstrations for $4. You get interactive weather cooking challenges and participation from the audience. For $3, you get some cooking, weather trivia segments. For $2, you get some behind the scenes weather and food science explainers. And for $1 you get a whiteboard blackboard for cooking and weather diagrams.

Jane Minar:

Oh, you know, I'm gonna go with the celebrities. How could you not? If that's $5 on the table, you've gotta bring that in. So yeah, I'll spend the big chunk of cash on that one.

Kyle David:

Alright, if you could, where would you spend those two dollars?

Jane Minar:

Where would I spend it? I would probably spend it on another host somewhere.

Kyle David:

Okay, so for 2 you can get Binging with Babish and Tori Smith, and for 1 you get the Swedish chef from the Muppets out of Student Meteorologist.

Jane Minar:

I would get the Student Meteorologist. Because I would love for them to learn. So that's only one dollar. I got another dollar to spend.

Kyle David:

But like, real quick, we'll just, like, read out what the weather cooking show is. So you've got Adam Richman. You've got Britta Merwin. You've got the Swedish chef from the Muppets and a student meteorologist of your choice doing seasonal weather pattern themed cooking recipes and their comfort foods. And your special feature is you get celebrity guests that come on. You get weather. Live weather demonstrations. That sounds like a really awesome weather cooking show, Jane. It really does. Hey, Food Network, Adam Richman, let's make this happen. Cool. All right, that is the end of the You Have 15 to Create. That is probably the best one that we've done so far up to this point. But let's get back into more of the weather conversation. We've barely talked about your stuff with Fox Weather, and we talked a little bit about your work with Augusta. So to kind of introduce us. to Fox weather and wrap up a little bit with your conversation, your time down in Augusta between the two. What is the most memorable weather event that you've had to cover? And what was the most challenging weather event that you've had to cover?

Jane Minar:

Well, when I was in Augusta, we did end up having severe weather. It was on a day that did not bust like we had with the moderate risk. It was around Easter, April and overnight nocturnal thread that continued into the morning. And we had, I think, nine confirmed tornadoes in our area. So that was a challenge. That was the first time that I really had to show my chops, like I'm on air and I'm tracking these tornadoes. I'm telling you, you need to get to a safe place. I think what was interesting about that time was I was so new. You go off of what you learn in school, and then I was lucky enough to have a couple great mentors that I had met along the way through my internship in New York, and then just through the industry, going to AMS, stuff like that. Katherine Prosser, she's another one. She's over at NBC. She was at The Weather Channel for a little while. Severe weather guru, especially with tornadoes, and so I would call Catherine up and I'd be like, Hey, there's this severe weather threat, what should I look for? And she gave me so many tools to use my disposal, like, When you're looking at models, this is a good indication, hodographs, stuff like that, and that was A memorable and challenging day for me because I had to really put all those tools together and I was tracking serious threats for the first time ever I was like, Oh, no, this is a confirmed tornado. And we had nine I think the strongest was an EF three. We go from from there to then Fox weather. There's so many memorable moments it's hard to pinpoint one and I think honestly I'm a little bias towards recent see where we had Hurricane Helene. And. That storm, definitely something that will stay with me for the rest of my career. I remember, I, the thing is, I remember the severe weather outbreak that kicked off. That was the first time I ever got emotional. That was Mayfield, Kentucky, December 2021, on air for six hours with Steve Bender, tracking that tornado. Marisa Torres and Nick Koster, they had taken the helm of that tornado as it started, and we finished it out. And also, two were like on the air in those overnight hours for like the first images, the first pictures. Knowing that you're tracking a tornado that is It's almost weird for me to say that too, to know that something is happening in real time and it's actually causing life threatening injuries or, or like, that's just such a weird thing to have to put yourself into. That tornado outbreak, that was the first time. That I, like, went home and I felt the emotions of that, right? After being on television, there's almost this mode that kicks in where you have to suppress a lot of that. But I think Helene, I had gotten emotional after I got off air in Mayfield. I think what was eye opening in growth for me with Helene was that was the first time emotion came through. My reporting. And I felt that was such a devastating event. It's hard. I still get emotional thinking about it. Sometimes we were up in the mountains hours after the flooding. It was still dark. The first thing that we encountered getting up into Boone, North Carolina was a rock slide that had knocked out half the road. You know that and then just talking to the community and realizing to that was a storm. That was a storm that made me realize how important my job is because communication was cut. You're in the western North Carolina, communication's spotty to begin with, but then you bring a hurricane up into the mountains with catastrophic flooding. You are in the dark. You had no idea what happened to your neighbors, and your neighbors are 10 miles down the road. People in Boone, North Carolina, on that first full day that I was there, They were so emotional with me because they thought they were the only ones that were impacted. They didn't even know what had happened in Asheville, North Carolina because communication was so cut off. There was no local networks, nothing up there. Nobody had power, nobody had cell service. That was such a challenging trip to navigate. Back in New York to make sure that we had a signal going back out to people, but then also to for me being on the ground, recognizing I'm in the midst of probably one of the most memorable natural disasters that the U. S. has seen, certainly one of the costliest, deadliest, perhaps, one of, and I have to tell these stories and get the word out to the world because I That you can't like it wasn't getting out how bad it was. Um, and so that was still to this day and probably for the rest of my career will be one of the most memorable trips. And I'll be honest, Kyle. Um. I was really scared to go into the mountains. How that trip came about, I was on air and I got pulled off air and told, we need to get you on a plane as soon as you can. So I left within hours. My fiancé dropped me off at the airport and I just hit the ground running. I don't know what I'm getting myself into. And then just letting it take over you. You go through the motions, you do what you need to do, and then finally planting your feet on the ground there and being like, okay, I have a purpose here. And that really started to show itself more the longer I was there, and I would just take drives after my live shots when I could. just to talk to people, encounter people, down roads, the county over, just so I could get a better understanding of what had happened. So that was, when you talk about going from younger Jane, early in her career, covering her first tornado outbreak, to then Mayfield, Kentucky, and then Hurricane Helene, there's so many different levels to that, but you grow so much in each of those instances.

