Happy Weather Forecaster’s Day!

Yesterday was Weather Forecaster’s Day for 2026! It is the day to honor the special weather forecasters nationwide. These are professionals that have dedicated the expertise into getting your weather forecasts to you, every day. Hats off to all our professional weather forecasters. . .

Happy National Weather Forecaster’s Day ! ! ! 

☀️ ☂️ 🌅 🌄 🌪️ ☁️ 🌁 ⛅ 🌀 ❄️ ☀️ ☂️ 🌅 🌄 🌪️ ☁️ 🌁 ⛅ 🌀 ❄️

A Brief History:
Origination: Today is originally National Weatherman’s Day, now National Weather Forecaster’s Day or National Weatherperson’s Day, commemorating the birth of John Jeffries on February 5, 1744. Jeffries was a Boston physician who was one of America’s first weather observers. He began taking daily weather observations in 1774 by taking the first weather balloon observation over London in the year 1784. With the mission, he carried a thermometer, a barometer, and a hygrometer up to a height of 9000 feet. This is the day dedicated to recognize the men and women who collectively provide the warning service of weather, climate, water and fire forecasts for the United States and worldwide.+

The National Weather Service (NWS):  The men and women of the national and local National Weather Service (NWS) forecast office and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) gather bring the tools together of having the raw weather data, by analyzing the data, studying the numerical computer models, and thereby issuing both weather and river forecasts plus warnings in order to protect life and property. Specialized marine and aviation forecasts help assist and enhance the Nation’s economic possibilities. Spotters forecast helping assist firefighters be able to control wildfires and make emergency management officials ability to contain hazardous chemical spills all possible. Finally, extensive climate records help assist the operation of engineers, architects, researchers, insurance companies and utilities. All these tools make forecasting a possibility on a national and local level.

Media: Weather media in most of the world, including the United States includes coverage of weather and weather forecasting by the following methods:

• Your local NOAA.com Weather Radio Station broadcasts
• Radio
• Television
• Newspapers
• Internet
• Farmers’ almanacs

A celebration: A day to celebrate the people who bring this possibility to us, every day!

Celebrated: February 5^th every year!

A Few Facts:
I am sharing a few facts, and more, some trivia, some not trivial. . .

I have had the honor to meet two very important individuals personally.

• Tom Skilling: Thomas Ethelbert Skilling III, has spent his dedicated career since 1978 as a meteorologist at WGN-TV in Chicago. I have featured Tom on a blogpost with his magnificent video that I first viewed directly after the tornado in Plainfield, IL. I met Tom at his annual Fermilab Storm and Severe Weather Seminar in the year 2007. The seminar is a must attend for anyone into weather, or just for your own information and safety. Just attending the seminar one time could be the difference between life and death in a storm situation. Covered were the subjects of:
  • How the National Weather Service (NWS) use modeling infrastructure and supercomputing to bring the weather to you, including safety, etc.
  • The Director of the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center, Norman, Oklahoma on tornado related information and safety
  • The College of DuPage on how at a college level, weather is making a difference in terms of education of models, safety, and measures of tornado formation and research
  • The Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Illinois on how the human effects are of concern to climatic change
  • Lightning safety and the factors of strike and medical information after being struck, and what signs could save your life before the lightning bolt strikes

  More, in fact it was an over eight hour symposium, although I heard that before COVID-19 that the seminar had been shortened to four hours. Hopefully the seminar can resume in the future again at some point. . .

• Harry Volkman: I had the really great opportunity to meet the great Mr. Volkman in my second grade elementary school when he visited the school for an auditorium style in-house field trip. Mr. Volkman was the first weather forecaster to issue a tornado warning over the televised airwaves. It was because of his enthusiasm when I met him, that my original intent was to become a weather forecaster or disk jockey. Financial means of my early twenties turned me to the construction trades and becoming a tile installer.

Other influential forecasters over the years in that have affected my life:

• John Coleman was the inventor of The Weather Channel and was a successful veteran forecaster at ABC owner Chicago Channel 7, and also was the only forecaster to get the blizzard of 1967 correct by going out on a whim–calling for the blizzard, when a lot of other forecasts called for flurries– with the limited means of forecasting tools that were available in those times.

• Ken Graham started out in Chicago, and as of June 2022 has become the director of NOAA’s National Weather Service. He was formerly the chief forecaster at the National Hurricane Center, of which I pay attention in summer and autumn, in order to keep an eye out for hurricane forecasts for my followers in those areas of interest, and furnish animated .GIF videos throughout the season.

• Jerry Taft was a veteran weather forecaster on the Chicago based NBC television channel 5.

• Jim Tilmon was a veteran weather forecaster on the Chicago based NBC television channel 5 and trusted and pioneering aviator.

• Brandt Miller is a veteran weather forecaster on the Chicago based NBC television channel 5 and also has been a disk jockey at local Chicago radio station 94.7 WLS-FM.

• Cheryl Lemke originally worked as a veteran weather forecaster on The Weather Channel and now currently is a chief meteorologist at WICS-TV in Springfield, Illinois.

• Mark Mancuso originally worked as a veteran weather forecaster on The Weather Channel and now currently is now with AccuWeather in State College, Pennsylvania.

• Mike Seidel for years was a veteran weather forecaster on The Weather Channel. He now is is on the job for FOX Weather.

• Jim Cantore is a veteran weather forecaster on The Weather Channel with his expertise in hurricane forecasting and going onsite to incoming hurricanes.

The Present:
The present day forecasting, with the tools and persons involved, make this the safest are, given that attention is paid to the forecasting. There has never been a time where we have the opportunity to be able to have a forecast pronto, like we do in this day and age. And my gratitude has got to go to those professional persons who bring the forecast to us, every day!

The Future:
Forecasting and the people who bring it to us, have my gratitude today, and way into the years to come. . .

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National Weather Forecaster’s Day

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