Gary England, Award-Winning and Innovative Oklahoma Meteorologist, Dies at 85: ‘Deeply and Forever Missed'
Gary England, who spent 41 years as a meteorologist at CBS affiliate KTVW, has died at age 85, according to the station
England is best known for helping create multiple weather warning systems for television and won numerous awards for his innovative work
"Gary was proud to have protected Oklahoma from its deadliest storms," his family said in a statementGary England, a beloved meteorologist and innovator in the industry, has died at the age of 85.
England spent 41 years informing viewers about Oklahoma's often volatile weather at CBS affiliate KWTV, and was a pioneer in weather technology, according to the news station.
In a statement shared by KWTV, England's family said he 'passed peacefully on the evening of June 10th, surrounded by his loved ones, including his wife of 63 years, Mary, and his loving daughter, Molly."
They added, 'Gary was proud to have protected Oklahoma from its deadliest storms. He will be deeply and forever missed."
England was born on Oct. 3, 1939, and hailed from Selling, Okla., according to the Selling Chamber of Commerce. He began to study weather while serving in the U.S. Navy at age 17, shortly after graduating high school.
In 1965, England received a degree in mathematics and meteorology from the University of Oklahoma. He then spent four years as a consulting meteorologist and oceanographer with A.H. Glenn and Associates in New Orleans before returning to Oklahoma, where he began his broadcasting career.
England began working for KTVW in 1972. In 1981, England became the first on-air meteorologist to use a commercial Doppler weather radar to warn viewers of possible tornadoes, according to the news station.
In the early 1990s, England helped develop First Warning, which provided viewers with instant weather warnings on their television screens, and Storm Tracker, which is now used nationwide to provide viewers with storms' projected paths and timing.
In addition to his innovations, England also made a cameo in the 1996 film Twister and was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2013.
He also wrote four books and received many awards, including three Emmys and the National Edward R. Murrow Award for Best in the Nation in the category of breaking news and weather, according to KTVW.
Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
England retired from his role at KTVW in August 2013 and joined the station's parent company, Griffin Communications, as Vice President for Corporate Relations and Weather Development, per the Selling Chamber of Commerce.
Oklahoma Senator James Lankford paid tribute to England and his work in a statement shared on X after the meteorologist's death was announced. "Cindy and I are saddened by the passing of Gary England—a U.S. Navy veteran and pioneering force in television meteorology,' the senator wrote.
Lankford added, 'His innovations in advanced warnings undoubtedly saved countless lives across the country. Generations of Oklahomans remember well his winsome, 'Let's check it out' and his celebration each week of 'Friday night in the big town.' He was our early warning and our calm in the storm.'
Read the original article on People
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
39 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Gary England, star meteorologist in Tornado Alley, dies at 85
During live coverage that day, England talked to a storm chaser who at one point described an ominous development: A tornado funnel had quickly popped up near a much wider one. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'You folks in the path of this storm have time to get below ground,' England said. 'You need to be below ground with this storm. This is a deadly tornado.' Advertisement Recalling the severity of his warning, he told NPR in 2009, 'I knew that one would get their attention because I'd never said it before and I've never said it since.' The regard that citizens felt for England was reflected in messages painted by survivors of those tornadoes on the wreckage of their houses. One read, 'God Bless Gary England,' and another said, 'Thanks Gary England for Getting Us Out Alive!!' England's coverage of the 1999 tornadoes earned him a National Headliner Award the next year. In 2009, he and his team received an Edward R. Murrow Award. Advertisement 'In the eyes of most Oklahomans, England is less a meteorologist than a benevolent weather god who routinely saves everyone's lives,' Sam Anderson wrote in The New York Times Magazine in a 2013 profile of England called 'The Weather God of Oklahoma City.' 'He has become a cult figure: a combination of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Foghorn Leghorn, Atticus Finch, Dan Rather, Zeus and Uncle Jesse from 'The Dukes of Hazzard.'' England's renown in Tornado Alley -- the central U.S. region frequently hit by twisters -- led to his serving as a technical adviser to 'Twister,' a 1996 film about storm chasers starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton. He appeared in the opening scene as a forecaster giving a tornado warning on TV. Gary Alan England was born Oct. 3, 1939, in Seiling, Oklahoma. His father, Lesley, and mother, Hazel (Stong) England, owned a grocery store. While growing up, England took photographs of storm clouds and was transfixed by the TV reports of Harry Volkman, a weatherperson in Oklahoma. 'I was staring, and I turned to Dad and said, 'Dad, I want to be one of those,' and I pointed to the TV,' England said in an oral history interview with Oklahoma State University in 2013. 'He said, 'Well, what is he?' and I said, 'I don't know, but I want to be one.'' After graduating from high school, England served in the U.S. Navy, joining the Navy Weather Service. He received a bachelor's degree in mathematics and meteorology from the University of Oklahoma in 1965, and then worked for a weather forecasting firm in New Orleans. Advertisement He was hired in 1971 as a forecaster at KTOK Radio in Oklahoma City; a year later, he joined KWTV. He had little else to work with except for hand-drawn maps and a heavy reliance on the National Weather Service. 