Global News’ chief meteorologist Anthony Farnell says he has always had the “weather bug.”
As a preschooler, he was the kid who was always staring out the window.
“I was fascinated with the clouds, with the outdoors,” the Global News Morning in Montreal guest host, said.
WATCH BELOW: Anthony Farnell guest hosts the morning news in Montreal
It was a passion Farnell’s parents gladly nourished, gifting him weather books for Christmas.
But it wasn’t until the 1998 Quebec ice storm that Farnell realized he could maybe make a living as a meteorologist.
“I was in high school in the West Island at the time and I told my friends the ice storm was going to be horrible, that we would be out of school for a week,” he said. “No one was saying it on the news, but I was right.”
READ MORE: Looking back at the Ice Storm of 1998
Despite his passion, Farnell recalled a somewhat “prickly,” beginning to his career with Global News.
Farnell said he had been at Global News in Montreal for all of two weeks when he somehow managed to get a cactus — an office decoration — stuck in the sleeve of his shirt, just before going on air.
“It was very painful,” he said. “I was trying to shake it out of my sleeve and I was shaking my arm and the cactus hit the floor with a loud bang.”
Despite the setback, he soldiered on pushed by a desire to be the best.
“My favourite part of the job is forecasting,” Farnell said. “It’s about trying to be better and right more often.”
But even if Canadians do love to talk about the weather, they also like to take jabs at the messenger.
“Even if you get it right but it’s bad weather, you’ll hear about it,” he said. “Twitter, email, Facebook and I get the odd call too.”
To Farnell, it’s all about attitude. “Just respond nicely,” he recommended.
When he’s not busy reading weather charts and maps, Farnell likes playing the odd game of volleyball, skiing or just hanging out with his dog Storm.
But hanging out with Storm isn’t always a walk in the park.
“My dog Storm is more famous than I am,” Farnell said.
“He’s been on CNN, Jimmy Kimmel and Good Morning America. He’s got hundreds of fans on Facebook, people send him care packages and he even gets recognized when he’s out for a walk with my wife.”
Storm shot to fame when Farnell brought him to work one day.
“He left the weather centre looking for a treat and ended up at the news desk during a newscast.”
WATCH BELOW: Storm the weather dog on Global News