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For more than three decades, Dave Epstein has been one of Boston鈥檚 most beloved meteorologists. We caught up with Epstein, who has both an MBA and a master鈥檚 in counseling psychology from Boston College, to find out what it鈥檚 like to forecast the weather in such a demanding market.

When did you know you wanted to be a meteorologist? I was enthralled by the weather even in my preteen years. I knew from an early age that it was probably what I would do. In one of my old yearbooks鈥擨 think it was ninth grade鈥擬r. Chambers wrote, 鈥淚t will be my pleasure to see you on TV someday.鈥�

People in New England have an intense relationship with the weather. What鈥檚 it like being a meteorologist here? I walk my dogs in the morning and I always meet the same couple of people. Immediately, the conversation turns to weather. They鈥檙e talking to me about the forecast as if I don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going on. Well, we heard it鈥檚 going to be kind of rainy tomorrow. I鈥檓 listening and going, 鈥淕uys, I know what鈥檚 happening with the weather!鈥�

Have you noticed that certain meteorological terms鈥斺�渢hundersnow,鈥� 鈥渂omb cyclone鈥濃�攁re creeping into our everyday language? Some of these terms have been moving around in the meteorological community for a long time. Then, because of social media, they get out there. You see [The Weather Channel鈥檚] Jim Cantore dancing in the thundersnow with the lightning and getting excited, that brings it into the general population. And bomb cyclone? A cyclone is simply another name for a low-pressure area. And bombogenesis is a meteorological technical term. Somebody just went, Bombogenesis of a cyclone鈥攍et鈥檚 combine them into bomb cyclone! That鈥檚 a really cool, sexy name and, boom, it got picked up.

Your fans seem to feel a special connection to you. Why is that? Social media has allowed all of us to open up certain parts of our lives. So, I use it to share a bit about me鈥攚hether it鈥檚 a meal that I鈥檝e made, the Hanukkah candles I鈥檝e lit, or that I鈥檓 experiencing the effects of the weather just like everyone else. And that opens up other people in kind. That鈥檚 just the case in relationships, the psychology of it.

During the early 鈥�90s, while earning your MS in counseling psychology, you actually lived听in Rubenstein Hall and worked as an RA鈥攚hile doing the weekend weather on TV! I was a little bit older than the undergraduates, but not a lot. As an RA you often had to work nights. The other RAs would sometimes need to switch schedules when they had to study for exams. I鈥檇 be like, 鈥淚 have to do the forecast on Channel 5, can I change this?鈥澨�

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