LISTEN TO TIDAL FLOODING TALK HERE

Long after a Philadelphia 76ers game ended, Clayton Stiver’s attention was fixed on a different score: how much snow was coming.

It was March 1993. Back home with his friends, he kept The Weather Channel running and watched the window for the first flakes. His friends thought he was crazy. For Stiver, the approaching superstorm was another reason to pursue a future in meteorology.

On this episode of Tidal Flooding Talk, presented by the New Jersey Coastal Coalition, the WFMZ meteorologist joins Joe Martucci and Dan Skeldon for a conversation that travels from childhood blizzards to coastal flood communication—and the human connections behind a forecast.

The storms that stayed with him

For Stiver, the March 1993 superstorm and January 1996 blizzard stand out as formative experiences. He remembers the latter bringing deep snow, a prolonged school shutdown, and the thrill of wading through a transformed neighborhood.

Years later, he was forecasting professionally in Charlottesville, Virginia, during the snowy winter of 2009–2010. The childhood fascination had become a job with deadlines, viewers, and consequential decisions.

That enthusiasm remains obvious. An avid skier who frequents Pennsylvania’s Blue Mountain, Stiver brings a snow lover’s excitement to the discussion. But the conversation also explores why an active winter can disappoint people waiting for snow: storms and cold air have to arrive together. Stiver discusses the possibility of a milder start and better opportunities later, offering his thinking rather than a snowfall guarantee.

Why a Shore storm matters inland

Stiver’s connection to the Jersey Shore began with family visits to Avalon and Stone Harbor. Today, his coastal trips include the Wildwoods and Cape May.

That connection helps explain a forecasting challenge at WFMZ: how much attention should a Lehigh Valley audience receive about a storm battering the coast?

Stiver’s answer centers on the viewers. Someone watching from Pennsylvania may own a Shore property, have family there, or be planning a visit. A coastal storm can matter deeply to people beyond its immediate footprint.

He points to National Weather Service information from Mount Holly as a resource he consults when evaluating tidal flooding concerns for his own trips.

Finding a way into weather

Stiver also speaks candidly about struggling with advanced math and finding another route toward his goal. After studying journalism at Penn State, he pursued Mississippi State’s broadcast meteorology pathway and earned a geosciences degree.

His account offers encouragement for aspiring broadcasters: understand the work you want to do, then pursue the education that prepares you for it.

The episode closes by considering television, social media, and artificial intelligence. Stiver believes viewers will continue seeking forecasters whose enthusiasm and personality they connect with.

His own story makes that belief easy to understand. Decades after that overnight vigil at the window, he still sounds eager for the first snowflake.