by Kristin Proulx Jarvis
Ken Barlow ’84 broadcasting from the PSU campus.
Before he hit the TV weather scene, Ken Barlow ’84 remembers sliding down Plymouth’s abundant icy hills on plastic trays from the dining hall. He remembers meeting his future wife, Theresa Polzella Barlow, on the third floor of Belknap Hall, and watching her lead cheers for Panther football games.
He remembers buying cheap “mac and cheese” for dinners in his dorm room and cutting a rug at a 24-hour dance marathon.
On May 11 this year, Barlow returned to his alma mater. This time, he was more concerned about wind, rain and cold fronts than football games. Barlow, who graduated from PSU’s meteorology program, was hired this winter to forecast New England’s great Nor’easters and mild days alike as chief meteorologist for Boston’s CBS4 (WBZ-TV) News. On a road trip through New England to tape live weather forecasts, Barlow and WBZ-TV made PSU a destination.
Under a tent at the edge of the Alumni Green, Barlow took time out between broadcasts to recall his days at Plymouth State, and comment on the changes that have happened here since he left more than 20 years ago. It wasn’t difficult to conjure up memories of his days as a student.
“It all came back to me immediately,” Barlow said. During his trip home to PSU, Barlow said his tour of Boyd Science Center and the Judd Gregg Meteorology Institute (JGMI) blew him away. JGMI houses the Plymouth State University Weather Center, one of the most sophisticated weather centers in the country, and contains some outstanding state-of-the-art meteorological equipment. Its Web site is routinely accessed over 500,000 times per week. During active tropical events, the site has received over one million hits in a 24-hour period.
In Barlow’s day, stacks of paper, and not computers, were the main source of weather data. “When I was here, everything came by fax, on this soaking wet paper. No one had a PC. We had to go to the mainframe in Hyde. At that time, we were state-of-the-art.”
Barlow, a native of Newport, R.I., has more than 20 years of experience in weather forecasting. Since graduating from Plymouth State, he has kept busy studying the weather patterns of the northeastern and central United States for several successful television stations. But Barlow said it’s great to be back in New England with all its unpredictable weather and seasonal changes.
Barlow’s career in forecasting began at FleetWeather in Hopewell Junction, N.Y. He then became a meteorologist for WLBZ-TV (NBC) in Bangor, Maine, and in 1990, he left New England to become chief meteorologist for KARE 11 (NBC) in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Barlow, who has won two Emmy awards for his work in television, is a member of the American Meteorological Society and has held the AMS Seal of Approval since 1988.
(L-R) Dr. Joseph Zabransky, Ken Barlow, senior meteorology student Nicholas Brazil and retired PSU professor of meteorology Dr. Robert Derrickson.
Barlow fondly remembers the personal attention he received from professors in the meteorology department.
He considers these professors not only excellent teachers but mentors for his professional life as well.
“The one-to-one relationship I had with all of the professors at Plymouth State was invaluable to me as a student, and it made me feel worthy of their time,” he said. “Many people I know, attending much larger schools, rarely even saw the professor, never mind having a one-to-one conversation with him or her.”
When Barlow first learned he had been hired at WBZ, he contacted meteorology professor and mentor Joe Zabransky to tell him the good news. Zabransky remembered his former student as extremely hard-working, personable, academically talented and a “take charge guy.” He wasn’t surprised at all that Barlow had become a successful television weather anchor.
“It was clear, even then, that his personality suited the kind of public interaction that his career has taken him on with television,” Zabransky said.
Barlow and Zabransky met this May at PSU, shielding themselves from the wind under the camera crew’s tent as Barlow waited for the cue to begin his next live broadcast.
