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TAMPA - Steve Jerve of News Channel 8 has the good looks and smooth, composed delivery. Bay News 9's Alan Winfield has the impressive meteorology education and fast-thinking composure to give forecasts several times every hour.
But for the nearly 13,500 St. Petersburg Times readers who voted during the past few days, the longtime local experience of Dick Fletcher, chief meteorologist for Tampa Bay's 10, is a winning attribute.
In an online (and absolutely unscientific) poll that accompanied Saturday's profiles of the five chief meteorologists for Tampa Bay's TV stations, he emerged as the clear favorite. Fletcher, who has been with Channel 10 for 24 years, had almost 5,500 votes as of Monday afternoon - or 41 percent of those cast.
"That's impressive," Fletcher, 61, said Monday. "It's nice that so many people think I can help them."
The runnerup, Denis Phillips of ABC Action News, had 27 percent of votes cast.
Jerve got 15 percent. His forecasts during the afternoon of Hurricane Charley got Channel 8 a No. 1 slot in the Nielsen ratings.
Paul Dellegatto of Fox 13 won 10 percent of the votes and Winfield of Bay News 9 got 8 percent.