Seidel's interest in weather started at the age of six when he began measuring snowfall in his hometown of
Salisbury, Maryland. He worked for four local radio stations during his high school and college years, including WJDY-AM in
Salisbury, WDMV-AM in
Pocomoke City and WKHI-FM in
Ocean City (all three in
Maryland), as well as WSUX-FM in
Seaford, Delaware. After graduating from Wicomico Senior High School, now
Wicomico High School, Seidel attended
Salisbury State College and earned a
Bachelor of Science degree, double majoring in
mathematics and geography, in 1979. Seidel is also a 1979 student initiate of the
Omicron Delta Kappa Circle and
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society at Salisbury State College. Immediately after his graduation, Seidel began his television career with
WMDT-TV, from 1980 to 1982, in Salisbury. Seidel also entered
graduate school, and he earned his
Master's degree in
Meteorology at
Pennsylvania State University. Seidel wrote his master's thesis under the direction of
Dr. Greg Forbes, The Weather Channel's retired severe weather expert. During his graduate studies, Seidel appeared on
Weather World on the Pennsylvania Public Television Network. Seidel's first full-time broadcasting position was at
WYFF-TV in
Greenville, South Carolina, where he worked from 1983 through 1989. He next returned to Salisbury in 1989 to work as the meteorologist for
WBOC-TV. Seidel remained there until March 1992, when he left for
The Weather Channel. ==The Weather Channel==