Date: Fri 13-Mar-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Cecily-Tynan-weather-forecast

Full Text:

Former Newtowner Is Taking Philly's TV Market By Storm

(with head shot)

BY STEVE BIGHAM

Down in the "City of Brotherly Love," Cecily Tynan awakes at 3 o'clock in the

morning. It is still dark outside as she dresses for work. Ninety minutes

later, she arrives at WPVI-TV Channel 6 ready to go on the air as

Philadelphia's most popular morning weather forecaster.

Tynan, a 1987 Newtown High School graduate, makes her living tracking the

weather patterns of southeastern Pennsylvania, but it is her talent, good

looks and uplifting smile that have taken Philly by storm.

A recent story in the Philadelphia Daily News tabloid talked of the former

Newtown resident's popularity. The headline read, "Too hot even for El Nino."

Tynan's celebrity status on Channel 6 Action News has gotten so big she is

even doing occasional weather spots for the national morning program, Good

Morning America. She recently made her way to Washington, DC, for a weather

forecasters' convention. She met the President and was quoted in the following

day's New York Times commenting on global warming.

Cecily's parents, Joan and Bob of Newtown, could not be any prouder of their

daughter and often share tapes of her shows with friends. Mr Tynan warned his

daughter years ago that the broadcast journalism industry was too tough to

break in to. He always wanted Cecily to become an attorney, but she had other

plans. Mr Tynan's daughter set out to prove him wrong and doesn't hesitate to

chide him as she makes her way up the ladder.

Climbing The Network Ladder

Cecily, who will turn 29 on March 19, took all the right steps on her way to

the top, interning for CNN in London and at WDBT in Roanoke during her college

days. The former Sawmill Ridge Road resident majored in journalism and

politics at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. By her senior

year, she was employed part-time as one of the Roanoke station's weekend

reporters.

For about a year after graduation, Tynan plugged away at WDBT, working hard,

hoping she would eventually get noticed. She worked odd jobs -- waiting tables

and teaching aerobics -- to supplement the income she made at the station.

Finally in 1993, she got a call from a station in Las Vegas, which was looking

for a new weather forecaster, so she and her then-fiance (now husband), Mike

Badger, drove across the country with their two dogs. Using her natural on-air

talent and managing to stay away from the roulette wheel, Tynan was eventually

promoted to the morning news and weather anchor job.

"People seem to think doing the weather in Las Vegas is easy because its

always warm and sunny," she said. "But there are a lot of monsoons, and my

first summer there, it was 115 degrees for an entire week. I didn't even have

air conditioning for my car."

For better or for worse, when you are on the air everyday, your talent (or

lack of talent) is out there for all to see. For Cecily, it was for the

better; an assistant news director from Channel 6 in Philadelphia was in Vegas

and spotted her on the news. As he watched her, he called his boss to say he

had found just the right person to fill the station's weather post.

The timing was perfect. Cecily and Mike (whom she met in college) were married

in Virginia earlier that year and both realized how much they yearned to come

back East.

In October of 1995 she was hired. Two months later, Philly and the entire

Northeast was slammed with one of the nastiest winters on record. Ms Tynan was

in her glory. Already number one in ratings, Channel 6 ratings went through

the roof as viewers tuned in to watch the city's newest celebrity shiver in

the cold as she gave a play-by-play of each storm.

"The blizzard of 96 dropped 31 inches of snow on Philadelphia. It put me on

the map. It was the best thing that could have happened to me," Cecily said

with a chuckle. "I stood outside for 18 hours, and we got amazing ratings."

Cecily gets fan mail by the bushels, and she tries to respond to everyone.

Most of the requests are for autographed photos. She is careful not to respond

to a second request as some fans want to become pen pals. At one point, a

stalker attempted to interfere with her life, but the situation fortunately

blew over without incident. Cecily said people tend to feel as if they know

her since they see her so much on TV. She's gotten accustomed to the stares

and the, "Hey aren't you Cecily Tynan?" comments.

"You get a little self-conscious sometimes," she admitted.

Cecily believes the Channel 6 morning show has done well because of the on-air

chemistry between anchors Rick Williams and Monica Malpass and herself. The

show lasts from 5:30-7 am, then the news crew does periodical cut-ins for Good

Morning America until 9 am. After a 90-minute break, Cecily and her co-workers

head back to the studio for a 30-minute lunch report.

After that, she is usually done for the day and she often uses the free time

to work on earning her American Meteorological seal of approval or spends the

afternoon jogging. She's a competitive street racer and has run in several

races, including the London Marathon.

Cecily gets to bed every night between 7-8 pm, so she and Mike don't see a lot

of each other during the week. They do their catching up on the weekend.

"Monday through Friday we're like two ships passing in the night," she said.

As for her on-air success, Cecily said you simply have to be yourself.

"I really like what I do, and I think that comes across," she said. "I don't

take myself too seriously. When you're on live, things are going to go wrong.

People don't want to watch perfect people that seem almost plastic."

Tynan said she is sort of the station's resident female athlete and has hosted

several sporting events, including a pre-Olympic ice skating competition at

the Cores State Center.

Cecily said she first became interested in being on TV during her junior year

in high school. She remembers Dan Rather reporting the explosion of the Space

Shuttle Challenger.

"I thought how amazing it was that millions of people are hanging on his every

word," she said.

And what about a move to the national market? It seems to be the logical step

for the former Newtown resident.

"I don't know. I'm at a really good station now," Cecily said. "I may stay

here for the rest of my life."