After four years in TV weather, Bacon-Bercey went on to a fascinating variety of other science-related endeavors, including serving as chief of broadcast services at NOAA and as a consultant for the Atomic Energy Commission. In 1972, she was the first woman and the first African-American to earn a Seal of Approval from the American Meteorological Society. As she once told me: “I did not want to do weather on television, only because at that time I felt it was still gimmickry from women.” But in 1971, when the regular weathercaster at Buffalo’s WGR became suddenly indisposed ( having allegedly robbed a bank), Bacon-Bercey went on the air and became an immediate hit. Image credit: Courtesy June Bacon-Bercey.Īlthough she had a meteorology degree, June Bacon-Bercey decided to start her TV career as a news reporter. June Bacon-Bercey on the air in Buffalo during the early 1970s. This NPR segment includes a brief sample of Thurman’s radio delivery (starting at 3:50).įigure 3. It was awesome.” Thurman died in 2012 at age 89. She left “Monitor” and weathercasting in 1961 but later spoke fondly of those days: “We were heard all over the world and admired by audiences who came by our glass-enclosed studio, Radio Central. In 1957, Thurman made several appearances on NBC’s “Tonight” show, then hosted by Jack Paar. Thurman wrote and produced her weather segments, gathering data from the Weather Bureau and spotlighting cities around the country based on current events and her own interests. She became America’s best-known female weathercaster-probably “the most recognizable female voice in the country,” said historian Dennis Hart-with the 1955 debut of NBC’s “Monitor” radio show, a talk/variety marathon that ran every weekend. Tedi Thurman achieved much within this outlandishly sexist system by combining her interests in art, fashion, and weather. Women made huge inroads into weathercasting in the 1950s, but far too often they were boxed into “weathergirl” roles. Tedi Thurman in a publicity still for NBC’s “Monitor” radio program. Here’s a wonderful tribute to Volkman from an Emmy Award ceremony, including clips from throughout his career, and a classic 1967 weathercast in which Volkman apologizes profusely for having blown his forecast of a major snowstorm.įigure 2. God bless you.” By the late 1950s, Volkman had moved to Chicago, where he remained on the air until retiring in 2004. One read: “We breathe a sigh of relief knowing you are on the job. Instead of triggering panic, the warning drew more than 1,600 cards and letters of gratitude. At Oklahoma City’s WKY-TV (now KFOR), weathercaster Harry Volkman took a risk and aired what was apparently the first-ever public tornado warning (pinched from nearby Tinker Air Force Base) in March 1952. Weather Bureau was experimenting with their use at military bases but was worried they might panic the public. When TV was getting its sea legs in the early 1950s, tornado warnings were largely banned from the airwaves. Harry Volkman at WGN in 1979 or 1980, just before computer graphics came into widespread use in weathercasting. Shameless plug: these pioneers are drawn from among dozens featured in my book ”Weather on the Air: A History of Broadcast Meteorology” (AMS Books).įigure 1. To salute the occasion, I thought I’d spotlight a tiny sample of the hundreds of Americans who made their mark as weathercasters in the first several decades of TV. Jeffries was a military surgeon during the American Revolution, and later the family physician to future President John Adams, but he gained his greatest meteorological fame by taking observations from a hot-air balloon above London. Happy National Weatherperson’s Day! This American holiday takes place each year on February 5, the birthdate of John Jeffries (1745-1819).
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