William Raymond Wilkie (14 January 1925 – 18 May 2023) was an Australian meteorologist who worked with the Bureau of Meteorology, he was best known for presenting television weather reports. He delivered nightly weather reports firstly at 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 ...

and then for both the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

with

Nine News ''Nine News'' (stylised ''9News'') is the national news service of the Nine Network in Australia. Its flagship program is the hour-long 6:00 pm state bulletin, produced by Nine's owned-and-operated stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, ...

and for

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

, where he presented for '' Ten Eyewitness News'' and also Ten's national late night bulletin. He was the elder brother of meteorologist and radio and TV weather reporter

Alan Wilkie Alan Wilkie may refer to: *Alan Wilkie (judge) (born 1947), British judge * Alan Wilkie (referee) (born 1951), British football referee * Alan Wilkie (weather presenter), (1928–2023), Australian meteorologist and television weather presenter See ...

Biography

Early life

William Raymond Wilkie was born in Ayr, Queensland on 14 January 1925. to William Wilkie senior (born c.1892) and Daisy Isobel Lewis (c. 1900-1945), his mother died when he was 20 and his younger brother Allan was 16 Wilkie served with the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

as a flight lieutanant, where he was posted in England and Europe d he graduated the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

with a

Bachelor of Science 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 of ...

and then studied meteorology in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Career

Wilkie obtained employment with the Bureau of Meteorology, where he worked for 35 years. During this time, he served as a regional director in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

and in Darwin. Wilkie was on duty in the Darwin office in 1974 when Cyclone Tracy struck the city. He was subsequently involved in the establishment of the Bureau's Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre (TCWC). Wilkie started in career in television presenting weather reports in 1956, on the ABC and spent 14 years at the

from 1977 and 1991 From 1985, he worked for Network Ten in Brisbane where he presented weather bulletin's for ''Ten Eyewitness News''. From 1991, he also presented the weather on Ten Eyewitness News with

Katrina Lee Katrina Lee is an Australian executive director and former television news presenter. Lee is perhaps best known for her association with Network Ten where she was a Logie Award-winning news presenter at TEN-10 in Sydney from the 1970's to the 1 ...

and

John Mangos John (born 9 July 1956) is an Australian news presenter. Mangos has previously been a news presenter on Sky News Australia. He has also made cameo appearances on the Australian comedy programs '' Pizza'', '' Swift and Shift Couriers'' and ''H ...

for Ten's Sydney Bulletin and also presented for the national late news bulletin. In 1988, he authored a book called ''Ray Wilkie's Australian Weather'' where he recounted his experience during Cyclone Tracy.

Personal life

Ray Wilkie brother of Alan Wilkie, a meteorologist and television weather presenter based in Sydney, who also worked for the Commonwealth of Meteorology from 1950 and 1960, and became the first weather presenter on television presenting at the ABC from 1956 to 1960, and then the Seven Network from 1968 to 1976, but was best known for his 25 year tenure presenting bulletins on '' National Nine News'' from 1977 until 2001. Alan died in Sydney, New South Wales on 10 July 2023, at the age of 94.

Honours

In 1977, Wilkie received a

Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'argent de la reine Elizabeth II) is a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The medal is p ...

. In 1984, he was awarded an OAM in the

1984 Australia Day Honours The 1984 Australia Day Honours were announced on 26 January 1984 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir Ninian Stephen. The Australia Day Honours are the first of the two major annual honours lists, announced on Australia Day Australia ...

in recognition of his public service. In 2020, he underwent surgery at

Greenslopes Private Hospital Greenslopes Private Hospital is a private health care provider located in Greenslopes, Brisbane, Australia. It was named Australia's Best Private Hospital, 1999 and received the Australian Private Hospitals Association's, Hospital Quality of E ...

to correct a bowel condition.

Death

Ray Wilkie died in Brisbane, Queensland on 18 May 2023, at the age of 98.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkie, Ray 1925 births 2023 deaths Australian television weather presenters Australian television newsreaders and news presenters People from Ayr, Queensland