Betsy Kling’s love of The 330
Meteorologist Betsy Kling is constantly talking about the weather. For her it isn’t filler conversation with a stranger—it’s her profession. She points out fronts and storm systems to a televised audience as they anxiously look at the forecast, determining the activities for the days ahead .
But when she leaves the studio and goes home to her family, she too plans things to do in The 330. Stomping through puddles, gazing at wildlife and shopping with her two young daughters bring a smile to her face rain or shine. After all, just like the weather, life is unpredictable, and she knows to keep rolling with it—especially in Northeast Ohio. “We always claim every five minutes it’s going to change or that we have all four seasons in one day. It’s kind of tongue-in-cheek, but it’s kind of true too.”
Those who call Northeast Ohio home are very familiar with unpredictable weather. Sunny one day and bone-chillingly cold the next, a multi-day forecast features potential extreme swings as locals hang on for the ride. The erratic weather is a constant companion for Kling. However, she didn’t start out with weather on the brain.
A graduate of Copley High School, she went to Bowling Green State University for her degree in journalism. Looking through her requirements at BG, she knew she needed a lab science. “I talked to people in my dorm and somebody suggested I try weather because it was really easy.” As always seems to be the case when someone else says a course is a piece of cake, the class proved challenging. “It was not easy. It was the hardest class I have ever taken, but it absolutely fascinated me.” Armed with a tutor and determination to conquer the topic, she focused on realigning her thinking. “I tried to get my creative journalist writing brain back in line with science and analytics and there it was—it just kind of worked after that.”
The world of weather forecasting is tricky. It is full of what Kling calls extrapolating. The term basically means taking gathered data and forming an educated prediction. There is guess work involved in the process, and as anyone who regularly watches forecasts knows, there is a margin of error. In a medium that is anything but simplistic, Kling patiently explains a little of how the forecast comes about. “It’s a whole different way of thinking about things,” she says. “I think that was the big thing for me—trying to grasp not only a 3D type of environment, but the fact that I don’t know exactly what the temperature is right now 800 feet about my head. I don’t know exactly what the temperature of the humidity profile is at 37,000 feet, even though it is very important in the forecast.”
Thinking about the world in 3D may sound simple, but it adds a challenge to the job. There isn’t just one thing happening in the environment—there are many factors to consider, all happening on top of each other and surrounding one another. Sensors and instruments can tell her a lot about the atmosphere far above her, but the information isn’t perfect. “You are trying to make a very informed and educated guess on not only what’s occurring, but what is expected to occur,” she says.
After graduating from Bowling Green, Kling’s first job took her to Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Fort Wayne farming community was the stage for her first tornado warning—a rite of passage of sorts that Kling says everyone in her business remembers vividly. “Mine was a complete disaster—not the tornado—it was me that was the disaster.” She recalls a two-pronged storm system that came through the area. “The first line came through and knocked out the power while I was in the shower getting ready to go to work.” Grabbing all of her stuff, throwing on a t-shirt and shorts with her soaking wet hair, she hustled to the station. She thought there would be power at the station and once there she could dry her hair and get ready to go on the air. But that wasn’t how it worked out. “As I am driving into the station the tones go off on the radio and they announce that there is not only a tornado warning, but it is for the county I am in and the city I am in.”
Walking into the station, she was greeted by an engineer who clipped a microphone on her—still in the t-shirt with sopping hair—and said she had to go on immediately. “With wet hair and wearing a t-shirt, I went on and announced to everyone that there was a tornado warning for Allen County, Indiana with a shaking voice,” she says. “I had no idea what to say. I hadn’t looked at the radar.” In that moment, she promised herself to never be that unprepared again. “It was horrible. It really was. I’m lucky they let me have a job after that.”
Kling spent several years in Fort Wayne—where the farmers love to hear rain in the forecast—and then a couple years in Jacksonville, Fla.—where rain is hardly ever welcome in the sunshine state—before returning home to Ohio.
“ When I finally came home, it was like ‘we don’t care what’s coming, just get it right,’” she says. “And Cleveland and Northeast Ohio being what it is, that is just as much of a tall task.”
Fourteen years later, Kling is happy to be home and continues to predict the weather at WKYC. When she isn’t telling viewers the percentage of flurries or sprinkles, she is out and about in The 330 with her family. “I’m a Copley girl who left for a while and couldn’t wait to get home,” she says. Her Akron-centric family tree touches on several staples of the area. “My grandfather worked at the rubber company [so] we have tires in our background.” Her father was also involved in the community as an Akron firefighter for 32 years. She remembers the special privilege it was to visit him at work and get to slide down the iconic fire pole.
Now living 12 miles from her parents, she can share the highlights of her youth with her children. Kling is married with two daughters—Josie is 8 years old and Violette is 2. Life with her family is an adventure with twists and turns around each bend. “Every day is new. Something new pops up [and] it’s not a dull or boring life.”
Though she may see it coming, Kling faces the same challenge as any other parent on a rainy day—what to do to make the day more than a dreary time indoors. “One of my favorite things to do on a rainy day, believe it or not, is go out in the rain,” she says. “As long as it’s not thundering or lightning, it can actually be fun, especially if it’s warmer.” On those rain-soaked days, Kling seeks out places that are typically packed—allowing her family to explore a different side of a familiar place. “It’s an opportunity that I think people often overlook to get down into the Valley and the National Park.” Venturing along the paths in the CVNP with her daughters, they get to see animals come out to enjoy the rain, as well. Creatures pop up to say hello in the marshes and boggy areas. Birds land on branches for a bit of a shower. Just as the wildlife in the park show an indifference to the precipitation, the residents of the Akron Zoo—another favorite of Kling’s family—hang out rain or shine.
“ We love the Akron Zoo,” she says. The zoo is the perfect size for her family; even her youngest, Violette, can walk the whole thing. Plus, without the crowds the experience becomes even more intimate.
“The animals don’t mind the rain,
so why should we?”
From the FA Seiberling Nature Realm to Summit Mall’s center court playground, Kling is always finding fun activities to do with her girls. And that doesn’t only include physical activities. “We love the library. We’ll go pop in the library for a while and we can easily do a couple hours there.” Adventures lurk behind every corner in The 330 and they enjoy seeking them out. “We really love Amish Country and we’ll go down there on rainy days because there aren’t as many people.” Eating at her favorite restaurant, the Amish Door, this small getaway is a relaxing escape—even if only for a few hours.
One unique aspect of the region is the ability to go into urban centers like Akron and Cleveland, and then venture into the country—discovering the rolling hills in Tuscarawas County. Wandering throughout The 330, Kling sees so much natural beauty combining with the unique culture of the region. Together, these elements create a place she is happy to call home. “There’s a lot of pride in Northeast Ohio—People in their little towns and little niche businesses, and I think it’s really fun to explore all of that.”
Despite the unpredictable, ever-changing weather of Northeast Ohio, there is always warmth in Kling’s heart for the area. Speaking about her old haunts on Market Street in Akron or shopping days spent with her daughters, she radiates with hometown pride—making this place she worked hard to return to a wonderful home.