Kyle David:

And those are very extreme weather events, and I actually want to explore a little bit more with your coverage during Helene, because at times, and our listeners can go and look back at your coverage on Helene, you got very emotional, and you would apologize at one point for getting emotional on air. So that's the challenge of an on air meteorologist, having to balance the weight of extreme weather going on. and being able to communicate that properly and effectively and also show empathy, I'm curious, how do you balance the emotions of the weight of everything going on with maintaining professionalism, maintaining the consistent communication and also showing human empathy as well for those being affected?

Jane Minar:

Yeah, it's a challenge for sure. I think innately I had this idea that if I was on TV And I'm in a disaster zone. You grow up and you watch reporters do it. Everyone has this facade of them that's very serious and matter of fact and here's what's happening, right? So you almost naturally think you have to put up this front. It's my job just to communicate what's happening and not feel what's happening. So that was interesting for me because at the same time Helene was such a massive natural disaster. I got up there and I I couldn't believe my own eyes, like I, it was still to this day, it almost makes me speechless, how vast the devastation was, it was not just the big rivers, it was. Every single unassuming stream or creek, and oftentimes, in fact, where we were, it was the creeks that are only about six inches in depth and quietly run along through your backyard that ended up being the most destructive and deadly because they had a 30 foot water rise. And nobody expects that. Maybe you talk about that. And to see that happen on so many creeks and so many streams across an entire region, because don't forget it wasn't just West North Carolina, it was East Tennessee as well. It was up into Virginia. I had this idea going into my reporting that there's only so much I can do. I don't have a lot of communications back with the team in New York because we're fighting just to get a signal. So I want to use this time as best as I can to story tell what these people are experiencing. And At the same time I was struggling because I was so speechless and overwhelmed with what I was also experiencing that I naturally had this like tug and pull with myself when I was on air and the longer I stayed, it was almost like experiencing stages of grief. You get there and you're frozen and you're speechless. And then. You start to feel a little bit more and that's what would happen and by day three, by day four, when I had made it to another community and I heard another story. Then the emotion starts to crack through a little bit and I was at first afraid, which is why I apologized, afraid to show that I was scared because I thought that I had this responsibility to be this strength for the community, right? Like, I can't tell you how many people would come up to me and be like, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for getting our little town out there. We need help. We desperately need resources. We hear the helicopters all day long, but are they going to drop the resources for us or is it for other people? And so taking on that responsibility, I felt I needed to be like this strong facade. And then when I started to tell these stories and then the emotion would hit me after. I apologized, I realized, well, wait a second, people connect with that and I can't always be strong all the time. It's impossible to have somebody feel that way and act that way. I can try to the best of my ability, but I can also be human. And that's where I started to turn the page and I grew myself as a reporter. It's important to Tell their story and to be as concise and, for lack of a better word, strong as possible. But also don't be afraid to show how it's affecting you. And so that was As I went, I kept a journal as I was there and just would write down the stories of people that I'd come across. Like there was one young family in the hotel that I was staying in. I felt guilty for taking even a hotel room because there were so many people who were displaced. And this hotel room was quite literally like taking our reservations down on a notepad because they didn't have And we didn't have water in our hotel rooms, like, it was purely a disaster zone. And this one young family and a little boy got on the elevator with me, and the little boy was hitting all the buttons. And I could just tell, like, on these parents faces, just, it was like a mixture of relief and stress and heartbreak and worry. And The little boy had no idea what was going on. He just, pressing all the buttons, and the mom felt the need to apologize to me. And I was like, oh, please, no worries, we're going on a ride. I was like, I'm sure you guys have been through it. And I asked, I said, what's your story? And she was like, we just got out. And like, just, she was like, tearing up. Like, as she's saying it, cause she has this little boy who, their house is gone. They've got nothing left. She was like, the creek came, it was rising, and we just got out, and like, we found word hours later that it had collapsed in. Then, the next day, I meet a young family with two young kids under two, whose house also, too, was shifted six feet off its foundation, and they lost everything. And they just got out. Like, so many stories like that. And There's so much, there was so much to learn from Helene as well as a communicator, not only just from me as the meteorologist on the ground in the field, but also too, as our network, as the government, the National Weather Service, there's so many levels to that. I think Helene is a really great case study that I hope we, we take the time to, to learn from.

