Gary England, Star Meteorologist in Tornado Alley, Dies at 85

New York Times

5 hours ago

Gary England, whose childhood fascination with severe weather spawned a long career as a television meteorologist in tornado-plagued Oklahoma, where his storm warnings likely saved many lives, died on June 10 in Oklahoma City. He was 85.
Bob Burke, a lawyer who wrote a biography of Mr. England, said that he died in a hospice center after a stroke last month.
One of the biggest weather events of Mr. England's 41 years as the chief meteorologist at KWTV in Oklahoma City occurred on May 3, 1999, when a series of tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma and Kansas — including a catastrophic one that topped the Enhanced Fujita scale, which researchers use to rate tornadoes; it caused 46 deaths, more than 800 injuries and about $1.5 million in property damage.
During live coverage that day, Mr. England talked to a storm chaser who at one point described an ominous development: A tornado funnel had quickly popped up near a much wider one.
'You folks in the path of this storm have time to get below ground,' Mr. England said. 'You need to be below ground with this storm. This is a deadly tornado.'
Recalling the severity of his warning, he told NPR in 2009: 'I knew that one would get their attention because I'd never said it before and I've never said it since.'
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