He’s one of the big names at this weekend’s Wells Fargo Championship, but he might not see a golf shot all day. As fans and tournament officials follow the famous PGA golfers around the Quail Hollow Club, Wade Stettner may be sitting in his trailer on the second fairway, staring at one of three computer screens. “Well, you don’t see a lot of competition,” Stettner said. “But that’s not why I’m here.“ Stettner, 49, is a meteorologist assigned to work for the PGAat the Wells Fargo event, which begins Thursday and runs through Sunday, weather permitting. Wade Stettner, meteorologist at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte. / Steve Lyttle-Charlotte Observer Steve Lyttle Charlotte Observer With storms expected Wednesday through Friday and bad weather Wednesday and Thursday, I think Stettner will have his work cut out for him.
The second half of the race on Saturday and Sunday was really good weather,” said Stettner. “But we’ll have to wait and see for the first few days.“ When golf and inclement weather don’t mix, tournament officials, television networks, golfers andfans pay close attention to what Stettner sees on those three screens. A Big Issue The PGA pays a lot of attention to weather. Some of them date back to 1991. That’s when lightning struck the crowd at the US Open in Minnesota and later that year at the PGA Championship in Indiana. The PGA and many other sports organizations contract with weather forecasting company DTN to provide forecasters for all of their tournaments. Stettner is the company’s senior risk analyst and spends 40 weeks a year working PGA, LPGA or Champions Tour events. Although he warns of heavy rain or strong winds, Stettner’s main concern is thunderstorms. “Lightning is a big killer, butstorms can also produce deadly winds,” he said.
There are times when people want to get off the golf course.“ Stettner, who grew up in Minnesota and earned a degree in meteorology from the University of North Dakota, has not yet decided whether the race will be suspended. This is the verdict of PGA referee Gary Young. But Young and other PGA officials listened carefully to what the scientists had to say. “The nature of the business has changed,” Stettner said. “They have weather apps on their phones these days. So our meteorologists go beyond accurate forecasts and analysis. We tell them what we expect. For example, he said, a weather app on a phone can notify someone when lightning is visible a certain distance away. But he added that the app doesn’t show whether a storm is approaching or receding. Basically, the main sources of information are three computer screens. Stettner is monitoring the weather radar, which provides information about rain, wind and lightning. When we spoke earlier this week, it was less than a few minutes before he turned to look at the weather radar. Lightning Spotter So he set up a weather station about 15 meters from the trailer. The CS-110 station has a power meter that measures power loads near the ground. This will help Stettner if lightning strikes nearby. This weather station has great coverage of Wade Stettner at this weekend’s Wells Fargo Championship. These stations measure temperature, wind, precipitation, barometric pressure, and most importantly, near-surface energy accumulation. / Steve Little-Charlotte Observer Steve Little Charlotte Observer “Of course we’ll see the storm coming,” he said. “But as the weather increases, you have to be careful because there will be storms up there. The lightning will appear in 20 minutes.
The electricity meters can indicate this in advance. Stettner had aphone and a portable radio to contact the race officials .If he sees lightning or any other type of threat, he will contact Young and other PGA officials. Then a horn sounded throughout the quail club, signaling it to move out of the way. Stettner will also talk to club officials aboutflooding, but says the greens have a better idea of how much rain the course can handle. Keep in touch with golfers about wind speed and direction so they know what to expect. All this from a man who loved the weather as a teenager and was fascinated by Minnesota summer thunderstorms. After graduating, he worked in aviation meteorology at DTN for five years before switching to sports.
‘WE ALL LOST SOME’ His first race was in Hawaii in 2005. The storm he was expecting arrived a few hours earlier. “All predictions have errors,” he said. “We all lose something.“ But he evacuated everyone from the golf course to shelter when a tornado touched down five miles away during a golf tournament in Memphis a few years ago. He received a lot of feedback, especially when his predictions were wrong. “I heard everything.“ he said “I was angry at first,” he said of the accusation.
“People say, ‘You’re not around, how can you predict our weather?'” Stettner said DTN forecasters keep a record of visits to many cities and a lot of data is available while in Charlotte. Or in another competition. And no, he doesn’t play much golf. “I have other hobbies,” he said. “But one day, I’m going to retire and I think I’m going to play golf. I think we’re pretty close now.“.