Kyle David:

Definitely there's a lot of lessons to be learned, not just with the meteorology, but also the human impact with the stories that you've learned and to start going towards a lighter note to get through these tough situations. What would you do to cope with? The weight of everything and how to get yourself through it.

Jane Minar:

Yeah, I leaned on my family for sure I had an incredible support system behind me And i'm very grateful for that and in every stage of my career in every stage of my life I have a wonderful fiancee who is so supportive and is truly my rock and I call him for anything and and he Will be the first to pick up my parents my sister my friends my co workers I get emotional just thinking about actually how many? One of my co workers reached out to share their well wishes and say you're doing such important work, you're doing a great job. Robert Ray, oh my god, big shout out to him, taking the time to call me and give me advice and tell me it's okay to feel these things and it's gonna be very weird and different when you go home. And Katie Byrne. So many. People who, it, it truly just, I, I love the family we have here at Foxweather because I think it's so rare to have a group of people who truly are wonderful at what they do and also care so much about each other. Every single night I'd come in, I, I would write in my journal. I'd, I have it in my, my notes app. I also just had straight up paper that I would write on and take notes and I would call Max, my fiancé. I would call my parents just to let them know that I was home because the thing is, every single day I was up and at it and I had had like 15 hour days and I had no communication with them. They didn't know where I was. They didn't know what was going on. My parents would just turn on Fox Weather to see. If I was on TV, and then they'd be like, okay, she's fine. And then I would call them and let them know, like, how my day had went. And then I would just try to get as much sleep as I could. Uh, and rest in that and then get started for the next day. You really just put your head down. And you realize this, I'm on a mission, I've got to do this. And coming home was weird. Max picks me up from the airport and I'm like, I'm leaving. And I cried on the plane, leaving. North Carolina, because I'm thinking to myself, well, how lucky am I that I can actually leave this place, get on a plane, afford to get on a plane at this stage, fly home to my beautiful apartment. On the Hudson that looks out over the city of Manhattan and have a family to go back to and a job that's stable. It was such a weird guilt that I'd never experienced before. And my family were great in allowing me that time to like digest getting back to normal life. And then. Realizing that you can't feel those, you can't be guilty. You can't feel that. Unfortunately, that is what other people are going through. It is not my reality, but I can help by telling their story. And that's how I can be strong for them. And when I went back, two weeks later, I went back with a renewed purpose to keep telling those stories of how they were recovering and what they needed.

Kyle David:

Yeah, it's challenging to navigate those feelings of guilt. And like you said, you're not guilty. It's not your fault. And it's not like a consolation. There's a little bit of reassurance knowing that you're not alone. In dealing with the weight of these extreme weather events like Hurricane Helene.

Jane Minar:

Yeah, no, I think of people like Robert Ray on our team who's seen so many disasters. He's like our front man. He's always on the ground in the worst of the worst. And how he copes with that and and how he storytells that. Marisa Torres, huge shout out to her. She goes, she's on the ground just months after me in California with the wildfires. And watching her coverage and seeing how she had such a purpose in it. She brought such a human element to storytelling but also to letting her emotions show. I think honestly that's the, what I've come to learn now is like that's truly the difference on what makes a really great reporter. Someone who can connect with their viewer because I don't think anybody Who could go on the ground there and witness that and not feel that emotion? So it's all it's an insane ask to have to mask that.

Kyle David:

Yeah, and like you said, it's very important to for a reporter and anybody communicating this information to connect in that way. And on a lighter note, you've You've connected in positive ways from getting to go out in the field to cover good weather, some non weather related fun things, to taking jabs at your co workers for your love for the Philadelphia Eagles. What's your most memorable, light hearted moment when it comes to connecting the weather and the community around you?

Jane Minar:

