Florida blogger Anita McTaggart is proving to be a hit among hurricane nerds. Hired last year to be the state’s top weather blogger and meteorologist (not to mention one of its most sought-after motivational speakers), she became an Internet sensation when Hurricane Harvey swept ashore in Texas last month, and has provided instant and credible hurricane information for many. She even dispatches daily photos of her pit-stop lunch, poking fun at her dyed-black hair. Since then, her online following has climbed to more than 65,000. In May, she was one of three women featured on the Today show.
Many hurricane-watchers turned to Ms. McTaggart not because of her credentials, but because of her last name.
“I didn’t think that I would even be considered, but then I just started getting emails.”
Named Mrs. Jameson’s in 1974 after Ruth Evelyn McTaggart’s grandparents, she was known in school and by friends as the beloved and feisty daughter of a former teacher.
“I was first given a nickname when I was 8. My school’s principal named me ‘The Mad Screech’ because I made snoring too loud, and she thought I would follow the same habit in the weather.”
She went on to graduate as a T-Paw in 1975 and went on to earn her meteorology degree. She has lived in Florida since the 1970s, and her interest in the weather inspired her to write a weather column called The Accidental Meteorologist for Newsday.
She became more prominent in the ’90s when she began blogging about hurricanes, and gained notice as a storm tracker in 2005, when she used Google Earth to examine winds and heat on Hurricane Wilma.
“The weather information that I get from YouTube is very good, but sometimes it’s not well optimized and it’s not as detailed as I want it to be.”
She, her husband and their children have been hit hard by Harvey. Her husband, Steve, is also a meteorologist and uses her blog to provide links to storm tracking.
“This year it’s been really tough. My family’s been hit with a lot of water in the house. We still have most of our stuff in place in case the water comes up.”
But she is optimistic. “We have a lot of manpower working on the ground.”
Read the full story at The Daily Beast.
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