Contest winner has forecasting in her bones
Staff writer
Kim Frantz of Tampa won the Record’s Beat the Heat contest Friday as the first to predict that Aug. 8 would be the first day of the year to surpass 100 degrees.
Frantz made her prediction on July 9, just a day after the contest opened.
Two others, including Frantz’s husband, picked the same date, but both submitted their guesses after she did.
Frantz picked Aug. 8 after checking the AccuWeather website, which forecasted that day’s weather at 99 degrees.
“That was about the closest they had,” she said. “I thought, ‘I’ll just put that down.’”
She also was attracted to the symmetry of 8/8.
Predicting weather is, quite literally, a part of Frantz.
“I had a car accident about 38 years ago,” she said. “I broke one leg in two places, and shattered my other ankle. The doctor screwed up and put the screws and the plates too close, and one plate shifted, so my leg didn’t heal exactly right. And when there’s a weather change, I can feel the break. I’d say it’s about 80% accurate.”
Frantz claims her leg can detect rain three days ahead of time, though she said it was not far-sighted enough to be of any help in the contest.
Frantz and her husband retired from dairy farming four years ago. They continue to grow crops and keep stock cows.
In addition to earning bragging rights as the county’s top weather prognosticator, Frantz received a $50 gift certificate for Dale’s Supermarket in Hillsboro.
Frantz said she was excited to spend some of her winnings on the store’s homemade sausage.
“Their sausage is so wonderful,” she said.