Oh, there's so many. Honestly, I have this joke with myself sometimes that No offense to Jim Cantore, but like opposite of him, if you see me come to town, your weather, your forecast is improving. I feel like, I'm like the sunshine. Uh, I remember we went on this one, uh, trip. I went down, it was a couple years back, beginning of hurricane season, tropical storm Arlene, middle of the gulf. And I went down to Naples. At first, their forecast looked pretty daunting. And so I get on the ground there and I'm preparing myself for like tropical storm conditions. And each day, as it got closer, the storm just stayed out to sea and we just had sunshine the whole time. And I would just joke to everybody on the beach and be like, I'm Foxweather, you guys are great. And they loved it. It's funny. I've had a couple of assignments like that where We get out there and then Mother Nature pulls a fast one and suddenly the forecast starts to switch up and, you know, instead of six inches of snow, we're getting less than an inch or instead of a moderate risk for flooding, it's a passing shower. You just, you take it as it comes and you laugh with it, but I love a lot of the fun assignments that I've done. We tried to, When I first started we tried to do this thing called like Jane's Journey and so I would go on like these fun assignments. I went out on a sailboat in the middle of the Hudson and got to try these oysters. It was so much fun and I haven't yet covered any sporting events. I low key love sports. I'm not very good at it. Like, I don't really know a whole lot, but I love to watch it. I love the competitiveness of it. Max, my fiance, he's always feeding me information. I just tried, sometimes I just regurgitate it. He's like, Jane, you really need to be careful sometimes, because you go on air and you just, you say it with such a conviction, but like, what if I'm wrong? And I'm like, True, but I also do my own research. So you're not totally off, but I got to cover the masters when I was in Augusta. So that was super fun. Of course, betting with my, my colleagues about. My fillies, or my eagles, and of course, we just come off a Super Bowl win, so that's been a lot of fun. I think memorable moments, they come and they go, and I'm just grateful for such a community that we have built here amongst us. Coxfather, we can certainly have fun with each other, and laugh, and just continue to be friends. And I think that's so rare at a network, like, any job, to have a group of 14, 15 of us, and we all get along, that's so special to me.

Kyle David:

It is, and you always gotta hold on to those positive connections, those positive moments to get you through those darker sides of weather that will crop up here and there. Of course. Uh, and you had mentioned earlier that you may not know everything, but you've got an incredible team there who have a wide array of different experiences. And you've even mentioned earlier about your Passion for keeping your meteorology knowledge fresh. So I'm curious, how do you stay up to date on all of your meteorology knowledge, keeping that fresh, and then also. Keeping yourself updated on advancements in the field and what's coming out.

Jane Minar:

Yeah, gosh, that is always going to be a learning lesson for me. I'm constantly like in class per se, every single day I come in and we're presented with a weather story and I. You have to pull things out of my brain, or I'm not afraid to look things up, ask questions. And that is what's so special about Fox Feathers, having all of us come with different backgrounds. People will come to me and ask about, The, the Northeast, the 95 corridor and opportunity for snow. Living here my whole life and going to Rutgers, we had a lot of time focusing in on, on that forecasting element. It's my passion. I love it. We've had a bunch of us who've been in severe weather markets, Ian down in Tampa with Florida. So tropical system, same thing goes for Steven Morgan and Verna Merwin down there on the coast of Houston. And then you get someone like Craig Herrera. And he is just a wealth of West Coast knowledge and ARs and fires, all of which, to be honest, in school, and I know Rutgers is not the only department like this, but you spend a couple classes on that. You're not delving into the climatology of northern California or the mountains out west. There's, that would take years. It's why people go to grad school. It's why people get their PhDs. As an undergrad, there's only so much that you can do, but I think what I love about Fox Weather, And, like, my team here is, if I'm feeling uncertain, which, that's a lesson in and of itself, too, you're never gonna be an expert on everything. And don't try to be. Because that's when you start to get in trouble. When you start to fake it, there's that saying, like, fake it till you make it. I believe in that to an extent, but you don't want to go on air with something that you don't know. For me, I'm not afraid. Like, if I'm coming into a story, And I'm not entirely sure if this is a big deal or if there's another, if there's an angle I'm missing. I'll just shoot Craig a message or I'll see him in passing and I'll be like, Hey, can you give me a little more insight on this? And he's so happy to share. Same thing with Britta. She's got Colorado background, up across the UP. She's been everywhere. She too is a wealth of knowledge. Everybody has something to bring to the table. And I think for me, working in this space, going from New Jersey and Northeast centric to then growing in the South and tackling severe weather to then this big country we have. You have to be an expert on a lot of things and I have gone back to school in a lot of ways by talking to my colleagues and having discussions with our weather presentation team and also just straight up reading. I still have all my textbooks from school and I'm not afraid to go and dive into AMS articles and actually a lot of the times that's where I learned some of the biggest nuggets that I can use on television. Sometimes that's, for lack of a better word, you have to dumb those things down because that's like so in the weeds of weather and meteorology and the science. My job is to take that and make that palatable for the average viewer. And I'm learning through those research studies. One that just came out, which we're going to talk a lot more about coming up this severe weather season, is how when you go from La Nina to neutral in the spring season, that can actually lead to a greater instance of tornado outbreaks in certain regions of the country, particularly in the Plains. So I think that's just so interesting. So if I'm living in Oklahoma City and I'm knowing in the back of my head, big scale, this weather pattern is changing. Well, then maybe I really should hone in on my severe weather safety kit because there could be a more active period based on this study and what Jane is telling me. That's the type of things that I want people to learn from. Weather is not always doom and gloom. It is scary when Bad weather is in your area, but I always combat that with preparedness and a plan and there's nothing that builds confidence like that and, and knowledge. That's my goal, honestly, every single day and, and I'm learning every day because There are stories that I don't always feel like I have a grasp on. You have to be willing and open to learn. Even at every stage of your career. My friends who work in the business, who work at other stations, we're all at different ages and different stages of our career. And just because you're here or there doesn't mean that you don't have something to learn. And so I think that's so It's special and important that you keep yourself open to that.

