CLEVELAND, Ohio -- When Fox Weather launched at 6 a.m. on Monday, October 25, Cleveland-area viewers saw a familiar face greeting them. Jason Frazer, a meteorologist who co-anchored 3NEWS weekend mornings on WKYC with his wife Romney Smith the last two years, serves as morning co-host on Fox News Media’s new national, 24-hour streaming weather channel.
In June, the couple announced they were leaving Cleveland to be closer to family and for new opportunities in his hometown of New York City. Frazer landed at Fox Weather and Smith is now a reporter for “Today in New York” on WNBC.
Cleveland.com caught up with Frazer recently to chat about his career move. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
cleveland.com: Hi Jason. How’s it going over there in New York City?
Frazer: New York is wonderful. It’s my hometown, but I still miss those pierogies from Sokolowski’s.
Q: I think we all miss them now that the restaurant closed. Was it a difficult decision for you and Romney to leave Cleveland?
A: Absolutely. Cleveland is a very unique market because, despite us being from other places around the country, Cleveland accepted us like we were family. I can’t tell you how many times people used to bump into us at the Steelyard Target, Lindey’s (Lake House) or in Ohio City, and ask us how we were doing. People made us feel very welcome. I’ve worked in other markets where that hasn’t been the case. Ohio is just a very special place. When the opportunity first came up, Romney and I knew we had something very special because few couples have the chance to anchor together. But then COVID really put into perspective how important family is. Probably about 70% of my family still lives in the New York-New Jersey area, and I hadn’t seen them in over a year.
Q: I figure Cleveland has to be a unique place to be a meteorologist because sometimes you get all four seasons in the same week.
A: Sometimes the same day! Northeast Ohio is unique because you have different microclimates. A storm in Akron is going to do completely different things in Ashtabula. Cleveland is where I became a meteorologist. Betsy Kling is an absolutely amazing meteorologist. She taught me a lot about weather, how to analyze different microclimates, what to really look for beyond what the models are saying and why one area got snow or sleet and why everybody else got rain. And I found Ohioans to be very understanding if we said there was going to be eight inches of snow and it turned out to be nine.
Q: Fox Corp. is known for Fox News Channel with its opinion personalities, and for the Fox Business Network. Why is the company getting into the weather business?
A: I think there’s been a very unique void in how weather is covered. People are used to getting the temperature, the seven-day forecast and that’s it. But there’s a lot of things happening in the weather world, from how a storm comes through to how it impacts different communities differently. One of the things I’m looking forward to the most is our app, which is very unique and very different. We’re going to have the first 3-D radar that is free of charge. We also have a planning calendar that updates automatically, so if you have a vacation, birthday or holiday, we can give you an idea of what the weather is going to be like. Also, most apps give you information that could be based on a weather station that’s 20 or 30 miles away. Our app is going to narrow it down to your particular neighborhood, so you get a much more accurate forecast. It’s one of the only apps that I know of that has all of that for free. And, oh yeah, we’re also giving you live streaming content for free as well.
Q: You kind of answered my next question, which is how is Fox Weather different from the Weather Channel or the other sources where people get their weather?
A: Well, of course, you’re going to have me on there. I’m a big personality, so that’s the major difference (laughs). I think that the biggest difference is going to be we’re going to give you weather information that will help you live your life much better.
Q: There is some concern out there that because of its association with Fox News and some of the opinion personalities over there, Fox Weather might not cover climate change as a serious issue. What do you say to that?
A: I would tell our viewers to wait and see and be the judge. I think people are going to be incredibly surprised by the amount of stories we’re going to do about a lot of different topics. I’ve heard the criticism. It doesn’t take a whole lot of research. Rupert Murdoch, the chairman and owner of our company, has talked very openly about climate change and the fact that it exists. We are going to cover it, but we’re not going to cover it the same way that some of our competitors have. We’re going to put a lot of information out there and let our viewers decide where they stand on it.
Q: Can you say that Fox Weather will be apolitical or will there be some politics mixed in?
A: What I can say is this: Fox Weather is going to be very focused on covering weather and only weather. I think we’re going to take a very unique approach to weather. Fox is known as a very creative place. If you’ve noticed the differences in how we’ve approached the NFL and that coverage, you can make some pretty good assumptions about how we’re going to cover weather.
Q: Last question, how bad of a winter are we going to get here in Cleveland?
A: I’m going to forecast that you guys are going to get at least 52 inches of snow. I don’t think it’s going to be as bad as it was a couple of years ago, and I think you’ll get a couple of days where it warms up to the 60s. But January is always the worst month of the year statistically as far as cold weather is concerned. Either way, and shameless plug here, we’ve got you covered on Fox Weather.
Fox Weather is available in the app store on iOS and Android devices, and on internet-connected televisions via Fox Now, the Fox News app and Tubi streaming service.
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