Wayne Little has been a meteorological technician for the past eight years and says that he is the "veteran" at the Bermuda Weather Station run by BAS-Serco Ltd.

One of the first aspects of his daily duties at the weather station starts with launching the helium weather balloon which is done on a 24 hour basis, once in the morning at 8.15 and once in the evening at 8.15.

"When the balloon goes up the pressure lessens, it then expands. Eventually it bursts in the upper atmosphere and falls into the ocean," explained Mr. Little.

They do this to gather pertinent weather data. The balloon gives a profile of the weather around our Island. The sensor sends messages to their computers.

The Vaisala Receiving Equipment identifies information when sending up the weather balloon. As it goes up into the sky information is printed on their computers. In the upper atmosphere they learn the Celsius temperature, humidity, wind direction and speed.

"The weather balloon teaches us many things and aids us in compiling hourly weather observations and special reports. We know if thunderstorms are headed our way, precipitation factors, wind shifts, cloud heights, visibility, or any other significant weather changes.

"At the end of the day we compile a climatology analogy for our data base."

Mr. Little holds an associate English Degree from Grossmont and he has specialised training from BAS/Serco.

He says that he truly enjoys watching the weather and seeing the changes from moment to moment. His job is truly weather dependent.

"How busy I am depends on the weather. There are always routine duties done day in and day out but active weather generates a buzz and it can get very busy around here!"

Mr. Little is a born weather watcher. As a little boy he kept weather diaries and took pictures of the clouds.

"For me this is the perfect job as I love what I do. I come from a long history of Bermuda Weather Watchers. I come from Tatem's Hill, near Tulo Valley, Spanish Point. My grandfather was a gardener and fisherman. My heritage shows a long generation of weather people," Mr. Little advised.

He lists his two greatest challenges as finding peace and quiet and says that now you have to look harder for it. He adds that trying to maintain a house while doing 12-hour shifts can be difficult.

When asked about his hurricane prediction for this year he said: "Getting hit by a hurricane is like playing darts blindfolded. If you throw enough darts you will eventually hit a bull's eye.

"It is inevitable that Bermuda will get a hurricane strike in the future. Our job is to find out when. It is impossible to predict the year but if you wait long enough it will occur."

"Jean Dixon predicted in the 1960s that one day Bermuda would be demolished by a tidal wave but nothing happened. However, sooner or later we will have a hurricane but who knows what year?"

If you wish to know the history behind Bermuda hurricanes, Mr. Little recommends reading, `Beware the Hurricane' by the late Terry Tucker which tells the story of cyclonic tropical storms that have struck Bermuda 1609 through 1995.

"I started working with the Bermuda Weather Station in June 1995 when the US Navy was in charge. During Hurricane Felix we tried to launch the weather balloon in 70-knot wind - not an easy task at all. The third time we were successful.''

As a small boy Mr. Little loved watching the weather as a hobby. Today, he loves observing and recording it and gets paid for doing so.