By using special filters on a telescope, Norm Lewis is able to offer a close-up view of the sun. He considers teaching and community service important aspects of his job at WMAR, and estimates he delivers lectures on weather and astronomy to at least 20,000 people every year.

WMAR Meteorologist
Sees Beyond Weather

To Norm Lewis, the sky is an endless source of mystery ­ and an old friend.

He wants his viewers to feel that way, too.

As chief meteorologist at WMAR in Baltimore, Lewis has expanded the definition of his role beyond weather.

• On weekdays before he arrives at work, you'll find him in school parking lots, giving excited children their first close-up view of the sun through special filters and a telescope.

• If a meteor shower is due, his viewers know all about it. People in Baltimore don't need to wonder about that extra-bright star: Two to three times a week, Lewis adds an astronomy session to his weather reports, letting people know where they can spot Venus or Mercury or Jupiter above downtown Baltimore.

• He expands those reports on WMAR's Web site, www.wmar.com. He began with a weather glossary ­ but now offers monthly sky maps, an astronomy glossary, a guide to the solar system and tips for choosing a telescope.

"It gives the station a different dimension," Lewis said of his star reports and presentations. "It's community service, yes, but it also enhances our scientific, broad-spectrum expertise. We don't just do one thing. We are out in the community, doing things for the kids and the clubs."

Lewis' zest for his hobby ­ and his job ­ could make the most jaded grown-up decide to stroll outside and look up at the night.

"What I try to do is take something that's very scientific, and boil it down so the average guy can understand it. You'd be surprised how many people have never seen the rings on Saturn. You can see those with a pair of binoculars."

Using information from the Naval Observatory, he alerts viewers to the space shuttle, or to Mir. "It looks like a fast-moving star," Lewis said of the Russian space station. "I'll say, 'At 10:30 tonight, if you look towards the southwest, it's going to be moving from the southwest into the northeast. It'll only be visible for a minute.'"

Lewis got his training as a meteorologist in the Navy, starting in 1966. But his knowledge in astronomy was acquired by following his passion.

"My specialty was tropical meteorology," he said. "I was assigned to the Hurricane Hunter Squadron in the days before satellites. We had to physically go out and look for them and fly through them."

After leaving the service to work in property management, he parlayed his hard-won knowledge of hurricanes and his love of volunteer work into a new career. He called his local television station in Florida and offered to share his knowledge for a weather special on hurricanes. Instead, they auditioned him to be their meteorologist, and he's been at it ever since. For the past 10 years he's called WMAR home.

"I travel to what are called 'star parties' ­ gatherings where people interested in astronomy get together for a long weekend,'' he said. Armed with their telescopes and campers, he and his fellow hobbyists "invite all the local Girl Scout, Boy Scout and youth groups and adult groups to come to this dark site ­ usually a state park somewhere, out in the middle of nowhere," for personal tours of the sky. In all, Lewis speaks to at least 20,000 people a year about the weather and astronomy.

His wife is a good sport, he says: "She does the dutiful ­ 'I'll look through the telescope and get excited with you, then I'll go in the camper and read.' But she goes and enjoys it like I do," Lewis said. "She's very much into horses. I put up with her horses and she puts up with my telescope."

As for his son, 31, and daughter, 27, Lewis says, "Their idea of a good time is not going out at 10 at night and staying up until 4 in the morning" watching the sky.

Lewis makes his own telescopes and belongs to several astronomy clubs. He also is a competitive-level target archer, and has taken up tap dancing ­ a skill he first learned as a child in Connecticut, performing then in a couple of Broadway shows. And his first grandson also takes up plenty of family time.

"I enjoy life," he said. "And I enjoy sharing things that I do in life with people. I learned one thing a long time ago: You've got to enjoy life, because this is not a dress rehearsal. Tomorrow I could be hit by a crosstown bus." So tonight, he'll look up.