An Interview With Meteorologist Matt Brode

This is the first in a series of Friday posts. I’m going to do interviews and have guest blogs most Fridays, just for fun.  

And why not start with someone I respect and enjoy working with at KOIN Local 6?  

Here’s my interview with Meteorologist Matt Brode. Meet Matt…  

Since you’re the morning and noon meteorologist at KOIN Local 6, your first weather report is at like 5:01a.m. So, what time do you have to get up?
Well, I have about 3 alarms that go off at 3:31 3:32 and 3:33. I’m a little crazy that way. Starbucks is not open at the ‘witching hour’ so I have all of my (diet) highly caffeinated beverages of choice nearby! 

I assume some quality NW food also helps power you through. What are your two favorite restaurants?
As a New Englander I love seafood. I have grown to adore Jake’s Grill and for a little variety Andina in the Pearl District fits the bill. I also like your Costco trail-mix and the Dave’s Killer Bread you leave for me from your previous shift. (My reply: so, you’re the one eating my emergency food supply!!)

Like most of us doing the weather in Oregon and Southwest Washington, you’ve been to a lot of stops ‘along the way’ before making your home here. Where have you worked and what kind of crazy weather have you covered?  

 
Duluth, Minnesota: it’s adjacent to Lake Superior. The largest and coldest freshwater body of water in the world creates weather. Like 150” of snow my first year there. We bottomed out at -53 degrees!  

West Palm Beach, Florida:  I lived there during the epic Hurricane season of 2005.  You know how they name the ‘canes from A to Z? After 26 named storms we had to use letters in the Greek alphabet. Katrina and Wilma passed overhead and I spent many nights in the sales offices of the TV station! 

Tucson, Arizona: People laugh when I say I was a meteorologist in a place with 335 days of sunshine. But southern Arizona has a distinct Monsoon. Thunderstorms & some of the most amazing lightning I’ve seen. Flash-flooding, too. Summer heat of 110-120. And huge mountain snowstorms in winter.  

Portland, Oregon &  KOIN Local 6: When I moved here, the first thing I told Bruce Sussman was, “I’m done with the heat. And I’ve had enough sunshine to last a long, long time.”(Bruce’s note: he really did say that!) This is such a great place to live.  

What year, make and model was your first car? If you can’t remember or they didn’t have cars back then, just type “too old!”
A 1980 blue Volvo station wagon. Affectionately known as the “Brode-mobile” to my friends.    

You were live on the air (KOIN Local 6 at Noon) when you tracked the Aumsville, Oregon tornado near the end of 2010. We now know it was an EF1 with wind speeds up to 120mph. But what went through your mind when damage reports started coming in?
We had some phoners and I immediately knew by the witness’ descriptions that at least a weak tornado had touched down. While the radar signature wasn’t very impressive or long lived, the eye-witness viewers described a classic tornado touchdown. 

So now you’ve met Matt. He’s on Facebook, Twitter and the Matt Brode blog. And Koin Local 6, of course!