'In the beginning, I would only warn Jane a tornado was coming because John's house blew away,' he told the Los Angeles Times in 2013. But he urged KWTV management to build his toolbox, first with weather radar in 1973. In 1981, England became probably the first weather forecaster to use Doppler radar, which detected precipitation as well as wind speed and direction, vastly improving tornado warning times. Having followed research about the military use of Doppler radar, he made a presentation to the station's president, John Griffin. 'He said, 'Gary, you have never misled me on what we need,'' England said in the oral history. 'So we helped in the development and installed the world's first commercial Doppler radar right here.' Soon after, he said, he was watching the Doppler radar of what appeared to be a tornado. He called the local sheriff, who went outside and told him that he saw a funnel cloud. 'Now I knew I had something, so I issued the warning,' England said. 'It really upset the weather service but, you know, I wasn't going to wait and call them: 'Guys, is it OK if we issue the warning?'' Robert Henson, a meteorologist and the author of 'Weather on the Air: A History of Broadcast Meteorology' (2010), said in an interview, 'Gary had a reputation for being more aggressive with warnings than the National Weather Service because he had Doppler before other local stations. A warning doesn't always mean a tornado is out there, but he established that he was laser-focused on the threat.' Advertisement In the early 1990s, England helped initiate 'First Warning,' an automated map in the corner of TV screens that gives weather warnings, and 'Storm Tracker,' which shows a storm's path and an estimate for when a severe storm would arrive in a location. When KWTV celebrated 40 years of on-air achievements with a full page newspaper ad in 1994, nearly half were attributable to England and his weather team. He retired in 2013, a few months after a tornado, on May 20, ripped through parts of Oklahoma City, in particular the suburb of Moore, and killed about two dozen people. Another struck the suburb of El Reno 11 days later. After the latter storm, he told his wife, Mary England, that he had tired of his job. 'I just didn't want to do it anymore,' he told the chamber of commerce in Norman, Oklahoma, in early 2014. 'All that death and destruction.' After leaving KWTV, England became the vice president of corporate relations and weather development at Griffin Communications (now Griffin Media), the station's parent company, and was the consultant meteorologist-in-residence at the University of Oklahoma, home of the National Weather Center. His wife, formerly Mary Carlisle, survives him, along with his daughter, Molly Lutosky; two grandchildren; and a brother, Phil. In his decades tracking tornadoes, England found that no two were alike. 'They kind of have a life cycle just like a human,' he said in the oral history. 'It's shorter, but they behave a little differently. They do different things. They turn right, they turn left, they don't turn, and all of them are a little bit different.' Advertisement He added, 'On camera, they may all look the same, but everything is a learning process in this business. It really is.' This article originally appeared in
CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
Fire danger grows as heat continues across Colorado, cooler weather ahead
The first official weekend of summer is here, and it's been a hot one. Denver tied the record high of 99° on Friday and came just one degree shy of tying another record on Saturday. Sunday will bring more of the same, with high temperatures climbing into the low to mid-90s across much of the eastern plains. In the high country, highs will range from the 70s to 80s. The big change on Sunday is an increase in fire weather concerns. CBS Fire weather conditions will expand eastward to include much of the I-25 corridor. Elevated fire danger is expected, with wind gusts reaching 30 to 45 mph—a key ingredient for rapid fire growth. Relief from the heat is on the way. A cold front arrives Sunday night into Monday, bringing temperatures down into the upper 70s and low 80s to start the work week. Daily chances for showers and thunderstorms also return.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
UK weather: Up to 40mm of rain could fall in two hours amid thunderstorm warning
A yellow warning is in place for "potentially intense" thunderstorms in large parts of the country - and some places could have up to 40mm of rainfall in less than two hours. The Met Office said there could also be "frequent lightning, large hail and strong winds". The alert lasts until 3am on Sunday and covers parts of North East and North West England, the Midlands, Yorkshire, northeast Wales and the Scottish Borders. The Met Office urged those in the warning areas to consider if their location is at risk of flash flooding and to prepare accordingly. Forecasters have said the heatwave in parts of England and Wales provides "perfect conditions" for thunderstorms. On Saturday, the UK had the hottest day of 2025 so far, with a temperature of 33.2C (91.7F) recorded in Charlwood, Surrey. Scores of rail passengers were evacuated after some services were halted following a fault on a train. And thousands of people watched the sunrise over Stonehenge in Wiltshire to celebrate the summer solstice, marking the year's longest day. Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said "hot and humid air is being dragged up" from parts of continental Europe. "But we also have low pressure out in the Atlantic, and that is driving weather fronts across the UK, providing instability in the air and the perfect conditions to start sparking off some thunderstorms as that hot and humid air rises rapidly," he added. The east of England, including London and the South East, could experience a "tropical night", although most of the country will see "a lot cooler" and "a lot fresher" conditions, Met Office forecaster Dan Stroud said. "In one or two spots, that could potentially be a tropical night, which is where the overnight minimums actually fail to drop below 20 degrees (centigrade)," he added. Read more from Sky News:Prince William's 43rd birthday marked with new pictureEvery baby in UK to receive DNA testing Sunday will see a day of "sunny spells and showers" with highs of around 27C and 28C, Mr Stroud said. An amber heat-health alert for all regions in England remains in place over the weekend. The alert, issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), has warned that significant impacts are likely during the alert period across health and social care services, including a rise in demand.
