Columbia, S.C.- After a 44-year career of forecasting the weather, News 19 Chief Meteorologist Jim Gandy has announced his retirement. His last day on the air will be May 31.
“It has been an honor and privilege to broadcast important weather information to the Midlands for the past third of a century,” said Gandy. “You have always received my best efforts as I have tried to bring the best forecasts possible.”
For years, Gandy has been a viewer favorite, known for his calm demeanor during severe weather like tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods. His goal was always to inform and not scare. 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 has had a remarkable career,” said Rich O’Dell, President and General Manager of WLTX. “No one understands weather and climate better than he does. Jim truly is South Carolina’s Weatherman.”
Gandy’s ground-breaking Climate Matters segments have been recognized by scientists and 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.
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 to work at WIS and moved to WLTX in 1999.
In retirement, Jim and his wife Ann have multiple trips already planned and look forward to spending some quality time in their mountain home.