After nearly two decades reporting the weather on television, News Center Maine meteorologist Keith Carson announced he’s leaving the station to work with the Maine Conservation Voters on science and climate communications.
Carson announced on Monday that his last newscast for WCSH will be on Friday.
He caught the weather bug at an early age, but the Blizzard of 1993 — which struck the Northeast when he was 10 years old — was “a turning point,” he said in a phone interview on Monday.
That’s when he went from loving snow because it got him a day off from school, he said, to taking an interest in the weather event itself.
“In the years following, I started going out to this field down the street, trying to catch thunderstorms on a camera,” Carson said.
Carson began his television career in Plattsburgh, New York, before joining WSCH in 2010. After a few years, he left to report for the Weather Channel before returning to the Maine station in 2016.
Winter Storm Nemo, which brought a record-breaking 30 inches of snowfall to Portland in one day in 2013, is one weather event Carson covered that sticks out in his mind.
“As someone who grew up in the Northeast, I remember looking out the window … and just thinking, ‘I’ve never seen it rip snow like this,’” the Massachusetts-native said.
Another memorable event was a freezing rainstorm a few years ago that neither Carson nor other meteorologists in the region saw coming.
“I pride myself on not being surprised by the weather,” he said. “We had forecasted some snow, maybe a little bit of sleet and mixing, but nobody (predicted freezing rain); not the National Weather Service, not other stations. I just started hearing branches snapping outside, and that was my first clue that we had turned to freezing rain.
“That was a bad feeling.”
Carson expressed excitement for his new role at Maine Conservation Voters, where he will be aiding in science and climate communications. His passion for weather is only rivaled by that of climate, and he said he has at times taken issue with climate advocates and conservationists’ messaging on the issue of climate change.
“The reason I feel that way is because I get to talk to people all over the state, and I just thought I could bring a unique perspective of what might help move the needle in different parts of the state,” Carson said. “It’s not the same answer for everyone as to what makes them care about conservation.”
In a video on social media, Carson thanked his family for their unwavering support wherever his career took him, a number of past and present colleagues who helped him hone his skills, and his viewers.
He touted Mainers’ ability to be open-minded, which allowed viewers to embrace — or at least tolerate — his “off-topic tangents and my weird movements across the green screen.”
“Without your support, I never would have found success in this field,” he said in his video. “I truly don’t think my personality could have worked in just any place, just any state.”
