Richard R. Fletcher (September 18, 1942 – February 26, 2008) was a broadcast

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 ...

. He was Chief Meteorologist for

WTSP WTSP (channel 10) is a television station licensed to St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area as an affiliate of CBS. The station is owned by Tegna Inc., and maintains studios on Gandy Boulevard on St. Petersburg's n ...

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

, for 28 years. He was a holder 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 sciences, atmospheric, Oceanography, oceanic, and Hydrology, hydr ...

Seal of Approval, having received it in 1978.

Early life

Fletcher, a native of

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, graduated from the

University of Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (Omaha or UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was originally kno ...

in 1964. He had an early ambition to be a television news broadcaster and started his career in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

at KCRG, working as a news anchor and occasionally doing the weather. In the early 1970s, he began working as a full-time meteorologist at KOA-TV in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and spent several years in the city. In 1976, he went to work in Corpus Christi and then back to

KMTV KMTV-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, the station has studios on Mockingbird Drive in southwest Omaha, and its transmitter is located on a "tower ...

in Omaha. In 1980, he left Omaha to begin his tenure at then-ABC affiliate (now CBS affiliate) WTSP-TV as chief meteorologist on March 17, 1980, replacing WTSP's chief meteorologist,

Wally Kinnan Henry Wallace Kinnan (March 7, 1919 – November 22, 2002) was an American decorated World War II hero, also was one of the first well-known U.S. pioneer television broadcast meteorologists. Kinnan held American Meteorological Society Television ...

. After his death, he relinquished the role to WTSP meteorologist

Tammie Souza Tammie Souza is a multiple Emmy-winning meteorologist, working at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from March 2017 until December 2019. Personal life Souza was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and raised in San Diego, California. She rece ...

. He was a former member (1987–1993) of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.

Career

During his lengthy broadcasting career, Fletcher flew aboard reconnaissance aircraft missions into three

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

s and made 15 different penetrations into the eyes of those storms. In 1987, he was honored by the

with an award for Outstanding Service by a Broadcast Meteorologist. He was presented the distinguished service award by the National Hurricane Conference in 2003 for his leadership efforts in hurricane preparedness. He also received the Media award from the Florida Governor's Hurricane Conference in 1993.

Hurricane Charley

During the 2004 hurricane season,

Hurricane Charley Hurricane Charley was the first of four separate hurricanes to impact or strike Florida during 2004, along with Hurricane Frances, Frances, Hurricane Ivan, Ivan and Hurricane Jeanne, Jeanne, as well as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to ...

appeared to be on its way to Tampa Bay. WTSP's studios on Gandy Boulevard, merely two miles west of the

Gandy Bridge Gandy Bridge is the southernmost bridge spanning Old Tampa Bay from St. Petersburg, Florida to Tampa, Florida. The original 1924 span was dismantled in 1975. The second bridge, constructed in 1956 was used for vehicular traffic until 1997, ...

, were part of the evacuation zone, and the entire staff was forced to leave. The station evacuated to the

Clearwater Clearwater or Clear Water may refer to: Places Canada * Clear Water Academy, a private Catholic school located in Calgary, Alberta * Clearwater (provincial electoral district), a former provincial electoral district in Alberta * Clearwater, Briti ...

studios of ''Pinellas 18'' (now ''PCC-TV''), a government access (GATV)

cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...

channel owned by

Pinellas County Pinellas County (, ) is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107. The county is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg– Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical ...

. This left Fletcher without his weather equipment, and he was the last to know about the sudden eastward shift of the storm as a result. He was forced to broadcast out of Pinellas 18's ill-equipped studios using a Windows PC with a basic radar image as his makeshift weather station. He was visibly upset on the air as the Windows screensaver repeatedly activated.

Personal

He lived in St. Petersburg with his wife, Cindy, and had three adult children. Fletcher was an avid tennis player, often playing in the morning at the St. Petersburg Tennis Center. He was also an avid baseball fan.

Illnesses and death

On November 24, 2003, Fletcher suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

at the TV station just before a 4 p.m. news broadcast. Subsequent to his first stroke, he made frequent public appearances for the cause of stroke survival and prevention. On February 18, 2008, Fletcher suffered a second massive stroke while at home. He subsequently died at St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg early on the morning of February 26, 2008. He was 65 years old according to his obituary. On February 26, 2009, Fletcher's former WTSP colleagues paid tribute to the man they affectionately remembered as "Fletch."

References

External links

Fletcher's station bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Dick 1942 births 2008 deaths Television anchors from Tampa, Florida American television meteorologists People from Omaha, Nebraska University of Nebraska Omaha alumni