Meteorologist John Edd Thompson, who for three decades was the face of weather at the NBC and later Fox affiliated-station WALA-TV in Mobile, Alabama, has died.
The station announced Tuesday that Thompson passed away at the age of 82. A cause of death was not disclosed.
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“Longtime FOX10 Chief Meteorologist John Edd Thompson has died,” the station shared across the station’s social read. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”
Born in 1942, Thompson graduated from Murphy High School and later attended the University of Alabama and Mississippi State University, the station said. He went on to serve as the weather forecaster on Channel 10 TV, now Fox 10. During his 30-year tenure at the station, which switched from NBC to Fox affiliation, Thompson covered several major weather events, including Hurricane Frederic in 1979. While he was reporting on Hurricane Katrina in 2005, he learned live on-air that his former Dauphin Island home was destroyed by the storm.
“I didn’t realize it was gone until I saw the aerial pictures the next morning,” he later recalled, per AL.com. “Basically, since we were on the air I just kind of gulped and kept going.”
After forecasting the weather at Fox10 for 32 years, Thompson retired in June 2009. WALA General Manager Matt Pumo applauded the meteorologist at the time for his “unparalleled connection with Gulf Coast viewers. His dedication, commitment and trademark sense of humor will be dearly missed.”
News of his passing sparked a wave of tributes from his colleagues and Fox10 viewers. Paying tribute to Thompson on Facebook, WTVC meteorologist David Glenn wrote, “I had the privilege of meeting John Edd Thompson during my years working in Mobile. He was always very nice and beloved by many on the Gulf Coast. Thoughts and prayers for his family.”
“John Edd Thompson. My childhood idol. One of the best meteorologists in the history of Mobile has moved on to his eternal paradise,” WKRG’s Summer Poole added. “Sending prayers to John Edd’s family, friends and colleagues at FOX10 News.”
Thompson, who is also credited as a “driving force” behind the Frank Brown songwriters festival in Gulf Shores, is survived by his wife Sharon.
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