Smole's love of forecasting led to Alleghany weather website

Looking into the darkening sky, a young toddler named Jesse Smole looked to his mother and whispered, "Mama, it's going to snow," thus beginning his forecasting career.

At 17, he is a high school graduate, employed with flooring, carpet and tile and is the creator of www.alleghanyweather.net. "I've liked weather ever since I was teeny," said Smole. "I've just been fascinated with it. Every time we'd have storms or something, I'd like to be outside in them. I was always measuring snow. I would go out and watch for the next band of snow to come in and watch the Weather Channel constantly. I've been doing that for as long as I can remember." The older son of Mark and Diane Smole of Piney Creek, he and his family moved to Alleghany County from Ashe County after he finished seventh grade.

Smole's love for weather was nurtured by his mother, who made a point of watching the Weather Channel regularly. When he entered school, he learned his love for weather was also shared by his assistant kindergarten teacher, Ms. Ball.

Also encouraging young Smole, Ball and other kindergarten teachers asked him when it was going to snow. He recalled one incident in particular.

"I remember one day, I said, ‘It will start snowing during lunch or just after.' Just as we were putting away our trays at lunch, it started snowing."

Not too long ago, his mother pulled out and watched a video tape of a not-much-older Jesse.

"During the winter, I took the video camera outside and started acting like I was an on-the-scene weather reporter. I was about eight or nine," he said.

After learning about how to make websites in computer class in school last year, Smole decided to make one up.

"My mom saw it and said, ‘You need to do that for your senior project.' I thought to myself, ‘Yeah, that'll work.'

The process did not take him long. "I'd say the whole process probably took just over 20 hours," he said.

He had the site up and running before Nov. 17, the scheduled presentation date. On the site are links to other websites that Smole thought were "neat." They include links to eAlleghany.net, ski conditions and local radar.

"I forecast the weather. I look at computer models on the Internet. I've actually talked to a meteorologist from (WXII) Channel 12 and I use the same ones that they do. Pretty much everyone uses the same models, it's just where you get them from."

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