One Amazing Career and the Growth of a Discipline: How Bob Ryan and Weathercasting Coevolved

Television weathercasting was less than 20 years old when Robert Ryan began his illustrious career on the air. Bob played an enormous role in shaping the field of TV weather, and his career gives us a kaleidoscopic lens on how broadcast meteorology has evolved over the last half century. Among the national trends that can be traced in Bob’s own career are the transition from hand-drawn to computer-generated graphics; the heightened profile of weather in national news; the era of locally oriented, station-produced weather almanacs; the burgeoning role of satellite imagery in TV weather; the rise of broadcast meteorologists as station scientists; and the growth of social media as a vital adjunct to televised weathercasts.