SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Former News19 Chief Meteorologist Jim Gandy has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Environmental Education Association of South Carolina.
Gandy was presented the award Friday evening at a ceremony at the University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg.
The award honors people who've made outstanding contributions to environmental education in our state. Specifically, the award recognized Gandy for his work with both his Climate Matters and Gandy's Garden segments.
Gandy’s groundbreaking Climate Matters segments have been recognized by scientists and the results have appeared in publications around the country in everything from Forbes to Rolling Stone. He was invited by the White House to participate in a Climate Summit in 2014 and named a NASA Eclipse Subject Matter Expert prior to the 2017 Eclipse.
Meanwhile, Gandy's Garden, which shows people how to grow their own vegetables, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Jim retired in 2019 after nearly 20 years as News19's Chief Meteorologist and 44 years of forecasting. However, he has come back to us occasionally to offer perspective on historical weather events.
Gandy was always known as a viewer favorite, well-regarded for his calm demeanor during severe weather like tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods. Jim is known as one of the nation’s most reliable hurricane experts, accurately predicting storm after storm, including Hurricane Hugo and the Great Columbia Flood of 2015.
Jim graduated with a degree in Meteorology from Florida State and started his television career in 1975 at WREG-TV in Memphis. From there he moved into Tornado Alley, working at KTVY (now KFOR) in Oklahoma City. In 1982, joined the Kansas State Network in Wichita. He moved to Columbia in 1984 and started working at WLTX in 1999.