Harry Volkman

Legendary Chicago weather forecaster Harry Volkman has died, according to multiple news sources. He was 89. Volkman, whose sunny, folksy delivery of the weather news kept Chicagoans entertained for four decades on four television stations, died Thursday of a respiratory illness at a Des Plaines nursing home. Meteorologists from across the nation voiced messages of condolence on their Facebook pages, including WGN-TV's meteorologist, Tom Skilling. "I am saddened to pass along incredibly sad news. Rob Feder reports the passing of meteorological legend Harry Volkman," Skilling said. "Harry, who had dealt with health issues for some time, was 89. To Harry's son Eddie and the entire Volkman family, our heartfelt condolences." "With a jaunty boutonniere on his lapel and the signature 'Swoosh!' noise he made while describing wind direction, Harry Volkman became one of the most trusted and well-respected meteorologists Chicago has known," the Chicago Sun-Times wrote in a Facebook post. Volkman, who was born April 18, 1926, in Medford, Massachusetts, had a meteorology career that spanned 55 years, 45 of them in Chicago, the Sun-Times reported. His last weather forecast took place for WFLD-Channel 32 in 2004, when he was 78. His fellow newscasters wore boutonnieres that day, according to the Sun-Times. A private service is planned after a public memorial.