How one AccuWeather broadcaster made history in the world of TV
By
Lauren Fox, AccuWeather staff writer
Updated Oct 1, 2021 8:22 PM EST
AccuWeather's Marvin Gómez sits down with Adam DelRosso to discuss his heritage, his career and the challenges the Latinx community still faces in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
As Hispanic Heritage Month continues, AccuWeather Broadcaster Marvin Gómez shared his story with AccuWeather's Adam DelRosso on AccuWeather Prime.
Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated annually in the United States from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 and recognizes the contributions that Hispanic Americans have made to the country in terms of history, culture and other achievements.
Born in Guatemala, Gómez found himself moving to the U.S. at age 10, later making history as the only on-air meteorologist from Central America, which is bordered by Mexico and Colombia, on a national English-speaking network.
However, during the move, Gómez said he wasn't thinking that far ahead. His family wanted the best for him, but as a child at the time he didn't fully understand what that meant.
"The language -- that was barrier number one...going to fourth grade and not understanding anything the teacher was saying, it was frustrating," he told DelRosso.
Luckily, Gómez said he had strong support in his school between his teachers and his ELS (English second language) classes, which aided him in quickly picking up the language and gave him the opportunity to further his education when he attended Lewis University.
When he joined the AccuWeather Network, he made history as the only on-air Meteorologist from Central America on a national English-speaking network. When reflecting on this accomplishment, Gómez said he's left "speechless."
AccuWeather Bilingual Broadcaster Marvin Gómez holds the flag of Guatemala, where he moved to the U.S. from when he was just 10 years old.
"Growing up I used to watch a lot of television, most of it was in Spanish, and I never had a role model or anyone to look up to on the English side," he explained. "When I started my career in broadcasting I thought to myself, 'you know I do want to be on national television one day,' but in my mind I never thought I would be capable of achieving that on the English language [networks] because I thought that there was not going to be an opportunity for me."
Particularly at a weather company like AccuWeather, Gómez explained that representation is incredibly important because as people move to the U.S. from other parts of the world, they are often unaware of the weather hazards their new country faces and need weather alerts they can understand to help prepare them.
"In lower latitudes, the weather is not as extreme, you know we don't have the seasonal variations as we have here in the States," he said. "There needs to be a person that you can look up to and have them explain to you what the hazards can be -- both in English and in Spanish."
Gómez puts his words into action daily on the AccuWeather channel as well as on his own social media accounts, where he sends out alerts of important weather hazards in both English and Spanish to pass the message along to a wider group of individuals who could be affected.
Gómez can be seen on the AccuWeather network delivering forecasts and other weather information -- and is the first person from Central America to be featured on a national English-speaking network.
Some local offices for the National Weather Service have been moving toward sending out alerts in Spanish and English as well, however, Gómez pointed out that Spanish-speaking individuals reside across the entire country and not every NWS office sends out alerts in a language they speak.
"There still needs to be a lot of progress...considering that if you look at statistics from the U.S. Census, more people will be speaking Spanish in the upcoming years," Gómez said.
As Gómez celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, he wants to remind others how immigrants have historically shaped America and continue to do so.
"We are a diverse nation. This nation was built on immigrants. This nation was built on people that wanted to succeed, people that came from other nations hoping to have a better life, and sometimes I feel that...the original mindset of our Founding Fathers has been forgotten," he said.
He said that he believes this month represents the hard work he and other immigrants do each and every day in the U.S. and that all Latinx people can take this month to celebrate their hard work.
"I am an example that this country provides opportunities, I've fought very hard to achieve everything I've set my mind to," Gómez said. "I want the viewers to know that they can accomplish their dream, and obviously, immigrants make this country amazing."
Reporting by Adam DelRosso
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For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, DIRECTVstream, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeatherNOW is streaming on Roku and XUMO.
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News / Weather News
How one AccuWeather broadcaster made history in the world of TV
By Lauren Fox, AccuWeather staff writer
Updated Oct 1, 2021 8:22 PM EST
AccuWeather's Marvin Gómez sits down with Adam DelRosso to discuss his heritage, his career and the challenges the Latinx community still faces in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
As Hispanic Heritage Month continues, AccuWeather Broadcaster Marvin Gómez shared his story with AccuWeather's Adam DelRosso on AccuWeather Prime.
Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated annually in the United States from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 and recognizes the contributions that Hispanic Americans have made to the country in terms of history, culture and other achievements.
Born in Guatemala, Gómez found himself moving to the U.S. at age 10, later making history as the only on-air meteorologist from Central America, which is bordered by Mexico and Colombia, on a national English-speaking network.
However, during the move, Gómez said he wasn't thinking that far ahead. His family wanted the best for him, but as a child at the time he didn't fully understand what that meant.
"The language -- that was barrier number one...going to fourth grade and not understanding anything the teacher was saying, it was frustrating," he told DelRosso.
Luckily, Gómez said he had strong support in his school between his teachers and his ELS (English second language) classes, which aided him in quickly picking up the language and gave him the opportunity to further his education when he attended Lewis University.
When he joined the AccuWeather Network, he made history as the only on-air Meteorologist from Central America on a national English-speaking network. When reflecting on this accomplishment, Gómez said he's left "speechless."
AccuWeather Bilingual Broadcaster Marvin Gómez holds the flag of Guatemala, where he moved to the U.S. from when he was just 10 years old.
"Growing up I used to watch a lot of television, most of it was in Spanish, and I never had a role model or anyone to look up to on the English side," he explained. "When I started my career in broadcasting I thought to myself, 'you know I do want to be on national television one day,' but in my mind I never thought I would be capable of achieving that on the English language [networks] because I thought that there was not going to be an opportunity for me."
Particularly at a weather company like AccuWeather, Gómez explained that representation is incredibly important because as people move to the U.S. from other parts of the world, they are often unaware of the weather hazards their new country faces and need weather alerts they can understand to help prepare them.
"In lower latitudes, the weather is not as extreme, you know we don't have the seasonal variations as we have here in the States," he said. "There needs to be a person that you can look up to and have them explain to you what the hazards can be -- both in English and in Spanish."
Gómez puts his words into action daily on the AccuWeather channel as well as on his own social media accounts, where he sends out alerts of important weather hazards in both English and Spanish to pass the message along to a wider group of individuals who could be affected.
Gómez can be seen on the AccuWeather network delivering forecasts and other weather information -- and is the first person from Central America to be featured on a national English-speaking network.
Some local offices for the National Weather Service have been moving toward sending out alerts in Spanish and English as well, however, Gómez pointed out that Spanish-speaking individuals reside across the entire country and not every NWS office sends out alerts in a language they speak.
"There still needs to be a lot of progress...considering that if you look at statistics from the U.S. Census, more people will be speaking Spanish in the upcoming years," Gómez said.
As Gómez celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, he wants to remind others how immigrants have historically shaped America and continue to do so.
"We are a diverse nation. This nation was built on immigrants. This nation was built on people that wanted to succeed, people that came from other nations hoping to have a better life, and sometimes I feel that...the original mindset of our Founding Fathers has been forgotten," he said.
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He said that he believes this month represents the hard work he and other immigrants do each and every day in the U.S. and that all Latinx people can take this month to celebrate their hard work.
"I am an example that this country provides opportunities, I've fought very hard to achieve everything I've set my mind to," Gómez said. "I want the viewers to know that they can accomplish their dream, and obviously, immigrants make this country amazing."
Reporting by Adam DelRosso
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, DIRECTVstream, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeatherNOW is streaming on Roku and XUMO.
Report a Typo