U.S. Open meteorologist runs 1-man show from women's locker room at Oakmont

Amid the sweeping grounds of Oakmont Country Club sits one man alone in the women’s locker room of the clubhouse — meteorologist Jake Swick — whose sole job is to monitor the weather for the U.S. Open in real time.

Inside that women’s locker room is a window that opens onto the roof of the clubhouse, where Swick climbed out to set up his weather monitoring equipment this past weekend.

“Oakmont is one of my favorite spots because I’ve been in this area of the clubhouse overlooking part of the golf course for pretty much every time I’ve worked here,” he said. “And it’s one of the best offices I could possibly imagine.”

Swick, 45, of Orlando is the vice president and chief meteorologist at Thor Guard, an independent company the United States Golf Association has used as its main lightning prediction company for about 30 years.

Thor Guard, which is based out of the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area, started monitoring all of the weather for the USGA in 2007.

Swick joined Thor Guard in 2005, and he’s been forecasting the weather at U.S. Opens and other PGA golf tournaments consistently since 2012. It’s his fourth time at Oakmont.

“We work with the USGA and give them our advice, and they take that information and make the right call,” he said.

Weather monitoring

At this year’s U.S. Open, Swick set up two lightning prediction systems and three weather stations. One of the weather stations and the two lightning prediction systems are on the roof of the clubhouse. The other two weather stations are set up at different spots on the course.

Thor Guard systems, which are made in the United States and sold worldwide, monitor lightning, wind, humidity, temperature, rainfall and any other weather knowledge needed.

With a setup that includes three computers and an iPad, he’s monitoring the club’s almost 200 acres daily.

“Honestly, doing this job, I grab every bit of weather information I can because I want it to be as accurate as possible,” Swick said. “Every little bit of information helps.”

But he has to look beyond Oakmont, as well. Though the National Weather Service in Moon sent him some climatology maps and information about the area ahead of time, he’s largely able to complete the job on his own.

“The system itself on top of the clubhouse can see 100 miles,” Swick said. “There are other periphery locations, like the (off-site) parking facilities … that the USGA gets concerned about.”

NBC, which is the U.S. Open’s broadcasting partner, likes to use an 8-mile monitoring range, according to Swick. Typically, if lightning is spotted within that range, play could be shut down. He has the system set to monitor about 12 miles, he said.

“There might be times when a storm is moving 60 mph like really, really fast, and it’s 30 miles away; well that means it’s only going to be here in 30 minutes,” he said. “It just depends on the storm itself. Hopefully, we don’t see anything like that.”

Safely evacuating

Swick said the goal is to make sure there’s a unified weather message going out to the public.

He plays a lead role in making the call to pause play and pull golfers off the course if there’s a thunderstorm or other weather event imminent so players and spectators have enough time to seek shelter.

He said a tiered system is utilized that warns people how severe the weather might be. First, a thunderstorm watch is issued, and then a warning — followed by a suspension, which pulls everyone off the course.

“The idea is to get everybody in the buses so they can get out to their cars,” he said. “That’s a long process, but at the same time, the cars may not be in a place where they’re dangerous.”

When a thunderstorm occurs, Swick said people need to be “disconnected from the outside air,” meaning that just standing under a tent where air is still blowing through won’t cut it because it’s not necessarily safe.

Storms approaching?

The rest of the week is still relatively up in the air, according to Swick and the National Weather Service.

“I wish we could have another four days like today,” he said Wednesday. “Today’s beautiful — perfect. I wish everybody would come out today because it’s the best day of the week.”

Swick and the National Weather Service are calling for sunny skies in Oakmont on Thursday but varying chances of rain or storms through the weekend.

“(Friday) gets warmer and humid enough that we do have to start worrying about a shower or storm,” Swick said.

But Saturday is really the “bull’s-eye day” in his opinion, which is when the storm should peak. The storm system that’s approaching is leaving Mexico and going through Texas, he said, which makes the next few days hard to predict.

“Hopefully, over the next day or so we’ll get more clarity for this weekend, and hopefully, it’ll slow down and miss (Oakmont),” Swick said.

A worldwide job

Swick’s family sometimes accompanies him to the U.S. Open, but this year he won’t see them until after Father’s Day.

“This is tough work doing a 3 a.m. to 9 p.m. kind of shift — all the punishment that comes with if there’s bad weather and having to give that bad news to people over and over again,” Swick said.

“But I still love it because I love being here, working with USGA and keeping people safe and (giving) them the most accurate weather information I can.”

After he gets to the Oakmont course in the early-morning hours, he sends weather reports at 5 a.m., 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to the USGA, NBC, players and media.

In Oakmont in 2016, he recalled one of the craziest weather-related experiences he’s had while working at U.S. Open championships.

“We had 3 inches of rainfall, and lightning was ripping outside. It was a wild and crazy afternoon,” Swick said.

Lightning struck a tree by hole No. 17, and it went into the roots and into the irrigation system at Oakmont, he recalled.

“It started gushing water out,” he said. “They had to quickly run and shut the water off on 17 so it didn’t flood the course.”

He said he’s grateful to be able to combine his favorite activities: golf and weather.

“I’m very blessed and lucky to be able to do what I do,” Swick said.