Best TV weather forecasts in the USA

[TheHarvester]

Originally Posted by manofbess

I miss Mark Mathis! He was the reason I started watching Fox Charlotte! I remember watching one of his weather forecasts that never even mentioned the weather. He was hilarious!

I like that type of forecaster too, but not for weather. Just for entertainment. There was a guy, "Crazy George" or something like that, who used to do weather for a station in Los Angeles. And, honestly, what's a forecaster's job in Southern California? "Fog and low clouds in the morning, burning off by noon, highs in the low to mid 70s near the coast, 80s and 90s in the Valley..." (snore.)

But this guy made the weather the best thing until Peewee's Playhouse started airing. Except Peewee Herman was a lot more serious than this weather guy.

[SALteacher]

Originally Posted by TheHarvester

I wasn't aware that the WGN supremacy was due to a person rather than a departmental policy. Is Tom the one who comes across like a friendly old engineer? I don't know how to describe him and I'm too lazy to get a photo in here, but I think I know who you're talking about because he's the face of WGN weathercasts in my mind's eye.

The Weather Channel is so weird. They make more mistakes than a new station in a small town, they constantly interrupt the forecasts with ads, can't get their timing down, can't get their graphics to work consistently, and they seem to dumb down everything to cater to the lowest common denominator.

Worse than that, TWC now contains very little weather information during prime time, favoring sensationalist stories about disasters that have NOTHING to do with current weather. Most of those "documentaries" are just rubber-necking at tragedies instead of providing useful information or education. A truly sad waste of a great idea. I love TWC at about 2 AM when they have Dave Schwartz delivering straight-forward weather forecasts in his friendly style. Don't know if he's even with them any more, I haven't had cable for about 6 months because I couldn't find anything interesting on all those extra channels, but I'll get cable again in time for football season.

My wife and I love TWC especially Dave Schwartz and his off the wall comments. He was on in the afternoons, but not lately. I believe he took some extended time off earlier this year because he may have been ill. Does anyone know if Dave is back yet? At this writing, Aug 15/07, I have yet to see him. It's been at least 3 weeks. Just wondering.

[TheHarvester]

Originally Posted by SALteacher

My wife and I love TWC especially Dave Schwartz and his off the wall comments. He was on in the afternoons, but not lately.

I don't know the facts about when (or if) he's on these days, but last year he seemed to be on mostly in the wee hours of the morning, after midnight.

One of the many things I like about him is the way he smiles at you (the camera) and says "my friend" as if he's talking to you across the dinner table. Very nice on-air style.

[Wi_Girl]

WGN from Chicago, Tom Skilling, is by far the master of weather. I used to watch him all the time when I lived in Wisconsin and still catch him occasionally in Va. He just seems like an awesome guy!

I also love Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel. I just think he is such a hottie and I love watching him broadcast from a category 5 hurricane. WTH? LOL

Also, up in Green Bay Wi, my favorite weather man was George Graphos on Wbay. He was always so fun to watch, mostly accurate, and entertaining. He made watching the weather fun and yet he was always able to get the point across.

[TheHarvester]

Originally Posted by Wi_Girl

I also love Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel. I just think he is such a hottie and I love watching him...

Well, yeah, we haven't touched on that side of the weather forecast issue, but nearly all of us are somewhat influenced by the pleasure of seeing beauty, and TWC has definitely employed some hotties for all of us to enjoy regardless of our gender or preference.