RIP Earl Finckle

[sjs1959]

The grand old man of weather himself has passed away at 81, per this Tribune report:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-hed-fincklejul06,0,3746016.story

IIRC, didn't WREC use The Finckle Forecast for many years?

 

[Tynosaur]

Sorry to hear, but surprised the old rascal lasted as long as he did. I enjoyed working with Earl throughout the years we used him and his Central Weather Service on WREC. He was a hoot and uncannily correct.

One story sticks in my mind. One day he called for a blizzard by the next morning, a real Yankee Clipper was on its way and Memphis was gonna take a tumble. Come the morning and bluebird weather prevailed. I was pulling mornings and started the Finckle Flake Report, taking calls from listeners who described in great detail how bad the blizzard had been at their place. It was a great morning of radio and everybody got a chuckle...even Earl, who took it as a good sport and started using "Finckle Flakes" as part of his forecasts on a regular basis.

He was a class act and we'll not see his like again.

 

[Bat Fastard]

Earl Finckle was ahead of his time. He was on multiple stations nationwide before it became commonplace to do so. He was not only entertaining, he knew his stuff.

I guess I'll always remember the daily call-ins during the WREC morning news with Jay Boland and Claudia Barr. Jay tried frequently to create some form of comedy at the expense of Earl's wife, Sylvia. Jay tried repeatedly to refer to her as "Spooky Old Sylvia", in which I gather Finckle never saw the humor. He always referred to her as "The Weather Bunny".

Made me wonder which was closer to reality.

 

[Danoinark]

I remember one of the many times I recorded his weather at WREC, and once specifically. He said something about REGINA in Canada, and I swore he said something else... ...I had to play it back for Jay several times before we actually understood what he said. RIP Earl.
Dan S.