Chasing Storms: Weather Channel Producer Steve Petyerak ’89 by Megan Tady

Chasing STORMS

The Weather Channel Producer Steve Petyerak ’89 broadcasts from the frontlines of extreme weather.

BY MEGAN TADY

In early February, Steve Petyerak, field producer for storm tracker Jim Cantore at The Weather Channel, was in Boston covering a nor’easter that dropped nearly two feet of snow on the city, flew home to Atlanta for a day’s rest, and then was dispatched to Detroit, Michigan, to report on Winter Storm Landon. But the snow was turning to sleet and rain, so Petyerak, Cantore, and a photographer jumped into a rental car to drive four hours to Columbus, Ohio, hoping the precipitation was fluffier there.

“WE FOLLOW THE STORMS, but sometimes science can’t hone in on the exact mile of where the storms are,” Petyerak said. “It took nearly an entire day to switch over from rain to snow. Around 5 p.m., it was our first live shot, and it had just changed to the fluffy flakes that we love to see and that look so good on TV. And there were three guys who were exhausted, but triumphantly cheering that it had finally changed over.”

While other people hunker down in snowstorms or get out of town in hurricanes, Petyerak and his team head straight into extreme weather. “Our job is to be in the thick of it, in the worst of it,” he said. “When people are leaving a hurricane, there’s no traffic for us because we’re going into the storm. Everyone else is evacuating.”

Petyerak has produced Cantore’s broadcasts for seven years, and the duo helped the network become Emmy nominated for their coverage of Hurricane Harvey in Houston. When he’s in the field, the job is grueling, demanding, and even dangerous. When he’s home, Petyerak helps to produce the network’s morning shows, which require a wake-up call so early, night has barely begun.

“I am logged on and ready to roll from my home at 2 a.m.,” he said. “If I do have to go to the studio, I’m up at about 12:45 to get to that meeting.”

Through it all, Petyerak is guided by both a passion for his job and a sense of duty. “If somebody watches my broadcast or my colleagues’ broadcast on The Weather Channel and stays home that day, and lo and behold, there are a lot of accidents on the road—that’s lifesaving information,” Petyerak said. “Those little things energize me when I have to get on another plane for four hours and I’m already exhausted. We’re on the front lines trying to keep viewers safe. Safety is our ultimate priority at The Weather Channel, and it drives me every single day.”

EVERY SNOWSTORM AND HURRICANE YOU CAN IMAGINE Petyerak didn’t start out tracking weather. A graduate of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, he landed one of his first major producing roles at CNBC’s Fast Money before he moved on to Good Morning America, where he won two Emmy Awards. He then spent five years producing SportsCenter at ESPN, which dovetailed Kent Alumni Hockey Game with perfectly with his own Billy Jaffe ’87 sports background. At both Kent and in college, Petyerak played hockey, a sport that ultimately introduced him to Jim Cantore.

When ESPN began issuing layoffs, Petyerak scanned the horizon for other opportunities, which came in the form of producing sports content for The Weather Channel’s new and now flagship morning show. Petyerak and his wife moved to Atlanta, where the network is based, and he dove into his new producing role. He also lobbied for one specific assignment: covering the National Hockey League Winter Classic on New Year’s Day in Washington, D.C.

Cantore was also dispatched to join Petyerak in D.C. to broadcast the hockey game. The meeting was

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT Petyerak, third from left, on the Boston Common during the Boston Nor’easter, 2022; Live broadcast just hours before Hurricane Laura makes landfall in Lake Charles, Louisiana, 2020; Petyerak, on right, with Jim Cantore and a staff photographer during the Boston Nor’easter in 2022, Long Wharf

fortuitous. “Jim and I met at the Nationals’ ballpark in Washington, D.C., one cold January morning,” Petyerak recalls. “Later, Jim was moving to mornings, and he was asked to choose a producer to work with him. He said to the network, ‘Steve did a great job in Washington. I want him.’ Now we’re seven years down the road in just about every snowstorm and hurricane you can imagine. We’ve done it all together.”

Whether Petyerak and Cantore are broadcasting from a storm or driving to find one, they’ve spent countless hours together, developing a powerful bond.

“Jim has become family to me,” Petyerak said. “When you’re in a dangerous situation like a Category 4 hurricane, and you’re wearing flak jackets and bulletproof vests and helmets, there’s no one that I trust more with my safety—and his with me. We’re a team out there, and much of it is unspoken because we’ve been around each other that much.”

The admiration goes both ways. Cantore said of Petyerak, “We have a great working relationship, and when needed we pump each other up, as after three days when we are usually both physically and mentally exhausted. He knows how to make me laugh more than anyone. He’s a genuine human being, and over the years he’s become like a brother to me.”

