Butler girls soccer coach Dan Buzzard speaks with assistant coach Andrew Gillan during a game. Buzzard also runs an X account that keeps students and fellow Butler High School teachers up to date on winter weather patterns. Submitted Photo

BUTLER TWP — As a student in the Redbank Valley School District two decades ago, Dan Buzzard would roll from beneath his warm bed sheets and make his way in front of the television to watch the ticker below the morning newscast.

Hazy-eyed, he’d patiently stand by, hoping the freezing weather outside frightened the adults into pushing things off.

“It was like draft day,” Buzzard said.

The prognostication of temperatures and conditions weren’t what interested him — only whether he’d have to reluctantly bundle up and head out to learn that day. Celebrating cancellations or delays isn’t so much of a waiting game in this day and age.

“The district sends out a text, they send out an email, they send out a phone call,” said Buzzard, now a teacher at Butler High School and the Golden Tornado’s girls soccer coach. “It’s much more right-to-your-phone now for parents. I kind of liked the old, classic way of having to wake up and sweat it out to watch the bottom of the TV.”

It’s become a hobby of Buzzard’s to keep up with what’s happening with the weather — especially in the winter — and break it down for all to see on his X account, @weather_buzz.

His engrossment with forecasts began in college when over 20 inches of snow blanketed Western Pennsylvania in just over a day — a 2010 phenomenon remembered as “Snowmageddon.”

“I kind of just was like, ‘You know, this is really interesting,’” Buzzard said. “From there, I kind of just dove into teaching myself about how to read weather models and different forecasting stuff. In the winter time, especially, it’s kind of become like an obsession of mine to try to get better at understanding all of this stuff.

“If the whole coaching and teaching doesn’t work out, someday I’ll just go into a second career and try to become a meteorologist.”

At the behest of his students, Buzzard created an account — which now has more than 700 followers — in 2016. Since then, he’s become the go-to guy on anything regarding winter circumstances.

“It used to be something that was just minor and now it’s to the point where (television production teacher Erik) Robbins is having me on the morning announcements,” Buzzard said. “I did one yesterday for today, just doing a live segment about the storms coming in.

“I guess it’s kind of built over time and it’s been pretty cool to see.”

Previously, Buzzard and Robbins would record the segments a few days prior, with the former providing snowfall maps for the latter to include.

“If you do it that far ahead of time, you could be a little less accurate,” Buzzard said. “This year, we started doing the day before — a little more accurate. The kids enjoy it. I’ll have kids say something in the hallway. Kids that have never had me in class and have no idea who I am are saying things to me in the hallway or at lunch.

“Teachers will even email me and ask me what I think. It’s taken on a life of its own.”

An 11th grade American government and modern American history teacher, Buzzard has no formal education in meteorology, but has learned about it by YouTube videos or studying others’ social media posts.

“My weekends are just filled with nothing but (watching) Liverpool and soccer games,” Buzzard said. “But, man, when snowstorms are on tap, I’ll spend pretty much the five days prior just absorbing as much as I can and looking at stuff every six hours.”

Butler went 10-7-1 in Buzzard’s first year at the helm last fall, including an 8-5-1 mark in WPIAL Section 1-4A play. The Golden Tornado lost to Upper St. Clair, 2-0, in the WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals.