Meteorologists and weather presenters boast some of the most colorful names of any profession. In some cases, the names stem from the showmanship which is part of their jobs. But in many cases, their given names are coincidental, suggesting perhaps they were always destined for weather greatness.
Here are the top 20 names in weather and meteorology…
He holds no relation to the popular sunglasses brand, but worked as an on-air meteorologist on The Weather Channel in the 1980s and later served as executive vice president. He has since retired and provides consulting services to the weather media industry.
Richard “Heatwave” Berler
“‘Heatwave’ is the nickname that was given to me by my meteorology classmates in my freshman year of college when they saw that I liked it hotter than Florida,” Berler says in his station bio. He is the chief meteorologist at the NBC affiliate in Laredo, Texas.
Advertisement
Sam Champion
“Champion is his real name and has been for generations,” notes the San Francisco Chronicle. Champion was a weathercaster at ABC and Good Morning America for 25 years before jumping to The Weather Channel, where he is managing editor. He has a prime time interview-format show, called “23.5 degrees with Sam Champion”, debuting next week.
Sonny Daye (deceased)
If “Sonny Daye” seems like a name too good to be true for a weatherperson, it is. Daye, who presented the weather in the 1970s and 1980s, actually was named Leon Fred Pettersen. He passed away in 2012.
Storm Field
Bar none, “Storm Field” is one of the best all-time weather names. Field, retired, served as a broadcast meteorologist in New York City for almost three decades. Storm is the son of retired forecaster Frank Field, who Johnny Carson called “NBC’s crack meteorologist.”
Advertisement
Amy Freeze
“[Y]es, “Freeze” is her real name!,” says her bio. She is a meteorologist at the ABC affiliate in chilly New York City.
Sunny Haus
Haus’ actual name is Steve Wolhenhaus, but he was “forced” to take on the stage name “Sunny Haus” for the NBC affiliate in Minneapolis in the late 1980s, according to the Star Tribune.
“That Sunny Haus to me is absurd,” Wolhenhaus said. “I mean it’s absolutely ridiculous. … Right now it’s a little painful [too]. You kick yourself in the head. I obviously didn’t have to accept that.”
Wolhenhaus left the TV weather business and runs the private weather company, Weatherology, which is based in Minneapolis.
Chris Landsea
How perfect is it that a leading hurricane expert is named “Landsea”? He is the Science and Operations Officer at the National Hurricane Center and has published many studies on hurricane trends and statistics.
Advertisement
Johnny Mountain
This name has celebrity written all over it. A local TV time icon in Los Angeles, Mountain was a weathercaster at its ABC affiliate for 27 years and CBS affiliate for five before retiring.
Casanova Nurse
Nurse humbly goes by “Cas”. He’s the chief meteorologist for the ABC affiliate in Tallahassee, Fla.
Previously he worked in Houston. “You can’t deny that KHCW’s Casanova Nurse is one of the best names in Houston broadcasting right now,” Houston media commentator Mike McCuff wrote at the time.
Dallas Raines
A larger than life Los Angeles personality, this ABC meteorologist is known for some of his on-camera moves including ‘The Crouch’, ‘The Whirl’, ‘The Swing’, and ‘The Pump.’
Leon “Stormy” Rottman (deceased) and Rob “Sunny” Roseman
This is a two-fer. These Denver weathercasters, who worked together at the same station in the late 1980s, were given the tagline “Sunny days and Stormy nights” Rottman passed away in 1993. Roseman left TV weather in 2008.
Advertisement
Glen “Hurricane” Schwartz
According to his station bio: “Earlier in his career a colleague saw footage of Schwartz being blown around in a storm and dubbed him ‘Hurricane.’ The nickname stuck and he has been known as Hurricane ever since.” Schwartz, with his trademark bow-tie, is the chief meteorologist at the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia.
Topper Shutt
Shutt’s given first name is Charles, but the popular D.C. meteorologist at the CBS affiliate has long gone by “Topper.”
Flip Spiceland
“His birth name is Philip Howard Spiceland but his parents always called him Flip,” writes the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Spiceland worked on-camera as a weathercaster for CNN for 21 years and the Atlanta NBC affiliate for seven.
He left TV and now works for the United Way in public relations. “He said when he calls companies to remind them about United Way contributions, people have called the area director to make sure it wasn’t a joke,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution says.
Advertisement
Larry Sprinkle
It may be hard take him seriously when he says rain is in the forecast, but Sprinkle is the last name of the morning weather anchor at the NBC affiliate in Charlotte.
Sven Sundgaard
From his name to his hobbies, everything about Sundgaard seems to trace to his high latitude roots. He likes traveling to Scandinavia, listening to “anything by Coldplay” and is a meteorologist at the NBC affiliate in Minneapolis.
Harry Wappler (deceased)
How great is it when a TV station can name its weather radar after its weathercaster? The CBS affiliate in Seattle, where Wappler worked for 30 years, called its radar the “Wappler Doppler”. Wappler is remembered as “the dean of Northwest weathercasters“. He passed away in 2010.
Elizabeth “Betsy” Weatherhead
Holding a Ph.D. in geophysical sciences and an esteemed researcher, Weatherhead boasts plenty of weather brain power. She works at the University of Colorado, specializing in “the evaluation of forecasting techniques, developing new measurement approaches, and statistical analyses of data”.
Ken Weathers
The aptly-named Weathers is a meteorologist at the ABC affiliate in Knoxville, Tenn.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZLumw9JompqomamurXnWnpitoJWneqitzaBmsKhfZ31ygo5pamhpZmTBqbGMa2dmnqWju6qx0q1kmqaUYrqwv9NmnaKspJ67qHnNmqSeq12eu27DxJqroZ2iZA%3D%3D