Bob Ryan is a retired
meteorologist
A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while t ...
who most recently forecasted for
WJLA
WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (alongside dual Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF hannel 45in Baltimore), and is also sister ...
, the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
affiliate in
Washington, D.C.
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Prior to serving as the chief meteorologist at Washington
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
affiliate
WRC-TV
WRC-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Class A Telemundo outlet WZDC-CD (channel 44 ...
from 1980 to 2010, he was previously the ''
Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It w ...
's'' first on-air meteorologist, which was also the first
network television
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics
...
meteorologist position. When
Willard Scott
Willard Herman Scott Jr. (March 7, 1934 – September 4, 2021) was an American weather presenter, radio and television personality, actor, narrator, clown, comedian, and author, whose broadcast career spanned 68 years, 65 years with the NBC br ...
replaced Ryan on ''Today'', he and Scott effectively exchanged jobs, with Ryan taking over the meteorologist position vacated by Scott on WRC.
''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' announced on February 5, 2010 that he was in discussions with rival station WJLA, and that he could switch stations because his contract had expired. As NBC continued to cut positions in its newsroom, Ryan's workload increased and he had to cover the forecasts at 4, 5, 6, and 11 o'clock, making Ryan think about switching stations. Together with
Doug Hill, chief meteorologist at WJLA and Ryan's longtime friend, he could make up a weather team that could take over WRC's dominant position in the ratings. He officially left the station in the early morning of February 26, 2010 after his last forecast after the
Olympics.
In May 2010, it was announced that Ryan would be joining WJLA. Ryan made his debut during WJLA's 5 p.m. newscast on May 17, 2010.
Ryan was the 11 p.m. newscast's meteorologist.
Ryan has a
B.S.
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
in
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
and a
M.S.
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...
in
atmospheric science from the
University at Albany
The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...
. He worked as an atmospheric researcher at Arthur D. Little Inc. Afterwards, he became a meteorologist at WPRI-TV in Providence and
WCVB-TV
WCVB-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on TV Place (off Gould Street near the I-95/ MA 128/Highland Avenue ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
before working at ''The Today Show'' and finally at WRC.
Ryan is a past president of the
American Meteorological Society
The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is the premier scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences. Its mission is to advance th ...
, the first and only president to have worked in broadcast weather. He wrote and published the ''Weatherwise Almanac'', an annual meteorology almanac for 25 years that detailed
weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmos ...
events of the year, such as moon phases, meteor showers, solstices and equinoxes. It also contained historical reference information, such as average highs and lows for each day of the year and significant weather events that happened on that date in history.
Ryan retired from WJLA after 33 years of forecasting the weather on television on May 22, 2013.
References
External links
Bob Ryan's Last Forecast at nbcwashington.com*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Bob
Television meteorologists in Washington, D.C.
Television anchors from Boston
Television anchors from Washington, D.C.
University at Albany, SUNY alumni
NBC News people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American meteorologists