Kyle David:

I'm curious, what advancement or research element excites you the most right now?

Jane Minar:

I think there's a lot of research going on. I really love the communication side of the research. There's a lot of psychology that goes into how people understand weather, understand the The challenges and the alerts that you're under, right, specifically when it comes to tropical systems. I know the National Hurricane Center has really made it an initiative to adjust how they're communicating. Storms and their impacts, deemphasizing the cone, deemphasizing the honing in on landfall, because as we know, landfall, yes, it's destructive, but sometimes the worst of what that storm has to offer could be 100 miles away from landfall. So I think I love what the National Hurricane Center is doing. I think it's a long road. It's not just one quick and easy fix. Same thing goes with the National Weather Service communicating flood watches. If you asked me. To be perfectly honest, I hate the flood watch. It's such a blanket, overused alert that people just throw in the back of their minds. Like, oh, yep, there's a flood watch. Okay. Because a flood watch is different for different regions, for different areas of the country. We just had a plain old flood watch. In the mountains of Western North Carolina with Helene, but that wasn't any other day. So there needed to be a heightened alert out there that just didn't happen because it was in the weeds of the forecast discussions that were hidden behind closed doors of the meteorology world. And then there's just this emphasis on, well, The broadcast meteorologists and the EM, the emergency managers, like, they have to get that message out to the public. But I think that the public also needs to have that front facing and there's a lot of work to be done. I think on how we can better communicate weather, good and bad, because again, I don't think that meteorology and weather and it's not all bad. I don't want, there needs to be that flip for people to recognize When something serious is happening or when it's manageable and as long as you're prepared, you'll be okay. And so that's what keeps my passion going, delving into that research of psychology and communication, but also to just Fun advancements with radar manar over here, like how we can see into storms and there's always something to be worked on. So that's the one thing I hope about the meteorology world, which is so much greater than just broadcast. There's so many different sectors, it's growing in such an exponential way. And it's not always a cut and dry term like meteorology, there's risk assessment. All of that comes back to one simple thing. It's understanding weather and understanding its impacts.

Kyle David:

And there's so many different things we can explore. Each of those things that you mentioned can have their own podcast episode, but I want to talk a little bit about the communications and the broadcasting, because you've a very untraditional experience. I'll say normally for those. Who don't know about the broadcast world, people will get it, go to school, get a degree, they'll go to a small market like North Platte, Nebraska, but for you, you went to Augusta, Georgia, and then you went immediately to a national network, which, that in itself is very untraditional, most of the networks started out with cable, but Fox Weather started really online. With that untraditional experience that you have, where do you see the communications and broadcast worlds going in the next year? Or if you really want to be bold, five, 10 years down the road.

Jane Minar:

Let's be bold. To be honest with you, Kyle, I don't know. When I started out in this industry, there was rumblings. TV's not going to be the same 10 years from now. Okay, that's 10 years from now. I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I think what's been so shocking, somewhat unsettling, but also empowering is watching this industry in a lot of ways dismantle. And that sounds so negative, but I don't think it is. It's just the traditional way of doing things. is just not what is the reality now. You have college grads who are getting jobs in big markets right out of school. 20 years ago, that never would have happened. Are you kidding? The greats like Janice Hough. You had, what was his name, Schwartz, down in Philadelphia. Glenn Schwartz. Glenn Schwartz, he always wore the bow tie. Those people, they too went through the ringer. They went through markets before they got to where they were and then once they got there, they were able to maintain and keep their status in those top markets. I think the path to success in this industry is changing. But also too, it's like, it's, it is scary because you don't have, we all saw what happened with those. Smaller markets and how their meteorology departments were slashed and stuff like that happens and you're like, well, I don't know where we go from here because if that's not an option for me, then I have to go to these bigger markets, but then how long are those bigger markets going to be there? It's an interesting space, but I think More importantly than ever is discovering your personal brand and trying to broadcast that. If you really love broadcasting, the podcast space or just going on YouTube or on TikTok, obviously. But then it's always like, what happens if TikTok goes away? There's always that question mark looming over your head over how this industry is going to fold. I've always been a big proponent of don't be afraid to take a risk because Those risks will reap rewards. That's how it worked for me. But you also have to be calculated in that risk because with how quickly this industry is changing, it's no longer 10 years down the line. Heck, it could be a one year down the line at this point, five years. So it is, that timeline is shorter, and there's so many different avenues now. I wish I had an answer for it. I'm, I sit here, somewhat worried, questioning myself, as to like where we're going to go, where I'm gonna go with my career, because If you asked 22 year old Jane, who graduated from college, getting her first job in Augusta, I thought it was going to take 10 years for me to get back to a top market, let alone back home in New York with my family. And to see that happen two years after college. Never what I've expected that, but it's because you had Fox Weather who was taking a risk and then trying to break into that digital space that's still untapped, but also you don't really know how to move it yet. So like you're growing and expanding in real time with an industry that is changing at such a rapid pace. So it's, I don't know, I think you have to have a plan B and a plan C. I never had that before. But. It's something I'm starting to think about. Not that I don't love Plan A, because I love it here and there's a lot of growth opportunities in my current job that I'm grasping at and wanting to take hold of because I know that's going to help build me down the line, but I think for anybody who's just getting into the industry, don't be afraid to look at the ways in which meteorology can be used in other sectors. Industries and sectors and how you can take the communication side, which perhaps you're really passionate about being on television and use that elsewhere, because the way in which people are receiving information now is not just through linear cable channels or the networks. It's also. Through social media and through podcasts. Everybody's becoming an expert these days. There's a danger in that, too. How do you corral that into what's accurate and what's real? But I think it's a growing process. And I think for anybody who's graduating, wanting to get into broadcast meteorology, I wouldn't shy away from applying for those stations. They'll still be there, but maybe it's how you talk to those bosses. How can we mold this position into something that's not purely just television? And maybe it's another digital component that we are bringing in to this station to increase our revenue and to increase our voice and our eyes. Because that's, I think that's truly like the piece to it. The way that like Foxweather has an app and has YouTube and we're on streaming. Like. There's got to be multiple ways that you can receive. My dad always said this one thing, disphrased me. He's like, have multiple ways to receive income. Don't just rely on one thing. That's how you grow yourself to success. So that's like what you do in this industry now, I feel like. You just have to lean into it's changing, it's not as it was, and how can I tap into it. So, it'll be interesting. I think for a lot of people who are in the middle stage of their career towards the end of their career maybe feels a little bit more daunting. And I understand that. Absolutely. I'm, I'm daunted myself. But I think taking the time to focus on what makes you happy and what you're passionate about and investing in yourself. Don't forget to do that. Don't pour all of your investment into your employer. It's important to invest into your employer because, hey, In a lot of ways, they're investing in you, but nobody can invest in you more than yourself.

