As a kid growing up in rural Paradise (Northern California), Bill Martin and his friends spent as much time as possible outdoors. Spending so much of his childhood surfing and skiing, led Martin to a natural interest in weather.

Martin still studies the weather for surf and ski conditions. But as KTVU's Chief Meteorologist, he looks out for weather patterns that could affect the Bay Area, such as flooding, mudslides, hurricane force winds, or blizzard conditions in the mountains.

"This is the perfect indoor job," says Martin, who studied the physical sciences as an undergraduate and then spent three years studying atmospheric sciences at San Francisco State. "I have the mornings to be outside surfing, or mountain biking or kayaking, and then I come into the station in the afternoon."

Martin keeps track of Bay Area weather from the state of the art KTVU Channel 2 Weather Center, home to Live Stormtracker 2 and other sophisticated tracking equipment.

"Reporting the weather has changed dramatically in the past 10 years," said Martin. "People are much more aware of their environment now, and although they do want to know whether they should plan a trip to the mountains this weekend, they also want to know about Bay Area air quality, ozone levels, and other environmental concerns."

"People live in places now where they are much more affected by the weather, and they want the best information they can get on matters that are important to their lives," he said.

Martin said he became serious about the weather while an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, where he earned a B.A. in physical geography with an emphasis on meteorology. He is a sealed member of the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association. Martin is also a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist, which is the highest level of certification from the American Meteorological Society.

After he graduated from San Francisco State, he did an internship at KRON, and then took a job as a meteorologist at KFTY in Santa Rosa.

When KTVU launched a nationwide search for a weeknight weather person, Martin was the station's first choice. "I'm not a comedian or a model, I'm just a nice guy who is excited about what I do," says Martin.

Send e-mail to Bill.