WJLA-TV Washington plans a three-day tribute (May 20, 21, 22) in its 11 p.m. newscast for Washington TV weather icon Bob Ryan, who is retiring.
The station will feature memorable clips and messages from current and former colleages, politicians and even a song sung by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.).
May 22 will be Ryan's last night as a nightly weather anchor for the station and after more than three decades as a broadcast meteorologist, most of them on crosstown WRC-TV, the NBC affiliate -- he joined WJLA three years ago.
The tributes from politicians is no surprise. Ryan's expertise has been tapped by Congress in the past. At a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on disaster preparedness in 2011, he said that broadcasters and their local meteorologists, in concert with information supplied by the government, play a vital role in saving lives during natural disasters.