Kyle David:

I like that. Nobody can invest more into yourself than yourself. And your dad's a very smart man with getting multiple sources of income. I think it is now a brave new world in terms of not just the Broadcasting and communications landscapes, but broader weather world in general, with everything that is going on in terms of policies and priorities in different industries, going to be very interesting. Well, Jane, I've got one more question for you before we get into our tried and true, whether or not trivia, and this is an open ended question. I'll call it the sunset question of the podcast, and this is where. The floor opens up to you. Do you have any final parting thoughts, any last reminiscing that you want to do, or parting advice that you want to give, or maybe anything that you wanted to talk about a little bit more that we didn't get to touch on, or Some people have taken the time to bust myths. So, with that said, any final parting thoughts as we look at the sunset? The metaphorical sunset for the podcast episode.

Jane Minar:

Yeah, I love this industry. I love television, I love creating. I think that There's such a power in storytelling and weather is such a fun topic. It is, it brings the good, it brings the bad, it brings a range of emotions. At the end of the day, nobody can deny that weather impacts almost every aspect of your life. And this investment in weather is something that I really hope that we continue to do and in all faces of it. I don't want to just fall into this. We only care about the bad things, because weather isn't all bad. This week, everyone is raving about the spring fever, and it's the conversation piece around the water cooler, which doesn't really exist anymore, but, you know, in the break room, which might not exist anymore either, because people are home, work from home. It's just something that people continue to talk about, and Not only is it impacting every aspect of your life, but it impacts your emotions and how you feel. You can feel intense sadness when disaster happens. You can feel intense fear in the moments that a severe threat is occurring. You can feel relief. After the storm missed you or the winter blues lifting because it's sunny and 60 degrees in February and you just had a foot of snow on the ground and temperatures 30 below zero last week. So I think that's just such a special storytelling that I love about weather. And The political landscape, whatever it may be, there's one constant standard, and it's that weather's not going anywhere. Weather's not going away. We cannot control Mother Nature. And trying to beat her at her game is What I want to do, and that's why I love doing it, and I just think investing in that, in all landscapes too, not just in the communication realm. We talked a little bit before about how I think that there's such an opportunity for so many industries to tap into bringing meteorologists on the team. Not only just communicating with maybe Investors having that one person who can essentially dumb it down for people who are investing, that saves you money or that makes you money. Um, same thing goes for emergency management and local governments and. School districts, people who are responsible for the well being of others and weather plays a role in that and communicating that and forecasting that and predicting and preparing. I just think that there's a world of opportunity out there and I don't want anybody to feel getting a meteorology degree is a waste because it's certainly not. It may not come with the title of meteorologist, but you can take your skills and what you learn and apply it and change it and direct it. Perhaps even pitch it to companies and industries and something that you want to do. And then for going into television, I had a very unique path. Being 28 years old, I've worked in a national network for almost five years. And I think this is really great advice for anybody who's working in this industry, but just any job. And My uncle had said, like, find your rabbi, find that one person who is, who believes in you, and who wants to support you, and who's going to reach down and pull you up the ladder along with them, because those people are so invaluable in your life, like, you have to keep those people in your corner. And, So he was like, you have this at Foxweather, you don't have that anywhere else, but you have people who believe in you and who want to give you a chance. And so in painting that picture for me, it was a learning lesson to, if I want to advance, I have got to be a little risky. And so it's all about Investing in yourself and I take these opportunities as much as I invest in Fox weather because this is my job and I love what we do in the mission that we're on. I'm also looking at, okay, how can I invest in me? What am I learning? What skills am I taking with me? And how can I maybe challenge myself to learn a new skill and then see where that takes me? And this Career that is so long road until 65 and retirement.

