The KSWO Weather Team Deserves A Round of Applause
It seems that Lawton has had a pretty deep history and storied past when it comes to local meteorologists. Being a smaller television market in the grand scheme of things, we tend to attract those on the somewhat new side of forecasting. All the same, we've had some real standouts along the way.
Did you know KFOR's Mike Morgan used to call Southwest Oklahoma home early in his meteorological career? And who can forget that one guy that used to get way overly excited... Andy something or other... He used to declare his own tornado warnings in between bouts of hyperventilation. I remember he claimed a tornado was coming down Lee Boulevard some fifteen-ish years ago, all the while we were literally standing around in that exact spot thinking "What is he talking about?"
Austin Bowling is another standout meteorologist that has graced through KSWO over the years. He now has a home at Oklahoma Life TV and spent his time the other night broadcasting on Facebook for the good of our communities.
As confirmed and what looked like some huge tornadoes came through the area earlier this week, we finally got to see the current First Alert 7 weather team in some real action. I think Chief Meteorologist Noel Rehm did a stellar job presenting the facts and keeping his calm. Dude was cool as a cucumber throughout that entire hours-long event.
I'm too cheap to pay for cable, so I watch everything through an antenna (honestly, you get a ton of channels here in Lawton for free), and in flipping back and forth between KSWO and OKC's News 9, I much prefer the calmer delivery of impactful information Noel was able to convey.
At one point, News 9's David Payne looked directly into the camera and screamed "This tornader will kill you! You will die!" hyping up that trademark performance art that snatched him Gary England's original position. Ain't nobody got time for that. The weather is scary enough in this part of the country, no need to pile on with an academy-winning performance.
Some people might assume we're all sworn enemies being competing media and such, but it's just not like that in 2021. Credit is due where it was earned in a big fantastic way. A big round of applause for everyone at KSWO involved in Tuesday night's severe weather coverage.