After receiving his graduate degree from Ball State University, Matt Griffin moved to North Dakota and earned his Masters degree from the University of North Dakota. A hoosier at heart, he is a big Notre Dame football fan and his favorite athletes are Indiana professional legends Reggie Miller and Peyton Manning. Matt considers himself a self-proclaimed expert in spicy food and expensive whiskey and hopes to one day travel Europe with his wife.
How would you summarize what you do?
On a daily basis, I lead up local/short-term forecasts, especially for areas in the Midwest/ Plains. I am also involved in the South America forecasts and assist with Long Range forecasting for North America.
What do you enjoy the most about your role?
I love being able to help people make weather-based decisions on a daily basis. Helping people while doing what I’m passionate about!
What is the most challenging part of your role at BAMWx?
Being able to effectively relay what the forecast thoughts are to clients. Model data and automated forecasts can only do so much. Often times the forecast is much more complicated and has more moving parts than one simple model run.
What drew you to BAMWx initially? How has the company changed since you started?
Initially? It was a job that was local to where I lived. But the overall core values and vision of the company is something that I fell in love with and believe in which has kept me here since.
The company has certainly changed a lot since I started! When I first started, we were sending email updates out to clients that consisted of videos and other images/gifs. Now we have a fully operational application called the Weather Porthole that is the flagship software of what we do here at BAMWX.
What is your favorite type of weather?
By far, my favorite weather is severe weather. Before working at BAMWX, I loved storm chasing out in the Plains!
What are three things you cannot live without?
Bang energy drinks, chips and salsa and my guitar.
What is your favorite company value?
Good Isn’t Enough, Excellence is Essential
I take this core value very personal with each and every inquiry sent our way. Whether the decision is big or small, I treat each question with the upmost importance to ensure that client experience is maximized and each forecast is as accurate as possible.
What skill do you think everyone should learn?
Discipline – a little bit can take you a long way. A lot can take you anywhere you want.
What’s the best advice you can give to someone who wants to work for BAMWx?
Other than apply? Start making forecasts and tracking/documenting it. There is no better way to improve with forecasting other than to just do it!