Saying Goodbye to Tom “Freakin’” Skilling: 6 Reasons Why I’ll Miss This Chicago Weather Icon

BY ANDREW MORKES, FOUNDER AND AUTHOR OF “NATURE IN CHICAGOLAND”

You must be doing something right in this world if:

• they name a beer, a snowplow (“Skilling It!”), and radio and television characters after you, as well as create a bobblehead depicting you at work;
• you are probably one of the most-recognizable people in Chicagoland who is not under investigation by the FBI; and
• you would easily be selected as one of the faces on Chicago’s version of Mount Rushmore if we had such a thing.

If you don’t know whom I’m talking about, this person is weather forecasting legend Tom Skilling. 

But now this beloved Chicago icon is leaving us. 

Thank God that Tom Skilling is not sick or dying. He’s retiring today after 45 years at WGN-TV.

But when Skilling announced last October that he was retiring, I felt a bit of a gut punch—in a similar way to losing a friend that you’ve loved and taken for granted for many years. Tom Skilling is a “friend” to me in the strange and powerful way that television (especially at the local level) creates a false sense of intimacy with someone we don’t know. This “television friend feeling” is strongest when that person is kind, accessible, and great at his job like Tom Skilling. We feel like we know people like Skilling despite never meeting them or just getting the chance to say a quick hello on the street or at a station event.

I was eight years old when Tom Skilling began weather forecasting on WGN-TV. His forecasts and sunny demeanor played a role in my life through high school, college, my first job and apartment, getting married (thanks, Tom, for that sunny, 67-degree weather for my October 20 wedding), having a child, and now reaching middle age. In a world of regular personal changes and often disturbing local, national, and world news, Tom Skilling was a pleasant constant. He was an island of continuity in a crazy-busy world that seems like it’s tilted off its axis in the past decade or so. And he was not only a passionate and expert weatherman, he was funny, giving, joyful, and almost any other kind thing you can say about him.

In appreciation of his wonderful career, here are six reasons why I love Tom Skilling.

Passionate About His Job

I love that Skilling loves meteorology so much. I love that he gushes about pneumonia fronts, cumulonimbus and mammatus clouds, and the Enhanced-Fujita Scale. I love that his enthusiasm and encyclopedic knowledge of meteorology can transform the same weather conditions—snow, sleet, rain, scorching hot days, bone-chilling ones—that we encounter year after year in Chicagoland into something interesting and watchable.

A Great Teacher

Skilling not only educates viewers during his weather broadcasts, but also hosts weather days with the White Sox and tornado seminars at Fermilab, has served as a trustworthy teacher regarding the dangers of global warming and climate change (I like that science always wins out over politics with him), and is known for his Ask Tom Why? segments in which he answers questions such as What is rolling thunder?, What happens to storms when they leave the United States?, and What is ball lightning?    

He has a great way of explaining complex concepts and terms in an easy-to-understand and often fun manner. It’s fun to learn things when you watch TV—as opposed to watching the Kardashians and the Real Housewives of Nothingville.

Humble

A lesser person might grow an ego the height of a hurricane with all the kudos that Tom Skilling has received over the years, but he has remained the same. Skilling often spends more time praising others while he is receiving kudos rather than talk about himself. That’s refreshing in our increasingly me-first world.

Generous

Stories abound of Skilling talking with young, aspiring meteorologists about careers in the field, giving impromptu tours of the weather office (such as the one pictured below), and simply finding ways to help others. My cousin tells me that this photo was taken the day after Skilling returned from a vacation. He probably was tired and wanted to get right back to work. Instead, he gave her son’s scout troop an impromptu tour of the weather office and enthusiastically explained the technology that they used and how they forecast the weather. What a great moment for the kids.    

A Great Sense of Humor and Fun  

Being a fantastic forecaster is one thing, but being a funny weatherperson is another. I love the fact that Tom Skilling has a fine sense of fun (and spot-on comedic timing) and is willing to do almost anything that the WGN-TV Morning Show wants him to do for laughs. For example, the “Tom Freakin’ Skilling” moniker came from a hilarious skit in which Skilling put sportscaster and chronic smart-aleck Pat Tomasulo in his place. No need for me to explain, when you can watch it here. Other examples of his sense of humor and perfect comedic delivery can be viewed here.

Authentic and Genuine

Tom Skilling has had many authentic and genuine moments, but his display of deep humanity while reporting on the Great American Eclipse of 2017 is my favorite example. As the sky darkened in southern Illinois, Skilling stopped being a reporter and became an everyman—or every woman—caught up in the sheer beauty of day becoming night in a moment, a black circle where there was once a blinding sun. In two-and-a-half minutes of totality, the temperature plunged, birds suddenly roosted, and Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury and the brightest stars became visible in the once blue sky. Onlookers glimpsed the sun’s corona, the diamond ring effect, and Baily’s beads. For some, it was a primal experience where the safe world we knew went topsy-turvy for a few minutes.

