Watching the Weather in Paradise
Anglers, boaters and fishing guides turn to this guy for the latest forecast on the sky and the sea
WITH OUTDOOR RECREATION BEING A MAJOR REASON TO VISIT SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, ACCURATE WEATHER FORECASTS ARE ESSENTIAL. VAN WINKLE AND HIS TEAM ARE A TRUSTED SOURCE OF WEATHER INFORMATION AND A MAJOR PART OF THE EVENING NEWSCAST.
Pretty cool!” is how Robert Van Winkle, senior chief meteorologist for the NBC- 2 Weather Team, describes his life. “I had no plan to come to Florida,” he says. “And now I’m in the best part of the state.”
With his trademark glasses, closely cut gray hair and a slight athletic build, Van Winkle is easily recognizable. He welcomes you with a ready smile and quickly engages you in conversation. On the air, he is the consummate professional providing weather information that is precise and easy to understand. Obviously, Van Winkle likes people and likes what he does.
The meteorologist was born and raised a far distance from Florida, Arizona to be exact. After graduating high school in Prescott, he tried college for a year but decided that was not the best option for him at the time. So in 1976, he joined the Navy, which offered him a wide choice of fields, including meteorology. “I always had an interest in the weather,” Van Winkle says.
After finishing his classroom studies stateside, he was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, at that time stationed in the Mediterranean, to complete his training. But when the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis occurred, the Nimitz was quickly deployed to the Persian Gulf. Putting it into high gear, Van Winkle finished one year of training in two months and took charge of the ship’s weather center. For his great work, he was awarded the prestigious Navy Achievement Medal.
Besides making the weather forecasts, Van Winkle got his first taste of broadcasting. The Nimitz had its own onboard TV broadcast and he was the weatherman. “The sailors knew me from the show and would come up to me and ask, ‘ What’s the weather like in Cincinnati?’ The next show I’d make a point of mentioning Cincinnati. I was connecting with my audience,” he says.
Finishing his duty with the Navy, Van Winkle returned to Arizona to continue his studies at the university. He graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1984 with a B. A. in German and business. He had no plans to pursue meteorology or TV weather. Then he came across an ad for a weatherman with KUSK- TV, a very small station in Prescott. Van Winkle applied and was hired. He stayed there for two years, before he heard about another opportunity. WVIR- TV in Charlottesville, Va., was looking to establish a weather center. He got the job and became chief meteorologist at WVIR, a position he held for 17 years.
But in 2003, things were changing in Van Winkle’s life, and he felt the need to move on. It just so happened that WVIR’s sister station, WBBH- TV in Fort Myers, was looking for a chief meteorologist. And so, Van Winkle came to Florida. He