We caught up with local WPTV (West Palm Beach)Meteorologist and Surfer James Wieland...

L.E.   First of all we'd like to thank you for taking the time to sit down and answer some questions.

No problem. Always glad to talk some surf.

L.E.   So James, on behalf of the local surf community thanks for being the first local weather guy to add a surf update into your forecast. We have to assume that you surf, or are a fan of the sport. What's your surfing background?

Thanks! It's great to be in a position to promote and talk about something I'm so passionate about. I grew up down here in South Florida and started surfing in High School. I didn't have the best time as a freshman. I was kind of a dork and worried about being cool and fitting in. When I started surfing, I sort of forgot about all that and just concentrated on hitting the beach. I guess surfing made high school more bearable. I did skip a lot, but I kept it under control and didn't let it affect my grades. In fact, my grades improved so my parents didn't get on my case about it. (Unless I got hurt, which didn't happen all that often.)

L.E.   The obvious question is.  Did surfing influence your career path? Or did meteorology spark your interest in surfing?

Surfing definitely influenced my career path! I'm a science minded person so when I went to the beach, I would always study the way the wind and waves were, and want to know what made the waves the way they were.

I went to the library (pre-internet) and figured out it was the weather. After I figured out what weather made what waves I wanted to know how to predict when that was going to happen so I wouldn't drive hours and get skunked! I really got into that and pretty soon my friends would ask me when there was going to be waves all the time. The birth of a meteorologist!!

I looked up how to become a meteorologist and what school to go to and what was involved. In researching this, everyone was telling me how hard it was going to be, how much math there was, and pretty much scaring me away from it. I ended up forgetting about it and going to Broward Community College.

I was going to be a science teacher. After two years I thought to myself, "why the heck am I listening to these people telling me it's too hard?" So I applied to the Florida State program and was accepted. I had a lot of math to make up so I stayed down here another year to catch up, then went to Florida State. (right after they won the national championship!)

The fun and partying was held to a minimum...well more like none because my classes were pretty hard. While most people were out partying 'till 2am I was in the science library until 2am studying every night. Everyone was right, it was hard and there was tons of math, but it was a challenge and I got through it with pretty good grades. An accomplishment I'm very proud of.

FSU was just starting a broadcasting program and I got involved in that. I helped develop a new studio, and helped build that program with the help of some other and Dr. Ahlquist. It was very difficult to find that first job. I finally did and it was in the waveless land of West Virginia.

I was chief meteorologist at the CBS station in Clarksburg making $14,000/yr. You gotta do what you gotta do! Later I got a job in south Carolina and was able to surf a lot more. I surfed Myrtle Beach, Folly Pier, and Wrightsville Beach a lot. Wrightsville was such a great town with great waves but damn it got cold in the winter!

This S. FL boy froze his butt off! The last place I lived, Baltimore was even colder so I only surfed in the summer. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity to come back home to south Florida! Being from Broward county, I grew up watching Channel 5 and channel 12 so I could know what was going on upcoast. It was actually my goal to come work for this station! I am very fortunate!

L.E.  Most surfers consider themselves to be amateur meteorologists...especially those of us here in South Florida. Do you have any tips for the amateur surf forecaster to pin down the surf forecast for our area?

The biggest thing I would say is to GO TO THE BEACH and see for yourself what the ocean looks like. There's nothing more valuable then looking for yourself! The web cams aren't going to cut it.

Study the weather maps and make a note of what weather made what waves, where. Local knowledge will get you further. Also, there is so much info out there now, use it.

Study maps, bathymetry, forecast models, waves mechanics, physics....get to know how and why waves are made.

South Florida has to be one of the more difficult regions to get an accurate forecast for?....

No matter how much you know, mother nature will always throw you a curve ball. It seems like we get 9 innings of curveballs down here! Nothing is cut and dry and we all know the planets have to align in order to get waves down here. So it's very difficult to forecast for south Florida.

Even with all the experience I have, I still scratch my head sometimes. They key is after a missed forecast, to figure out why that happened so you won't miss that again.

L.E. So, when did you start surfing?

Funny story on how I started surfing. I absolutely was obsessed with the beach boys. I had every album, even the rare ones. My high school (Coconut Creek High) was having an air-band competition and I entered with some friends to be the beach boys.

I borrowed a friends board on my street to do the show. We ended up winning second place! I have a video around here somewhere. Anyway, when I gave the board(an old Gordon & Smith) back to my buddy Jeff, I asked if he could take me out to catch a few waves.

Since I drove and he didn't, he agreed and off to the beach we were! I remember going to Spanish River in Boca and it was less than knee high. I had fun but felt I didn't get the whole experience and wanted to go again. Before you know it, I was out at Pompano pier, then Delray, then Deerfield pier every chance I got and had a clan of surf buddies to go with.

I bought a used island board from island water sports for like 100 bucks as my first board that I didn't borrow. My first New surfboard was a Rainbow epoxy twinzer that I got from Boca surf and sport. I remember Bo telling me that it was the new thing. I rode that board forever.

I even took it out during the massive Halloween swell on '91. I caught three huge 10ft bombs at Delray on that twinzer! On the weekends we loved going to Juno, Jensen Beach, Sebastian...pretty much everywhere there were waves. We even drove all the way up to New Smyrna a couple times in the summer for the day! I was pretty much all over Florida. Even in college, I went to Jax Pier, Poles, 18th st. then if there waves in the gulf, panama city had great breaks, st Andrews park, amazons, spyglass, city pier. We would even go to all the way to Pensacola Beach sometimes.

There used to be an old wooden pier there. That was such a great beach. Beautiful babes, white sand, bright green water, dolphins jumping around....it was a quite a great experience.

L.E.   Where is your local break?

I live in downtown west palm so in a time crunch, I shoot right over to the island. (Palm Beach) Flagpole, Clarke, Sunset, and let's not forget the north end. I love it up there.

There is such a diversity on palm beach for what spot gets what wave. To be a local, you gotta know where to go when there is windchop, and where to go when there is a long period swell. By the looks of the crowds, everyone knows. I also love Jupiter. I have buddies up there that I go with. Last year I was at corners every time there were waves. I loved it. It's not breaking that great anymore though.

At L.E. we're all about getting out of the daily grind and into our element, which in our case, is the ocean.  Tell us what the ocean means to you, and how has the ocean been a part of your life?

I absolutely love the ocean. I find it so beautiful, peaceful, calming and intriguing. It's always different. Living all over the place after college has made me appreciate the ocean even more.

If you don't know it yet, trust me when I tell you we are VERY fortunate to live in a place with such natural beauty. From snorkeling at ocean reef or pumphouse, to trolling the local waters for snook on a boat, to just enjoying the warm breezes and beautiful sunrises...this truly is paradise. I always try to stop, enjoy and appreciate the beauty God has given us.

L.E.  So, do you have any plans for adding more surf updates to your forecast?

I think the station is realizing there is a big market for this type of information and are letting me do what I want. I've gotten a lot of good feedback from people and

I hope people will continue to e-mail the station if they like what I'm doing. I working on making a separate section on WPTV.com just for surfing/water sports news, info, forecasts, pictures, etc. It's also been kind of a dream of mine to make a little local half hour show where we can interview the local talent, local bands and everything around the Florida surfing lifestyle that we all love. Show some footage from local photogs.

It would be great! First we're starting small though. I have a blog that I'm updating on the station's website now. I want it to be more interactive though, so everyone can contribute pictures, comments, ideas. It's at...

http://community.wptv.com/blogs/wielands_web_wave/default.aspx

Feel free to drop a note or send a picture!