Aspiring meteorologist Jacob Klein, 14, is the founder and CEO of Berkshire Weather, a website that provides weather forecasts for Northern and Southern Berkshire County using a weather station mounted in the backyard of his family's Pittsfield home. Thursday, January 6, 2022.
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As a cold wind begins to blow, Jacob Klein, 14, holds out his arms Thursday, while in front of the weather station in the backyard of his home in Pittsfield. Jacob uses the station to run his website, berkshireweather.com. “Just one day I woke up and I wanted to be a meteorologist,” Jacob said. “It’s as simple as that.”
Jacob's wireless unit sends data to a console set up in his bedroom. Jacob begins his day at 6 a.m., studying the weather and making forecasts. His website went live last August. He updates it daily. His twice-daily radio reports began this past fall.
In 1776, Thomas Jefferson first began to recruit volunteer weather observers. To this day, despite the billions of dollars spent on Doppler radar, remote satellite sensing equipment and whatnot, meteorologists continue to rely on the data from volunteer weather observers, such as Jacob.
Jacob received the weather station for free. Since he already had done so much weather-related research and was certain he could serve his community if he had one, he introduced himself to the manufacturer of the unit by means of a letter. After a FaceTime conversation with one of the company’s officers, a box arrived at his door.
A snow depth gauge is mounted in the front yard of Jacob’s home. Let it be known that Jacob intends on someday being the director of the National Weather Service.
Stephanie Zollshan
Photojournalist
Stephanie Zollshan has been a photojournalist for The Berkshire Eagle since 2011. She is a Boston University graduate whose work has been featured in publications around the world. Stephanie can be reached at szollshan@berkshireeagle.com.
As featured on
Meet Jacob Klein, 14, founder and CEO of berkshireweather.com. A self-described "weather warlock," he’s the new voice of climate conditions on WTBR (89.7-FM).
