A Mississippi meterologist delivered a live forecast riding a bike: Here’s how

Matt Laubhan has added to his growing portfolio of presenting forecasts from unique situations.

Laubhan, the chief meteorologist at WTVA in Tueplo, Mississippi, can now add “riding a bike while doing the weather” to his resume.

In the past, he’s done forecasts while sledding, kite-flying and hiking.

“I really hope it reminds people that a beautiful world exists just beyond the four walls of their homes. Sometimes, a ride or a stroll around the block can completely change your mood and change your day,” Laubhan told NewscastStudio. “If you can show people that the weather is beautiful right now, perhaps they will take more advantage of the moment. We know that we can impact people’s lives by protecting them during bad weather; this is a way we can positively impact them during good weather.”

“I am using this as an opportunity to do the things I want to do anyway on clear days, while also doing my job at the same time,” he added. 

To accomplish the feat, Laubhan used an iPhone 13 Pro, Apple AirPods Pro a DJI Osmo 6 gimbal and an iPad Pro with cellular connection. The iPad came from WTVA and used the Verizon wireless service the station subscribes to, and Laubhan connected to the station’s network via VPN.

The phone standing in as camera is Laubhan’s personal device that uses AT&T’s network via his Consumer Cellular service.

Laubhan did not have a true return monitor, though the iPad, which mirrored the weather computer back at the station, did show what graphics viewers were seeing, so he could use that as reference. 

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At times, his face does glide in and out of the most ideal framing, but giving he’s riding a bike with multiple devices latched onto the handlebars as a “one man band” with no return, it’s certainly understandable and, if anything, helps convey the experience of bike riding.

He also controlled the graphics using the iPad.

Meanwhile, the AirPods doubled as both microphone and IFB, linked to the LU-Smart app from LiveU that provided both audio enhancement and linked into the station’s intercom system.

While many traditional remote forecasts from community events or local landmarks end up simply throwing up the weather graphics and maps fullscreen, Laubhan used laugmented reality-style graphics so that the information as right next to him on-screen.

WTVA uses The Weather Company’s Max Weather and Laubhan used the system to create his looks. Many of the on-screen graphics used during his activity-based forecasts were actually created during the COVID-19 pandemic when he was broadcasting from home, allowing viewers to see him and graphics on-screen at the same time without having a to rely on a portable chroma key setup.

“Once it gets a little bit warmer, I’m going to try doing it kayaking, because our family has a couple of inflatable kayaks, but we will see if any of my friends or coworkers end up beating me to that,” said Laubhan (let the record show, Laubhan had the idea for that). 

Other opportunities for these types of live shots might pop up as well, Laubhan said.

“I just try to keep my eyes open for interesting things happening around me. The real challenge-question will be whether or not I decide to brave the ridiculous Mississippi heat doing these live shots during summer,” he said.