A common man to a revered weatherman. Everything you need to know
Posted on: 01/Nov/2017 12:49:48 PM
How could there be a cult-like following for a common man? Sounds weird? Yes, there is one! An untrained weather reporter for whom there is a huge fan following! There are thousands of weather-related questions thrown at him every day. He is Mr. Pradeep John or Tamil Nadu Weatherman as popularly known. Aging just 35, for the past 7 years, he calls himself a rain-lover and keeps blogging and updates the same on his official Facebook page called Tamil Nadu Weatherman.
Pradeep says it all began with interesting updates on rainfall related information in 2010. Topics like top 20 rainfall stations in India were some of those he started with. Though his write-ups did not attract much interest from the audience, he did not withdraw from making regular posts.
And now, he has more than 2 lakh followers for his social media page. Though untrained in meteorology, he has more followers than met department’s Pradeep. He holds a degree in Computer Science and MBA in finance.
In each of his blog posts and Facebook updates, in addition to giving out information about weather, he also devastates unproven rumors.
He says he has taken up this role as a very serious one and intends to dispel all the prevailing weather-related rumors, especially about cyclone formation in Tamil Nadu.
What makes him special?
The way in which he articulates news with simply understandable language, eliminating jargons so that even layman could understand is his USP. Especially, a lot of followers have joined him after Chennai floods in 2015.
How did it start?
His passion towards rainfall and weather reports and meteorology on the whole had begun right during 12 years of age when Chennai experienced its very first cyclone back in 1996. He says he was awestruck to look at the power of nature. In June that year, Chennai received unprecedented rain showers, leaving all the schools shut for almost 2 weeks.
While the others would invite him to join the fun time of rainfall, he would sit by the window – calm and relaxed, and enjoy the bliss and chill of rain drops! He used to make deep potholes so as to measure rainfall level.
Source of data
The data he posts is a collective crux of what he learns from multiple sources. He is almost privy to the same data know to the met department, he claims.
What is he by profession?
He works as the Deputy Manager of Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Limited (TNUIFSL). He plays the role of weatherman with the fullest support of his wife Hannah and daughter Laura.
Isn’t that praiseworthy for his service to the people of Chennai and Tamil Nadu on the whole to update with understandable and simple weather report that we often find difficult to understand from top media reports? Of course, it is!
