TV meteorologist who covered biggest weather events in Charlotte history set to retire
WBTV meteorologist Eric Thomas, who covered the biggest weather stories in Charlotte’s history during a 33-year career, told viewers on Wednesday that he plans to retire.
“This was a tough decision and took lots of soul searching between my wife and me,” Thomas said in a statement later Wednesday. “I’m not running away from anything, I’m running toward the other things still awaiting me. “
Thomas said he intends to retire at the end of the year.
“It’s impossible to explain in words how much WBTV and the Charlotte community have blessed my family,” he said.
Keeping viewers “safe and informed” during Hurricane Hugo in September 1989 and many other major weather events has always been Thomas’s top priority, WBTV general manager Scott Dempsey said in a statement.
“For 33 years, Eric has shared his passion for weather and keeping our community safe and advised,” Dempsey said.
Emmy Awards winner
Thomas won multiple regional Emmy Awards and the “Certified Most Accurate” seal from WeatheRate each of the past seven years.
His most cherished award, Thomas said, was the Dee Lackey Legacy Award in 2020 for his efforts to raise awareness about adoptions in the Charlotte area. Thomas helped create the weekly “Forever Family” segment in 2017 after sharing his personal adoption story.
Thomas hailed from Pittsburgh and graduated from Penn State University in 1982 with a degree in meteorology, according his WBTV bio.
After four years as chief meteorologist at KNOE-TV in Monroe, La., Thomas joined WBTV in 1988 as the station’s first certified meteorologist.
Hurricane Hugo ‘war zone’
WBTV was the first TV station to sign on in the Carolinas. Kids in the 1950s lined up clad in cowboy hats, boots and spurs to appear on the station’s “Fred Kirby Show,” and WBTV anchors and other on-air personalities became famous household names in the Carolinas and beyond.
Thomas continued in that line of famous names. His coverage of Hurricane Hugo and other weather events “solidified him as an icon in the Charlotte television landscape,” Dempsey said.
“It was a war zone,” Thomas said in a statement Wednesday of the damage Hugo wrought. “It really hit me when I left the station and saw armed National Guard soldiers directing traffic in the intersections,” he said. “This area was paralyzed. Some people didn’t get power back for over three weeks.”
Fought for better radar
Thomas also lobbied for years for an upgrade to North Carolina’s weather radar network, which finally will happen later this year, according to Dempsey.
“Eric has been working tirelessly to implement additional radar to areas of our market where there have been long-standing gaps in coverage,” Dempsey said. “One of Eric’s lasting legacies to WBTV and the Charlotte market will be the addition of this much-needed technology in late fall.”
The technology “will help keep WBTV viewers alerted to severe weather outbreaks in these areas,” Dempsey said.
Thomas and his wife, Vickie, have three children and are expecting their first grandchild later this year.
WBTV ‘in good hands’
“When I look at the weather team we have now, with Leigh (Brock) and Jason (Myers), and obviously Al (Conklin), who’s been by my side for 28 years — not just as a colleague but as a close friend — I know we’re in good hands,” Thomas said.
Dempsey said the station “salutes” Thomas’ “commitment to our viewers, and wish he and his family the very best in this next phase of their lives.”
