After more than three decades on the air, KPRC Chief Meteorologist Frank Billingsley is retiring. Houston’s longest-running TV weatherman’s final broadcast is tonight.
In the audio above, Houston Public Media’s Ernie Manouse, a close friend, asks Billingsley how the world of weather forecasting has changed over the last 30 years, how he may fill that weather-sized hole in retirement, and how often Houstonians think he actually controls the weather, and doesn’t just report it (seriously).
CONVERSATION HIGHLIGHTS:
A Visit from Your In-Laws
Billingsley says there is one piece of advice he gives up-and-coming meteorologists about forecasting bad weather.
“It’s like a visit from your in-laws,” he said. “When are they going to get here? How long are they going to stay? How bad is it going to get? And that’s what you want to know when there’s a big storm coming…and if you answer that, then instinctively people will turn to you over and over again because you’re telling them what they want to know.”
Courtesy: Ernie Manouse
Why He’s Retiring
Billingsley says there is a time and a place for everything. And now is the time to step away. He’s been a weatherman for 42 years, and now he’s 64 (which Billingsley points out is 18 in Celsius). And he’s ready to be done with the unpredictable nature weather, which he often compares to a baby.
“If a baby’s doing fine, it’s fine,” Billingsley said. “But when a baby screams in the middle of the night, it’s awful. And the thing about weather is it’s a baby that never grows up. It’s always a baby. So, I was given a baby when I was 42, and that baby is no older than the day I got it.”
And Billingsley adds he is ready to break free from some of the constraints live television puts on a person’s life.
“I’ve been tied to a live weather show every day for my entire adult life, unless I’m taking a specific vacation,” he said. “It’s not like I’m in a job that can work remotely or one that you can kind of push things around and be off for the day.”
His Plans for the Future
These days, there are so many ways people are communicating with a mass audience — about the weather or anything else. But Billingsley says he does not have any particular plans at the moment to pursue any sort of other media projects. And he’s not intimidated by the empty calendar.
“I didn’t deserve to be a TV weatherman,” he said. “So, this is life’s way of saying, ‘You know what? Good. You’re done. You had your moment, and I hope you had a good time. And now it’s time for someone else to take over.’”
MORE: Billingsley tells the story of using DNA to track down his birth parents (Houston Matters, 2017)
Courtesy: Frank Billingsley
