In what “Foot’s Forecast” founder Rich Foot called their Kenny Rogers moment, the team of local forecasters announced the end of their regular weather forecasting collaborative.
Foot’s Forecast has more than 103,000 followers on Facebook and 1,124 reviews with a 98 percent recommendation rate. The page’s description says the group offers “Central Maryland weather intelligence by a collaborative team of experienced local forecasters.”
Jack Rudden, one of Foot’s Forecasters, is a senior at Mississippi State University studying meteorology, as well as chair of the Mount Airy Inclement Weather Task Force (a volunteer position). He spoke to Baltimore Fishbowl about Foot’s Forecast, its history, and next steps.
Foot is a high school science teacher in Baltimore County Public Schools. According to Rudden, Foot began the group in 2004 with some of his students when they were studying forecasting during that year’s El Niño and other large-scale climate and weather patterns. They launched their Facebook page in 2009, and gained around 29,000 followers after predicting back-to-back blizzards in 2009 into 2010.
“This was before I joined, but they nailed the forecast for the 2016 blizzard and the back-to-back blizzards in 2009/2010,” Rudden said. “That’s when their page took off and gained such a massive following.”
Were Foot’s Forecasters were never caught by surprise by a weather event?
“I can’t speak for everyone, but I would say June 5th, 2024, when an outbreak of more than a dozen tornadoes touched down in central MD, on a day where there should have been just one or two,” Rudden said. “Everything came together for the perfect storm if you will, and it caught most of the regions’ meteorologists off guard, us included.”
When asked about snow, Rudden guessed that of the current group, Foot loves snow the most. Like most forecasters, however, he hesitated to say for certain.
“He’s a major snow hound and loves a good snow day (or 10),” Rudden said. “Ira and Zach also love the snow, as do I, although I would take thunderstorms over the snow.”
He recognized, when asked, that only one woman was part of the team that signed off on the end of the video, and noted the significant gender gap in this particular scientific field.
“Early on, we had several female forecasters, some of which have gone on to work for emergency management agencies, NOAA, etc.,” Rudden acknowledged. “But you are correct. There is a sad gender gap in meteorology. Some of the best meteorologists in the country are women, and we hope that someday we will see just as many female meteorologists as male meteorologists, because science is for everyone, not just one gender.”
As for what made Foot’s Forecast so beloved and popular, Rudden had no hesitation. Within 24 hours of the announcement of the team’s ceasing operation, it had 967 “likes,” 182 comments, and 65 shares. Many commenters expressed sadness, dismay, and gratitude for the educational and detailed posts the page provided over the years, sharing memories of weather events, and what will be missed about the page.
“We were able to offer hyper-localized forecasts that corporate organizations cannot,” Rudden said. “We live in the towns we forecast for, many of us for our entire lives. So, we know it by heart. We know the microclimates, the intricacies of our local environment, and more importantly, we know and have created a relationship with the people.”
In a video on Facebook, Foot relayed his deep affection for the team of Maryland forecasters, spread all over the state, who have contributed over the years to the page’s success and eventually meteoric rise in popularity. The group, started by Foot and four others, included more than one hundred forecasters over the years, nearly all of whom began in high school. Channeling the late John Lennon, Foot said, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making plans,” and promised nothing “happened” to cause the group’s end. It was just a matter of “knowing when to walk away.”
Four of the forecasters, including Rudden, will continue individually to forecast on social media with their own pages, and Foot said there will be reunions for unusual weather events and forecasts. The other three forecasters who will continue include Zach Badders, Jason Mitchell, and Ira Wright.
