Jim Willem Vanderzwaan (born May 1, 1950) is a Dutch-American television meteorologist who worked in
Salinas, California
Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Marsh or Salt Flats") is a city in California and the county seat of Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area lo ...
.
He holds the
National Weather Association's seal of approval. His ability at
weather forecasting
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology forecasting, to predict the conditions of the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia a ...
has earned him awards from both the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
and the
Radio-Television News Directors Association.
History
Vanderzwaan was born in
Aruba
Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...
; he moved to the United States at 5 years of age and became a U.S. citizen in 1972.
His career in
broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...
began in 1974 in
Reno, Nevada
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
. Pursuing an
airman certificate
Pilot licensing or certification refers to permits for operating aircraft. Flight crew licences are regulated by ICAO Annex 1 and issued by the civil aviation authority of each country. CAA’s have to establish that the holder has met a specifi ...
in 1978 sparked his interest in meteorology and his career turned to broadcast meteorology two years later. Before permanently settling in his residence in the
Salinas Valley in 1983 he worked at stations in
Boise, Idaho and
Medford, Oregon
Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824 and a metropolitan area population of 223,259, making the Me ...
.
Personal life
With his strong interest in
aviation
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...
, Jim has been a frequent announcer at two of central California's
airshows.
Both the
Santa Cruz County airshow as well as the larger California International Airshow in
Salinas have had Jim perform as crowd entertainer and educator. He's appeared at the airshow in Salinas since 1983 as announcer and has performed as director of flight operations as well.
References
External links
KSBW Lead Forecaster Jim Vanderzwaan to retire after 32 years– KSBW
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanderzwaan, Jim
American television meteorologists
Living people
1950 births
Aruban emigrants to the United States
Dutch emigrants to the United States