WGN Personality Retiring After 45 Years

WGN personality Tom Skilling is retiring next year. The Chief Meteorologist announced last week that he will be retiring after 45 years at WGN in Chicago. He will be retiring on Feb. 28, 2024. During his announcement on WGN Evening News, he mentioned just how hard it was to come to the decision. Though he stressed it was time. "There's no formula to this," Skilling said. "I am going to retire at the end of February after a marvelous 45  years at this incredible television station. We all get to a point where we have to make a decision. 'Is it time to retire?' It's the toughest decision."

The Emmy Award-winner started his career at 14 in Aurora. He joined WGN-TV in August 1978 after having various radio and TV jobs in Illinois and Wisconsin. On top of his weather forecasts, Skilling hosted close to 40 years of severe weather seminars at Fermilab with experts from all across the globe. He's reported firsthand on weather in Alaska and Las Vegas and was even chased by a tornado in Oklahoma, among other coverage. With over 40 years under his belt, he has definitely seen and covered quite a lot. It's hard to compile everything, but just thinking of what all he's reported on, it's a pretty big number.

Tom Skilling has won multiple Emmys from the Chicago/Midwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He also funds a scholarship that assists local college students every year. In 2018, he received the Illinois Broadcasters Association "Broadcast Pioneer" award. As if that wasn't enough, Skilling has led talks and has participated in conferences across the country discussing climate change and much, much more.

WGN-TV has been around since 1948 after being founded by the Chicago Tribune. Although a lot of newscasters, meteorologists, producers, and more have come and gone from the station, it's clear that Tom Skilling has made quite the impact. It's unknown what his plans are beyond WGN, but that is still a few months away. Viewers will still be able to watch Skilling's weather forecasts for the time being. Hopefully, once he leaves, he'll pop by the studio every once in a while. However, after doing so much work for over four decades, it's about time that he took some time off and focused on himself rather than the weather.