Kyle David:

Hey, maybe you'll go further with the weather cooking show that we've cooked up.

Jane Minar:

Listen, I've got the recipes at home. That's the other thing too, like just investing in other passions. Cooking, I want to write a cookbook. I've got those ideas flowing. I think for anybody who's listening to this, my best advice. is to really just, especially early in your career, God, I know we want it all, right? But you have to keep your head down. And in those moments where you're feeling jaded, or you're feeling like, God, I'm not getting it, I've been working so hard and they're not seeing me, or they're not valuing me, or, or, I feel that's natural to feel that. But then also, too, you have to take a top down perspective. Recognize where you are in the moment. Take the emotion out of it, if you can, be grateful, and learn, and then again, turn, that is, honestly, something that I tell myself and I'm learning and trying to, to do every single day, and That's, I think, the key to making it in this industry. Keeping your head down, working really hard, picking your battles, but at the same time taking and absorbing as much as you possibly can and applying that to your craft. And growing and bettering yourself so that when the next opportunity comes or maybe this door closes, because, again, nothing is forever, like the Janice off would tell me when I moved down to Augusta, Georgia. It's not forever, Jane. It's only two years, which would have been five, but then look how a door opened. Stuff like that, and, and I love Foxweather. I don't know how, I, I'm here for the ride, but you always have to be Investing in yourself and investing in your future and, and having that plan B, plan C ready to go in an industry that's changing as rapidly as it is, that's more important than ever.

Kyle David:

Well, Jane, I couldn't think of a more fitting way to wrap up our conversation then. All the wonderful nuggets of information and advice that you've given the experiences that we reminisced on together. We've got one more fun segment to wrap up the episode, and that is Weather or Not. It's a fun mix of weather themed and non weather themed trivia based on your interest inside and outside of the weather. And with that, Jane, are you ready to kick off our last fun segment?

Jane Minar:

Let's do it.

Kyle David:

All right. This is whether or not your question is related to the Philadelphia Eagles. Which Eagles quarterback holds the franchise record for most passing yards in a single season? Was it A. Donovan McNabb, B. Carson Wentz, C. Nick Foles or D. Jalen Hurts.

Jane Minar:

Okay, well it's not Jalen Hurts. Let's see, Carson Wentz?

Kyle David:

Carson Wentz is your final guess?

Jane Minar:

Yeah, that feels wrong, but You

Kyle David:

are correct. It is Carson Wentz. He threw for 4, 039 yards in 2019.

Jane Minar:

I was, okay, fly eagles fly. Yep, there it is. It's ingrained in me. I just knew we came off of a Super Bowl and Wentz took us there, but then Nick Foles obviously brought it home. So Wentz, he went out on a high note, at least, right?

Kyle David:

Yeah, I'm actually impressed that he still holds that even though he didn't get to finish the season. Nick Foles did.

Jane Minar:

Yeah.

Kyle David:

So, kudos to Carson Wentz. Honestly,

Jane Minar:

Carson Wentz, I feel bad for the guy because he really brought us to the Super Bowl, right? And he was killer. Like, we had such a fantastic season that year. And he was the driver. Then he gets, he's out, Nick Foles comes in. And don't forget, like, we hated Nick Foles up to that point. Like, we were like, this guy? Jesus, he's gonna come in now? We just benched him. But, but then Nick Foles comes in and he does it, and now, it's funny because Nick Foles just retired, he retired as an eagle, and During this whole Superbowl that we just had, he's at the forefront. Nick Foles, the guy who brought us the Superbowl win. And it's like, yeah, he was like the closer, right, on a baseball field. But poor Carson Wentz, who's actually on the sideline, at the game for the Chiefs. And he gets no love, but whatever. It's how the cookie crumbles.

Kyle David:

You know what, Carson Wentz did get to see his hard work throughout the season come to fruition with the Superbowl. So, there's that consolation. There is

Jane Minar:

that.

Kyle David:

So, alright, this is whether or not your next question is related to fire weather. Which of the following is not considered one of the most important weather ingredients for fire weather, important weather variables for fire weather? Is it A. Wind, B. Atmospheric humidity, C. Temperature, or D. Heavy precipitation?

Jane Minar:

Can I call Craig? I'm kidding. What is not important for fire?

Kyle David:

Yes. What is not important for fire weather?

Jane Minar:

As it's happening? Okay. Because, like, my first answer would be, like, heavy precipitation. Because if it's raining, that's, like, obviously going to mitigate the fire risk danger. But, also, too, there's that, like, loop of you get heavy precip, that then you get the growth of vegetation, and then temperature and heat and drought dries it up. So. I think I'm gonna go with D, because humidity, how moist is the atmosphere, that's important. Temperature, I'm like iffy on, because you can get fire weather warnings in the middle of winter in the Carolinas. Like, it's not the most important piece to it, but I think on a really hot day, I don't know, maybe that dries out more vegetation. I'm still gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go with D.

