Gilman "Gil" Whitney (1940-1982) was an American television personality in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

, who worked primarily at WHIO television and

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

until his death in 1982. He was posthumously inducted into the Dayton Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2005.

Career

Whitney's career at WHIO was multi-faceted, having worked as an occasional fill-in news anchor, but also as a sportscaster and field journalist, usually covering stories of human interest. By the early 1970s he was permanently assigned as a weather specialist. His sense of humor and folksy everyman approach to weather reporting made him a favorite with viewers. As a weatherman, Whitney is best remembered for his timely warning on April 3, 1974, of an

F5 tornado The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...

that went through

Xenia, Ohio Xenia ( ) is a city in southwestern Ohio and the county seat of Greene County, Ohio, United States. It is east of Dayton and is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area, as well as the Miami Valley region. The name comes from the Greek l ...

, during the

1974 Super Outbreak The 1974 Super Outbreak was the second-largest tornado outbreak on record for a single 24-hour period, just behind the 2011 Super Outbreak. It was also the most violent tornado outbreak ever recorded, with 30 F4/F5 tornadoes confirmed. From Apri ...

. He specifically identified the Xenia neighborhood of Arrowhead as being directly in the tornado's path; his report proved to be correct as Arrowhead was leveled by the twister. During the fall seasons, Whitney often referred to the wooly worm's supposed ability to predict the severity of an upcoming winter. His frequent reference to wooly worms led to the creation of a kids' fan club with the wooly worm as its mascot.

Other work

During the summer months Whitney also hosted ''Summertime '7x'' (the number in the title changed each year), a weekly late-night talk show which featured local talent and other TV, movie and radio personalities making guest appearances. By 1980, the show was renamed ''The Gil Whitney Show''. After his death the show was again renamed ''Summer Nights'' and ran five more years. He was a regular on the community parade circuit, acted as emcee for numerous public events, volunteered as a firefighter, and most notably was one of the founders of the

Dayton Air Show The CenterPoint Energy Dayton Air Show is an annual event held at the Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, Ohio, eight miles north of Dayton, Ohio. From 2013 to 2019, the show has been held on a weekend in late June. Prior to 2013, and again ...

Personal life and death

Whitney and his wife Mary had three children together: *Gil Whitney Jr. (born 1963), a filmmaker now living in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

*John, a filmmaker (born 1964), Columbus, Ohio *Jennifer (born 1967) Whitney died November 4, 1982, at the age of 42, of Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Awards

*2005: Dayton, Ohio Broadcasters Hall of Fame inductee

References

External links

*
Video clip of Gil Whitney's April 3, 1974 broadcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitney, Gil 1940 births 1982 deaths People from Dayton, Ohio Weather presenters Deaths from cancer in Ohio Deaths from Hodgkin lymphoma