JacobDickeyWX
Meteorologist + Storyteller + Photojournalist + Educator
AGE
CURRENT CITY
EMAIL
PERSONALITY TYPE
CAREER
LOOKING FOR
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HOBBIES
30
Champaign, IL
jedickey2@gmail.com
INTJ - The Architect
Midday/Field Meteorologist
Severe Weather & Community/Education Engagement
Learner, Competition, Strategic, Command, Achiever
Being outside, cooking, meeting people, working with students, building community, global traveling, non-profits, social media, videography and music
Jacob Dickey
Ever since I can remember, I've been passionate about the weather. From seeing my first tornado as an eight year old boy to conducting social science research in graduate school on how people respond to tornadoes, I take weather seriously.
From the field and in the studio, I've covered some historic tornado outbreaks in the South and Midwest, several fatal tornadoes in Mississippi and Alabama, an EF4 tornado up-close, witnessed the eye of a category 5 hurricane, covered historic flooding in my own hometown, reported on countless winter storms, several devastating ice storms and more.
My graduate school research at Mississippi State analyzed how people perceive tornadoes based on their knowledge of tornado safety information with the goal to help save lives. We implemented strategies from my findings in two separate television stations I worked at with the goal of keeping our viewers safe.
I live and breathe weather. Check out my profile to learn a little more about myself, some of my work and why I do what I do.
TV Station Work
Tornado Coverage + Weather + Stories + Specials + Digital Projects
RESUME TAPE: JUNE 2023
Watch Meteorologist Jacob Dickey's latest resume reel above. You can also see some of Meteorologist Jacob Dickey's work below, including a montage of severe weather coverage, a review of impactful storms in the area, a report on a tornado that nearly killed a 12-year-old boy, reporting on weather in the field and in the studio, and some complete forecast shows below.
In his time at WCIA-3 News, Meteorologist Jacob Dickey has led team coverage in the studio multiple times, and has been present for 60+ tornado warnings since early May, 2021. Jacob brought live coverage from the field in a rare January tornado outbreak in 2023, and followed that up with extensive team coverage on the historic March 31st tornado outbreak which brought several strong tornadoes to the region. Jacob led team coverage on June 27th in 2021 for a total of 7+ hours of live digital and TV time as an outbreak of severe weather, including numerous tornadoes, tore through parts of Central Illinois. Jacob managed 3 teams in the field (Springfield news crew, StormTracker with Chief Meteorologist Kevin Lighty, spotters out of Gibson City), handled push alerts on multiple apps, digital and social media interaction and viewer pictures, while balancing 5 tornado warnings at once, receiving high praise from management and viewers alike.
MONTAGE: SEVERE WEATHER
LIVE: TORNADO COVERAGE
LIVE: TORNADO AFTERMATH
REPORT: CHINESE BALLOON
FORECAST: SEVERE WX
FORECAST: WINTER WEATHER
LIVE: STORM CHASING
REALITY WEATHER: DUST
REALITY WEATHER: AURORAS
WCIA 3 Franchises by Jacob
Digital Content by Jacob
Web Stories + Digital Projects
WEB STORIES
Reality Weather: Northern Lights (Max Augmented Reality)
Illinois faces worst drought in a decade
NWS says radar data impacted by wind farm during Maroa tornado
12-Year-Old Boy Survives Tornado as it hits Local Farm
Central Illinois Sees Most Tornado Warnings Since 2011
Afternoon of Terror: Looking Back at the 1976 F4 Tornado
47 Years Ago, A Historic Tornado Outbreak Began Here
Light Pillars Spotted in Central Illinois
5 Tornadoes Confirmed Monday in Central Illinois
What to Do When Severe Weather Threatens You
Dust Storm Warning: What does it mean? (Max Augmented Reality)
Unusual February tornadoes strike Central Illinois
Kansas FFA holds Operation Secret Santa
SHOW: Remembering Meteorologist Robert Reese
Brief Tornado Touches Down Near Humboldt
3 Tornadoes Confirmed Thursday Afternoon
Snowfall Reports from President's Day Winter Storm
Mother's Day Weekend Rainfall Reports
DIGITAL WEATHER CONTENT
A major project at WCIA in the Spring of 2023 was unveiling a major Digital Content push as a part of a company wide mission to increase WCIA's presence online, led by Jacob. This project included providing a 24/7 updating Weather Map Room, access to 6 unique hyper local forecasts updated daily by the team and daily forecast updates for over 140 small towns in Central Illinois. See more at WCIA.com/weather and clicking the drop-down menu.