Not many people enjoy their jobs like KATV’s Todd Yakoubian. Yakoubian became fascinated with weather at an early age, and his passion is now his career. The Little Rock native attended the University of Oklahoma (he also holds a degree from Mississippi State University) and began his television meteorology career in Missoula, Mont., before taking a job in Chattanooga, Tenn. Yakoubian, 39, came back to Little Rock in 2005. He’s made his mark at KATV with an emphasis on social media (he has 25,100 Twitter followers) and The Arkansas Weather Blog, which includes written and video entries, some of which are done from his home office.
On a recent morning when the Doppler radar was calm, we talked to Yakoubian, the father of two young boys, about his interest in weather, his close encounter with a tornado and what severe weather season has in store for central Arkansas.
Q: When did you first get interested in weather?
A: It goes back to when I was 6 years old. I don’t know what it was exactly that piqued my interest. One week I wanted to be a shoe salesman, the other week I wanted to be a weatherman. My parents thought it was a passing thing, but I stuck with it. They encouraged me every step of the way.
Q: As you were growing up in middle school and high school did you participate in any weather-related clubs or anything at school?
A: For my 10th birthday, I took a surprise trip to the National Weather Service office in North Little Rock for a tour, which I loved. I thought that was cool. Back then, there wasn’t much for a kid to do in weather. My dad bought a Macintosh Classic, and I was able to dial in to AccuWeather and get forecasts on an old modem. I was able to download forecasts, and that was real cool.
Q: When you went to the University of Oklahoma, did you know you wanted to be a TV meteorologist or just work with weather?
A: I knew I wanted to be in TV. I knew I didn’t want to work in anything but television when I was going to school at Oklahoma.
Q: Is there still some Razorbacks fan left in you?
A: Oh sure. I’m split. I always want the Hogs to do well, but all of my money went to Oklahoma. I always want the Razorbacks to do well, but [Oklahoma] is where I got my degree.
Q: Obviously, Oklahoma is known for tornadoes. Did you get close to any as a student?
A: I got hit by a tornado. I don’t encourage anyone to storm chase. I was young and stupid — the things I did, I can’t believe I did them. I was hit by a tornado chasing it and was knocked off the road. We were chasing, and we saw the wall cloud out ahead of us, and it dissipated. It fell apart, and we thought it was over. Lo and behold, what we didn’t see is it was re-forming right above our heads. You aren’t looking above, and the whole wall cloud formed above us. I looked over into a field to our right, and I see all of this stuff getting sucked up — dust and limbs. I yelled “tornado.” I slammed on my brakes, and it came racing across and hit my car and threw me over into the side of the road. I got down and my ears popped. I looked back up, and it was going into the field to my left. It was a weak one, but it was enough to scare me. On that same day, I saw another tornado in Purcell in southwestern Oklahoma. That turned out to be the same storm that produced the Van Buren [Ark.] tornado that hit in the mid-1990s. It developed in south-central Oklahoma, and I saw it develop and put down its first tornado.
Q: The year you were in Missoula, Mont., the area received 111 inches of snow. What was that like?
A: It was a shock. [That] first job was mornings — for nine months waking up to a fresh snowfall. There is a foot of snow on the ground, and I am trying to get to work in my little Toyota. I did it. It was a shock, but I loved it.
Q: You’ve mentioned you like snow when you’re on the air during the winter months. Is that a result of your time in Montana?
A: As a kid, whenever [KATV chief meteorologist] Ned Perme forecasted snow, I would wake up all night long and check and see if it was snowing. I’ve always loved snow. I’m like a little kid. I like to play in the snow. I love skiing and sledding and all of that.
Q: You’ve covered some impressive natural disasters. Which one was the worst?
A: Feb. 5, 2008. The 122-mile-long tornado that tracked from west-central to northeast Arkansas. I saw it on radar, and we were tracking it all the way through. I remember before it hit Clinton, we had our satellite truck positioned at Gov. Mike Huckabee’s headquarters. It was primary night — Super Tuesday. Our satellite truck was there covering the primaries. I talked to my news director 30 minutes before the tornado hit Clinton and said, “You need to get that satellite truck up to Clinton. Clinton is about to be wiped off the map. This is really bad.” Then seeing the destruction ... The next day, I went to Atkins. It was unbelievable. Ever since that point, I’ve really learned to hate severe weather. Just seeing what it did and how it affects people. That was a big turning point for me.
Q: You’ve made a name for yourself with your weather blog and Twitter feed. How did you decide to put so much time into those components?
A: I don’t know, I guess I found an outlet for my weather passion. I think that is what it was. TV is an outlet for my passion, but it’s limited. Twitter and Facebook go 24 hours a day. It can be whenever I want to do it. I embraced it because it is a way for me to express my passion for weather.
Q: When severe weather and tornadoes hit, all eyes are on you. What goes through your mind during some of those pressure-filled nights?
A: I don’t see it so much as pressure. It’s an adrenaline rush because there is so much going on. It is just a lot of work, but it is stuff I enjoy. It’s long hours, but as far as the pressure part of it, maybe years and years ago I felt pressure … Now, I’ve seen so much severe weather I know what to look for. You want to make sure you get it right and get the information right to everybody. It’s a lot of long hours and busy work.
Q: It’s mid-April, and we haven’t had a lot of severe weather yet. What are you expecting for the rest of severe weather season?
A: There are a lot of parallels between last year and this year when we had a minimal severe weather season until May. We had [the tornado in] Botkinburg in April, which was a really bad situation. Since January, I’ve been talking about how this severe weather season would be delayed this year. I think the second half of spring is going to be the worst.
Q: How much have you learned from your veteran KATV colleagues Ned Perme and Barry Brandt?
A: A ton. You are always learning in this business. Working with two veterans like that has helped me tremendously, and it is something I have enjoyed a lot.
Q: What’s the most memorable blooper that’s happened to you on-air?
A: I was doing weather and there was a light next to me, and it exploded. Fire went up the wall. It started sparking and shooting sparks out and fire went up and smoke started pouring up. I was trying to do weather. It’s actually on YouTube. Somebody posted it. You can hear the explosions. That was pretty funny. One time I tried to jump on a mechanical bull on live TV. I jumped, and I hit the bull on the side and fell off. I didn’t even get to the top, I just hit the side and fell off.
Q: What is it like balancing a demanding career with a family?
A: It is very difficult. I have to balance my passion for weather and my passion for my family. It can get tough, especially when there is severe weather, and you’ve got the kids. It can be very, very difficult. Thank goodness for mobile devices. I don’t stay at a computer and just sit there during severe weather. A lot of it is done with my phone so I can get information out.
Q: Does your wife ever get frustrated with the amount of time you spend on weather at home?
A: No. She has been extremely supportive. I can’t remember a time she’s told me to stop blogging. She has never done that. She has been so supportive of the long hours, because I work on my days off. I work a split shift on Saturday, so I’m off three days a week. Those three days a week when I’m technically supposed to be off, if there is weather going on, I am working at home.
Q: What are some of your other interests?
A: Fishing. I love trout fishing. I’ve always liked fishing, but the trout fishing is what I really got hooked on in Montana. Here, with the Little Red River being so close, [trout fishing] is a big passion.
Q: Working in a market where you grew up has to be a dream come true. Do you ever see yourself leaving Little Rock?
A: I would like to stay here, but you never know what the broadcasting industry holds. I love Channel 7, and I love Little Rock.