Pekin student behind 183,000-fan Facebook page for weather

PEKIN, Ill. (AP) - A recent winter storm may have curtailed traffic on Peoria-area roads, but it generated a spike in traffic on the Illinois Storm Community Facebook page.

'œWe probably gained about 4,000 to 5,000 new members,'ť said Illinois Storm Community founder Carlos Wyant, 23, of Pekin. 'œIt's definitely helped the popularity in terms of new members. We've also had a lot of the current members posting in the group. So, the winter storm really made it extremely busy.'ť

The Pekin Daily Times reports that Wyant estimated that he normally spends at least 40 hours a week working at Costco in East Peoria, an additional 12 to 15 hours checking weather conditions and keeping Illinois Storm Community updated, and 5 to 7 hours working toward a meteorology degree at Mississippi State University online. A laboratory assignment or an exam may up those hours he spends studying '“ but nothing compares to the 30 to 50 hours a week he might spend before or during a weather event like a winter storm or tornado.

'œ(During a normal week,) I'll usually be done with everything by 6 to 7 p.m.,'ť Wyant added. 'œSo if I wanted to do anything, I could have leisure activities at that point and still probably get 7 or 8 hours of sleep. In terms of last week '¦ that was absolutely crazy. Costco (was) crazy busy with the people shopping. I'd get up at like 5 a.m. and get some graphics made, post and check in on the groups. I'd go to work at about 6:30 to 7 a.m., get home about 4 to 5 p.m. and then it would just be straight (Illinois Storm Community) stuff to about 12:30 to 1 a.m. every single day. So, I was probably averaging about three to four hours of sleep.'ť

Wyant's interest in meteorology was born when WEEK-TV chief meteorologist Chuck Collins '“ then working at WMBD-TV '“ visited his first-grade classroom. Fascinated by his descriptions of weather events, he began watching Collins give local forecasts and getting national weather trends from NBC's Today Show weatherman Al Roker.

He started the Illinois Storm Community page in 2018, and in four years, the group has grown to over 183,000 members. For comparison's sake, Chuck Collins '“ who sparked Weyant's early interest in the weather '“ has 11,032 followers on his Facebook page. WMBD's Facebook page currently has 118,614 followers and WEEK's 25 News page has 152,288.

'œOnce the group got started, it really started to grow,'ť said Wyant. 'œPhotographers started to jump on and once the photographers started to post their photos, people really took interest in the community. It was not only a way to prepare for inclement weather, but also a way for Illinoisans to come together, kind of escape (discussion of) current events, and see how beautiful the state can be.'ť

Although he appreciates the dramatic footage of approaching weather systems and destructive storms that members of the group submit, Wyant himself has only engaged in storm chasing a few times. Until he becomes better informed on how to safely take storm footage, he is essentially content to watch weather events from behind a computer screen.

'œIt's a dangerous field to get into if you're not super well-experienced with being out in the elements,'ť Wyant explained.

Given the various demands on his time, Wyant says he wouldn't be able to keep Illinois Storm Community going without the help of administrators Kai and Lori Libby of Pontiac and Patty Biggers of Springfield.

'œThey deserve a lot of the credit, because they too have full-time jobs, and they spend many, many hours on social media, just like I do,'ť he said.

Carlos Wyant's Facebook group Illinois Storm Community is not only filled with information about upcoming weather events, but has also become popular with landscape and weather photographers.

Wyant isn't sure how he'll apply his meteorology degree once he attains it, but he hasn't ruled out the possibility of becoming a broadcast meteorologist. In the meantime, he plans to continue running Illinois Storm Community for the foreseeable future.

'œActually, it'll be easier (to manage the group), because once I get the degree, I won't have to be in classes,'ť Weyant said. 'œI'll actually have more time to invest in the site.'ť