Hingham weather, forecast from afar

By Dean Inouye, Globe staff

Anyone interested in Hingham weather can go online and get up-to-the-minute data -- as long as the site's meteorologist isn't in class at the time.

Michael Page (Hingham High Class of '09) has been running Hinghamweather.com since 2005. And since this fall, he's been running it remotely. He's a freshman at Penn State's College of Mineral and Earth Sciences in State College, Pa., but is still updating the site daily with weather data and forecasts.

"Government computers put out all this data in raw form, and it's there for anyone in the public to see,'' Page said in a telephone interview. "If you're able to discern what the models are showing, then you can create a forecast."

"It's all online; it's funded by tax dollars,'' he said. "That's the beauty of it."

Page said his interest in meteorology was triggered by two snowstorms in December of 2003. "As a seventh grader, naturally I loved snow, but for some reason, those two storms really got me interested in weather."

He measured the snowfall and sent in the totals to Channel 4 in Boston. "Initially, it was really the shallow motivation of seeing my data on TV,'' he said. "But in the springtime, when there was no snow, I found myself still interested."

Soon, Page began participating in online "Weather Spotter Chats" led by Channel 7's weatherman at the time, Todd Gross. Gross gave Page some basic information and suggested a forecasting book that helped Page launch his own website.

"There's no fun making a forecast unless you have an audience that's going to hold you accountable for what you say,'' Page said.

Operating the site costs about $100 a year for web-hosting fees. He sells a few advertisements to cover that cost.

Given his background, it's not surprising that Page wants to be a TV weatherman after he graduates, and he's started preparing for that by doing work at Penn State's studio. One of his forecasts can be seen at http://hinghamweather.com/video.html.

But for now, his forecasting focuses on Hingham. And though he's hundreds of miles away, he keep in touch with the South Shore.

"It's important to know what's going on there, so I'm not isolating myself and just spewing out forecasts,' he said.

He gets updates daily from Robert Skilling, the longtime observer at the Blue Hill Observatory in Milton. And his parents, David and Stacy Page, send him readings from the anemometer, rain gauge, and other weather-forecasting gear at their home in Hingham.

"They're always looking for an excuse to talk to me, anyway,'' Page said, "so they have no problem reading the equpment."