When viewers tune in and see Cantore being pelted by sideways rain, for example, Petyerak is right behind the camera—also getting pelted by sideways rain.

“I’m the team lead,” he explains of his role. “Everything goes through me. The worse conditions get out there, the more likelihood that something can go wrong, whether it’s a wire or the transmission going down, or being too dangerous to broadcast. All of those things are on the table, and I have to bring my A game every single day.”

Cantore praised Petyerak’s attention to detail. “I can count on Steve for the countless details that go along with our field coverage. Knowing all this ‘stuff’ is taken care of is priceless—like live shot locations, clearance with authorities, coordination with TWC, ESPN, CBS, and countless radio interviews. Big storms are our Super Bowl, and Steve has what it takes to guarantee our team is successful in the field.”

Petyerak was quick to give a shout-out to staff photographers Brad Reynolds, Matt Saffer, and Chris Erickson.

“We cannot be on the air every single day without them,” he said. “These guys are holding fifty-pound cameras and keeping them dry.”

At this point, Petyerak and Cantore have a well-oiled process every time they hit the road or land in a new city: fuel up and get groceries—even if all they can find is convenience store sandwiches. “We’re always fully stocked on water and dry-good supplies, especially during hurricane season,” he said. “A lot of times, diners or restaurants or coffee shops aren’t even open, so we have to fend for ourselves. It’s almost a ritual to get our supplies. You’ll find Jim and me at a Costco near you wherever we are.”

They never know what lies ahead: if the electricity will go out, or if they, along with the residents of their current location, will find themselves stranded. “When the power is out for you, it’s out for us,” he said. “We don’t have any magic wand that we’re waving at hotels that keep the lights or air conditioning on.”

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT Team Cantore at the base of the Flatirons in Boulder, Colorado, 2021; Two days after Hurricane Michael made landfall in Panama City, Florida, 2018; Petyerak drops off Keith and his girlfriend to higher ground during Hurricane Harvey, Houston, Texas, in 2017.

JOINING RESCUE MISSIONS Over the last few years, Petyerak has been shocked by the extreme weather battering the country, with storm after storm. And some, in particular, have deeply impacted him, like Hurricane Harvey in Texas.

“That storm was quite emotional for me,” he said. “It was quite a tough one. We went to Rockport, and it looked like a third-world country. There was devastation as far as the eye can see. And then the storm started to train over Houston, so we repositioned there, driving through the rain. We were seeing people getting rescued, getting air-lifted into buckets onto dry highways.”

In this instance, as in others, Petyerak was swept up in the rescue missions. In Houston, he joined others to help rescue an injured man stranded in his apartment as the flood waters were rising. With no other means of getting to higher ground, Petyerak volunteered to drive the man, named Keith, and his girlfriend, himself. Keith and Petyerak have remained friends.

“What really drives me with this job is there are times in storms where you’re helping pull people out of a flooded apartment in hurricanes, or putting them on rafts, or carrying them into vehicles to get them to safety,” he said. “When that person looks in your eyes and says, ‘Thank you,’ and you feel like you made a difference that day, that’s what makes it all worth it.”

BACK AT HIS ALMA MATER In January 2018, Petyerak found himself back in Kent, Connecticut—this time, on assignment. Severe ice jams on the Housatonic River had flooded homes and Kent School, necessitating evacuations. Cantore and Petyerak reported from the banks of the river. Although the circumstances were less than ideal, Petyerak said he was “proud to be able to go back to my alma mater for work.” His time at Kent left an indelible mark, and he still remembers the late Tim Scott, his English teacher who helped Petyerak pivot from “bad grades to high honors.”

“He really brought me out of my shell by calling on me in class,” he said. “In those moments, you’re sort of afraid, kind of like the first time you’re doing a live shot, you’re terrified, but at the same time, it’s exhilarating. I shined in that moment.”

Petyerak also credits Kent for imparting one skill that he relies on every day in his hectic schedule: time management. “Oftentimes, I’m trying to do a story in 20 seconds,” he said. “Kent had me budgeted down to the second in terms of what I did, how I did it, and when I did it. I will forever be grateful to the school for budgeting me, even when I didn’t want to do it at the time. To this day, time management is one of the best occupational tools that I’ve learned. And I can definitely credit Kent School for that.”

“To this day, time management is one of the best occupational tools that I’ve learned. And I can definitely credit Kent School for that.”

Petyerak currently resides in Woodstock, GA, with his wife, Maura, and their rescue dog, Ellijay. He also volunteers his time as board chairman for the nonprofit Athletes For A Better World.