Kyle David:

D, heavy precipitation is your final guess?

Jane Minar:

Yeah, am I wrong?

Kyle David:

You are correct, it is heavy precipitation.

Jane Minar:

I'm overthinking it! I'm overthinking it, Kyle!

Kyle David:

No, but you have a good point, though, because if you have a lot of precipitation one season and it's completely dry, boom, you have a lot of fuel. That's not a problem for fire weather.

Jane Minar:

Fire follows flood and flood follows fire. I mean, it's just like this, like, loop.

Kyle David:

Yeah. Alright, this is whether or not your next question is related to cooking. What cooking method involves slowly cooking food in liquid at a low temperature? Is it A. Sauteing, B. Braising, C. Roasting, or D. Grilling?

Jane Minar:

Braising.

Kyle David:

Final guess is braising?

Jane Minar:

Yeah.

Kyle David:

You are correct, it is braising.

Jane Minar:

Awesome, I just did a braised short rib, so that's how I knew.

Kyle David:

Alright, now you're making me hungry. I'll have to come over for your braised rib. Don't worry. All right. This is whether or not your next question is related to the 2020 or 2021. I'll have to edit that. The Easter tornado outbreak. How many confirmed tornadoes touched down during the 2020? Or 2021, whichever one it is. Easter tornado outbreak. Is it a 105? B 132? C 141 or D 155.

Jane Minar:

I wanna go with B.

Kyle David:

You are sadly incorrect. It was 1 41 tornadoes that were confirmed during the outbreak.

Jane Minar:

Wow. All right. I knew it. It was definitely more than a, which was. One hundred. I didn't think it was closer to 150, but wow. We had, I think, nine confirmed tornadoes in that outbreak in Augusta, Georgia, but it's really most known for what it did carve across Mississippi and Alabama. That was a powerful line. Not surprised it won't be the last.

Kyle David:

It definitely will not be the last, and ironically, the difference between your answer choice and the correct one was nine. I should have added my

Jane Minar:

line.

Kyle David:

Alright, this is whether or not your last question is related to music. Which artist won Album of the Year at the 2024 Grammy Awards? Was it A. SZA, B. Taylor Swift, C. Miley Cyrus, or D. Olivia Rodrigo?

Jane Minar:

Album of the Year? I know it wasn't Taylor Swift. I think.

Kyle David:

You won't get any hints from me.

Jane Minar:

I'm between SZA and Olivia Rodrigo. I'm going to say SZA. SZA

Kyle David:

is your final guess?

Jane Minar:

Yeah.

Kyle David:

You are incorrect. It was Taylor Swift's album, Midnight, that won the Grammy award for album of the year in 2024. My sister

Jane Minar:

is cursing me right now.

Kyle David:

Is she a big Swifty?

Jane Minar:

Oh, she's a huge Swifty. And the thing is, is like, I love Taylor Swift's music, but that was a great album.

Kyle David:

You're not part of the Swifty cult.

Jane Minar:

No, what was it? Tortured Poets Department or whatever that she just released. There were too many songs on that album, girl. Like, I just could not, Taylor, I'm sorry, but like, you couldn't catch me listening to all of that. So I listened to like, the ones that topped the charts. I still love Taylor. I grew up with her. She's

Kyle David:

okay. I respect her, her work and stuff. I respect her music.

Jane Minar:

My, she's definitely not my favorite artist. But, that's always the hardest question. People are like, what's your favorite artist? Or who's your favorite, like, what's your favorite music artist? To listen to. I, I never know. I'm like a hodgepodge. You look at my Spotify playlist and it's all over the place. But I do love Dolly Parton, so, she's up there.

Kyle David:

Dolly Parton is a classic.

Jane Minar:

Yeah.

Kyle David:

Alright, well Jane, that is the end of the Whether or Not Trivia and the end of our conversation. But before we go, let people know how can, people can stay in touch with your work and what you're up to.

Jane Minar:

Well, first and foremost, you can always catch me on Foxweather. Tune in throughout the afternoon hours during the week and then all the weekends. Um, so you can catch me there, of course. Go to the Foxweather app, where you can find our videos and watch us live at any time. Um, and then on social media. Um, really try to pick up that presence, Kyle. You can go to my Instagram, which is just simply at Jane Minar. Um, and then on, uh, X, I can be found at, uh, JaneMenardWX. So those are my social media pages and of course connect with me on LinkedIn if you'd like. That's where I'm at.

Kyle David:

And we'll make sure to link all of those in the show notes for our listeners to go and find more of you and then also the Fox weather app and platforms as well.

Jane Minar:

Perfect.

Kyle David:

Absolutely, Jane. Thank you so much for your time and thank you to the listener for listening to the Everything Weather podcast and we'll catch you on the next episode.

Jane Minar:

Thanks, Kyle. This has been a lot of fun.

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