BUCKHANNON – Severe winter weather alert? Buckhannon is fortunate to have a home-grown remote meteorologist who takes Upshur County winter storms head-on by sharing frequent forecast updates that reach local residents via a popular social media account.

Dillon Gaudet, a Buckhannon native, found interest in weather at a young age and stuck with his passion. Today, viewers can find him in front of the news camera at WTVQ ABC 36 in Lexington, Kentucky, as well as on the locally well-known Facebook page Dillon Gaudet Weather, with more than 8,000 followers.

“When I was a kid, I grew up watching WBOY 12 News,” Gaudet said. “I was always really scared of storms, but the older I got, I turned that fear into wondering, ‘Why am I scared of them?’ I used to watch the weather to know why, to know how strong these storms were, and where the storm was happening.”

During eighth grade, Gaudet experienced a noticeable turning point as he set his eyes on weather radars and broadcast journalism. With the help of a Buckhannon educator, he made a big break that accelerated his future goals.

“Miss Carolyn Blend had always known that I loved the weather. She pushed me to do a contest in eighth grade, which was ‘Be Jason Parrish For A Day,’” Gaudet said.

In order to enter the contest to take a peek behind the curtain of a weather meteorologist, applicants had to submit a video to WBOY giving a mock forecast and talking about the weather.

“Jason Parrish was the meteorologist that I grew up watching on WBOY,” Gaudet said. “Jason was someone who was local — I had always watched him.”

This contest immediately became Gaudet’s ‘big break’ into his lifelong passion. To calm his nerves and fear of talking on camera, Blend assisted Gaudet by boosting his confidence and reassuring him of his passion for all things weather.

“At that time, I didn’t like being on camera. I was really camera-shy. I just liked talking about the weather, but I didn’t want to be on television at that time. After [we submitted the video], all of Buckhannon rallied behind me, and I ended up winning the contest and doing the ‘Be Jason Parrish For a Day’ segment. It was really fun,” Gaudet said. “That moment, though, in eighth grade, is when I went from knowing I had a passion about weather to knowing that this was something that I could do for my career.”

Gaudet graduated from Buckhannon-Upshur High School in 2015 and attended California University of Pennsylvania. From there, Gaudet felt lucky to find a position at his home news station, WBOY, where he stayed for two years before heading to Lexington. Leaving that role and his loyal local viewers was hard, but he felt it was the right thing to do at the time.

“I really wanted to challenge myself,” Gaudet said. “As I grew up, I knew — and I still know — West Virginia weather so well. I know how to forecast it, and I’m very comfortable with it. I had never been out of my comfort zone, so I found myself in Kentucky, where I was not familiar with the area or the people who lived there. I wanted to know if I could do weather anywhere.”

After the move, Gaudet recognized his social media following from residents of North Central West Virginia still strongly relied on his regular forecasts, despite living and working almost 300 miles away. 

Colleagues and friends of Gaudet’s parents – Brian and Christy Gaudet – would often ask about upcoming weather forecasts for Buckhannon and throughout Upshur County. That interest led to launching local weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and more on Dillon Gaudet Weather, a popular page on Facebook.

“I don’t like to be extravagant in my forecasts. I try to be as accurate as I can,” Gaudet said. “My weather forecast can really dictate — especially in the wintertime — what someone does with their daily life or their job. Storms could cause financial implications for some people if they can’t get to work or do their jobs effectively.”

Gaudet confessed that after his morning at WTVQ in Lexington, he often spends afternoons doing research for an hour or two to develop a forecast for Upshur County and the surrounding areas.

“I think it’s important to a lot of people that I am from West Virginia, so having that local connection [is important],” Gaudet said. “You know the differences [in the geographic area], that Buckhannon could have a little bit of snow, but French Creek will end up with more snow almost every single time.”

Although Gaudet lives and works in the beautiful city of Lexington, he said Buckhannon will always be home.

“I’m still very young, so I haven’t seen the worst of West Virginia weather,” he said. “I’m still learning with every event that happens. I might be in Kentucky, but West Virginia is still home, and I still really care about the people there.”

When asked how West Virginia weather differs from his regular forecasts for Lexington, Gaudet expressed that the Appalachian Mountains, the Great Lakes and radar locations all play an important role in the state’s weather events.

For any aspiring meteorologists in the area, take this unique piece of advice: “I wish I did this more when I was a kid, having your own little weather station at home. You have a notebook that tracks the temperature or a rain gauge that tracks how much rain you get. Tracking that information every day, you start to see patterns. A big part of weather is looking at the climate in the past, so having your own notebook that you can track the weather every single day and refer back to [is great].”

There are two areas to then advance your weather experiments and climate study: one, record the data and send it to your local meteorologist — as that is very valuable information for them – and two, enroll in a Storm Spotter class hosted by the National Weather Service. Gaudet said the NWS office in Charleston, West Virginia, may provide virtual education opportunities for residents interested in seeking a better understanding of the world we live in. 

Gaudet noted that aspiring meteorologists do not need expensive equipment to be successful. Oftentimes, a homemade rain gauge or a thermometer outside your window will do the job well.

“You become a meteorologist, a weather observer and see weather happening near you,” Gaudet said. “That is the essence of a meteorologist, you become one just by tracking the weather and looking at the weather.”

Although Gaudet lives and works away from home, he still often thinks about Buckhannon, its people, and its weather.

“I want to say thank you to everyone who trusts my forecasts because I feel that trust is a factor that I’ve tried to earn from my community over the years,” Gaudet said. “This is really important to me. I thank everyone back home for their support.”

Before ending the call with My Buckhannon, Gaudet wanted to leave our readers with a good laugh.

“My dad [Brian Gaudet] works at the Upshur County Courthouse. Everyone often asks him questions like he knows the weather. I just want to say that my dad is not a weather expert, so go ahead and ask me the questions. Please don’t bombard my dad because he does not know the answer to your question,” Gaudet jokes. “Dad sends me those questions anyway, so cut out the middleman and reach out to me directly.”

Upshur County residents are encouraged to follow Dillon Gaudet on his journey on Facebook for frequent updates on storms, rain, snow and more of West Virginia’s ever-changing weather.