Tom Skilling’s final forecast: Longtime WGN-TV meteorologist signs off amid laughter and tears

It’s the official ending of an era in Chicago television.

On Wednesday night, WGN-TV’s longtime and much-beloved meteorologist Tom Skilling presented his final weather forecast for the 9 p.m. news as colleagues and others watched live in studio and on television screens across the country. (He later presented a forecast on the 10 p.m. news.)

But it was also the dawn of a new day at the station, as the official Tom Skilling Weather Center office was unveiled.

For nearly 46 years, Skilling delivered forecasts on the TV station with his signature style: Here’s what the weather is, here’s what it will be, and most importantly, here’s why. It was all about informing the viewer — with the usual temperatures, wind speeds, rain fall totals, wind shears, isobars and a host of accompanying maps, graphics and other visuals. But it was always about the science behind the weather. There was perhaps no better classroom in the country teaching us about our planet’s climate.

Perhaps it was fitting then that among the countless on-air tributes to Skilling over the past month, the scientific community came out to celebrate on this night. An array of experts and educators from Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Fermilab in Batavia, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the National Weather Service praised Skilling in a pre-taped segment.

Skilling marveled at all of it, including the live “studio audience” of current and former colleagues, fans, friends and family (and plenty of media) on hand for his final night.

“The studio we’re sitting in is where [‘The Phil Donahue Show’] started and [‘Bozo’s Circus’] was right next door, and there are more people here tonight than we had there,” he remarked with a chuckle. “It’s so nice to see everybody.”

Former colleagues in the crowd — that featured plenty of smiles and some teary eyes — included news anchors Steve Sanders and Mark Suppelsa, and sports anchor Dan Roan, who noted of Skilling, “This is the most genuine person you will ever know.”

Skilling’s siblings were there, too, including his brother who flew in from Turkey for the event, and his sister who arrived from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

A cake decorated with a colorful map of the U.S. and the words “Thank you Tom” also marked the celebration.

Just last week, the city officially named one of its snow plows in honor of the weatherman with the moniker “Skilling It.”

In 2023, Skilling was honored at our nation’s capital when U.S. Reps. Bill Foster, D-Ill., and Mike Quigley, D-Ill., submitted a statement to the Congressional Record recognizing Skilling’s four-and-a-half decades as a meteorologist in the Chicago area. “As the longtime chief meteorologist for WGN-TV, Tom Skilling has been one of the most trusted figures on television screens throughout the Chicago area for decades, expertly and calmly explaining the region’s often unpredictable weather situations for generations of viewers,” the representatives wrote in the statement at the time.

At one point Wednesday night, current WGN news anchor Micah Materre said, “Some might say that WGN is the house that Skilling built,” and later, fighting tears, remarked to her soon-to-be former colleague, “You are the gold standard.”

“I’m leaving night-to-night broadcast weather work but Chicago will continue to be my home,” Skilling said as he delivered some final thoughts. “I’ll be waiving and I’ll be saying hello when I see you, so please say hello back. … And don’t be surprised if I pop in on occasion with a special report or in some severe weather situation to help our talented weather team.”

Earlier in the evening, as he looked back on his career, a smiling Skilling turned to Materre and co-anchor Ray Cortopassi and summed it all up with four words: “I’m a lucky guy.”