After over four decades on the air, WBZ meteorologist Barry Burbank is retiring
The longtime weatherman will broadcast his final forecast on Sunday night.
After over four decades of forecasting the weather in New England, WBZ weatherman Barry Burbank is retiring, the station announced Friday.
Burbank, who began his WBZ forecasts 42 years ago, has been on the air longer than anyone else in the history of the station.
His final forecast is set for Sunday night during the 11 p.m. news broadcast.
In an online post, WBZ-TV wrote that Burbank “has forecast some of the world’s trickiest weather with a steady hand, a friendly voice, and an eye on accuracy” over the years.
“A great forecaster, a great person to have in the office, such an amazing spirit when you’re in his presence,” Chief Meteorologist Eric Fisher described Burbank in a video posted to Twitter. “And for all the kids who had the pleasure of him visiting their classrooms, I mean, who knows how many future meteorologists are out there because of Barry.”
“Barry, you’re a legend.” After 42 years on the air in Boston, meteorologist Barry Burbank gives his final forecast on WBZ-TV this weekend. Use the hashtag #ThanksBarry to join us in wishing him a very happy retirement! https://t.co/TgG8mvRIgj pic.twitter.com/25AFQPIUfn
— WBZ | CBS News Boston (@wbz) April 24, 2020
A Maine native, Burbank launched his career at Portland’s WCSH-TV in February 1976, where he made history as the state’s first professional television meteorologist, according to the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
He later joined WBZ-TV on March 3, 1978, right after the historic Blizzard of ’78 walloped the region.
“A lot of people have asked me if this is my real name, if I changed it or not,” Burbank said while on the air during his first week at WBZ.
“It’s my real name. I never did change it — I’ve had it since 1925, as a matter of fact,” he joked.
Here is @BarryWBZ‘s first day on the air at #WBZ, 40 years ago this week.
Please keep watching until he shows the day’s ‘satellite image.’ pic.twitter.com/AcaBM9JHrU
— Eric Fisher (@ericfisher) February 26, 2018
Reflecting on his career during his 40th anniversary at the station, Burbank recalled how his experience of Hurricane Carol in 1954 gave him his love and fear of the weather. He covered his ears during the storm, and his mother brought him down to the basement for shelter as it raged on, he said.
“It was just so loud,” Burbank said in 2018. “The rain hitting the windows, the howling wind, the trees that were coming down.”
After visiting his idol and mentor, Don Kent, known as “Boston’s first TV weatherman,” at WBZ as a teenager, Burbank returned home and built a scale model of the studio in his bedroom, he said.
“Threw everything out, left the bed in the middle of the room and just did weather reports,” he said.
Burbank was inducted to the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame last year and became a member of the Boston/New England Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Silver Circle in 2005. He also received the national 2006 Award for Outstanding Service by a Broadcast Meteorologist from the American Meteorological Society.
“The most fun is when you get the forecast right, so I’m having fun most of the time,” Burbank said when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Colleagues, in a video announcing Burbank’s retirement Friday, spoke glowingly of the local TV legend and offered best wishes for who WBZ anchor Lisa Hughes described as “a gentleman and a total team player.”
“There never was another Barry Burbank,” WBZ-TV executive weather producer Terry Eliasen told the station. “There never will be another Barry Burbank.”
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