Skilling high-fived and hugged a surprised woman. “Look at that, wow!” he repeated. He cried. He emoted. He hugged more people. He was a human being caught up, marveling, and being humbled by a rare celestial moment, and it felt good to watch. It felt great to watch.

I love that he was so caught up in the moment that he risked jeers at his tears as he watched something beautiful and profound. (Another lovely, but sad, example of Skilling’s humanity was his on-air elegy for his friend, WGN meteorologist Mike Hamernik, who passed away at age 60 in 2021.)  

I wish I was more Skilling-like in touting my love of good writing, elegantly-placed commas, and almighty alliteration. Tears might be weird as I proclaim my love of art, hiking, and books (but maybe not), but being even more enthusiastic about something we care about deeply must be a good thing. We all need to be more like Skilling—so comfortable with ourselves in our nerdiness (and I’m a nerd, too) that we become free of the monotony that many of us must struggle through daily. I’m not advocating for a daily cry-fest, because that would become inauthentic in a matter of a few hard cries, but I hope that we can embrace the unexpected, the emotional, and the strange when it feels right. Tom Skilling has mastered it. Why not the rest of us?

Final Thoughts

Not many people get to do exactly what they want for their careers their entire lives AND write their own happy ending. But that’s what’s happened for Tom—a nice reward for a nice man. And the weather gods have also given him a great weather sendoff: record-breaking temperatures in the 70s on Monday and Tuesday; thunderstorms with hail, strong winds, and tornadoes last night; and temperatures that plunged into the 20s this morning. I’m sorry for the damage the storms caused, but happy I was able to see parts of three hours of Skilling and his WGN colleagues tracking the storms. A Tom tour-de-force.

I wish Tom Skilling a happy retirement, although he says that he might be back on WGN during severe weather events and also to cover the upcoming total solar eclipse. That’s good news. Tom, how about filming some weather documentaries or doing occasional vacation fill-ins on WGN-TV?

I hope we can take the lessons of Tom Skilling’s kindness, passion, enthusiasm, authenticity, and joie de vivre with us as we say farewell to our television “friend” of all these years. But not only take them with us, but also use them as a life template as we navigate our troubling times. Being like Tom “Freakin’” Skilling won’t cure cancer, stop wars, or curb poverty, but it will certainly help make the world a better freakin’ place.

Copyright (text): Andrew Morkes

Copyright (photos): credited on photos, except bad television screen captures taken in my kitchen (from WGN-TV broadcast) and image of Sun-Times cover (a photo of my daily paper…Anthony Vazquez made the photo of Skilling on the cover page)

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Looking for some great nature destinations in Chicagoland? If so, check out my book, Nature in Chicagoland: More Than 120 Fantastic Nature Destinations That You Must Visit. It features amazing destinations in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Click on the title to learn more. The book has 306 pages and 210+ photos and is only $19.99. Nature in Chicagoland received great reviews in the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, Daily Southtown, This Week in Birding blog, and Beverly Review.

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ABOUT ANDREW MORKES

I have been a writer and editor for nearly 30 years. I’m the founder of College & Career Press (2002); the author and publisher of “The Morkes Report: College and Career Planning Trends” blog; and the author and publisher of Hot Health Care Careers: 30 Occupations With Fast Growth and Many New Job Openings; Nontraditional Careers for Women and Men: More Than 30 Great Jobs for Women and Men With Apprenticeships Through PhDs; They Teach That in College!?: A Resource Guide to More Than 100 Interesting College Majors, which was selected as one of the best books of the year by the library journal Voice of Youth Advocates; and other titles. They Teach That in College!? provides more information on environmental- and sustainability-related majors such as Ecotourism, Range Management, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Built Environment, Sustainability Studies, and Sustainable Agriculture/Organic Farming. I served as a member of the parent advisory board at my son’s school for five years. 

In addition to these publications, I’ve written more than 60 books about careers for other publishing and media companies including Infobase (such as the venerable Encyclopedia of Careers & Vocational Guidance, the Vault Career Guide to Accounting, and many volumes in the Careers in Focus, Discovering Careers, What Can I Do Now?!, and Career Skills Library series) and Mason Crest (including those in the Careers in the Building Trades and Cool Careers in Science series).

Here’s a list of the environmental-focused titles that I’ve written:

• Nature in Chicagoland: More Than 120 Fantastic Nature Destinations That You Must Visit
• Wind Turbine Technicians (Great Careers Without a Bachelor’s Degree series)
• Environmental Scientists (Cool Careers in Science series)
• Renewable Energy Careers (Cool Careers in Science series)
• Environment (Getting Started series)
• Solar Power Technicians (Careers in Infrastructure series)