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Zach Petey, wearing a navy blue polo shirt and khaki pants, stands in front of the Storm Tracker 7 vehicle at Penn State Beaverthe

Forecast looks bright for alumnus Zach Petey 

Five years ago you would have found Center Township native Zach Petey on the campus at Penn State Beaver, most likely in the Michael Baker Building studying or kicking around a soccer ball on the quad. These days you can find him giving the local weather forecast on WTRF in Wheeling, West Virginia. 
2020 graduate realizes dream career in meteorology  

MONACA — A natural curiosity about the weather and a family history at Penn State combined to help a recent Penn State graduate reach his goal of becoming a meteorologist. 

Five years ago you would have found Center Township native Zach Petey on the campus at Penn State Beaver, most likely in the Michael Baker Building studying or kicking around a soccer ball on the quad. These days you can find him giving the local weather forecast on WTRF in Wheeling, West Virginia. 

Petey took advantage of the 2+2 program at Penn State. After spending two years at the Beaver campus, he graduated from University Park in 2020 with a degree in weather forecasting and communication from the Department of Atmospheric and Sciences. 

Petey said he knew he wanted to be a meteorologist in his freshman year of high school. He said he grew up watching storms roll in from the garage with his dad and watching Jeff Verszyla on KDKA. He was always curious and gravitated toward science and math. 
Going to Penn State and starting at the Beaver campus wasn’t even a question for Petey. “There’s a legacy piece. My parents were Penn Staters, my grandparents, aunts and uncles. It’s kind of already in the blood. I always knew I would be going there.” 

Petey said he used his time at Beaver to get his core classes done and save some money. He played on the men’s soccer team, but most of his time was spent on academics. Because he wanted to be a meteorologist, he had to take a lot of the same physics classes that his friends who were engineering majors were taking.  

“The rigor was high,” he said. “At times it felt unnecessary, but once I got to University Park and started taking core meteorology classes, I was on the dean’s list all of the semesters and in the Meteorology Honor Society.” He said his time at Beaver prepared him and allowed him to “home in on the finer details of studying.” 

“I knew my responsibilities: school first, fun second,” Petey said. “I took that to heart.” 

During his time at Beaver, he was involved in various campus initiatives, including starting the high tunnel and getting a kitchen in Harmony Hall. On a recent visit back to the campus he took time to walk around the high tunnel, which was not yet constructed when he left. He said he was happy to see

it is up and running but added that the real credit for the tunnel from a student aspect should go to Marissa Bufalini, a 2020 Penn State Beaver graduate who remained an integral part of the project after he went to University Park. 

Petey said he enjoyed his time at the Beaver campus. “I had fun just having a community feeling. Here everyone knew everyone. … It was a home away from home,” he said.  

Petey — who always wears a Penn State pin on his lapel — said his degree and the alumni network have been beneficial for him. “There’s already a respect for the Penn State degree in the meteorological community. There’s a close alumni network,” he said. “Find someone with a Penn State degree, and they will do everything to help you.”