Hall of Fame weather forecaster John Wetherbee died Thursday morning. He was widely known for his work as a meteorologist on both TV and radio.
“Big” John Wetherbee has long been a beloved figure nationwide for his work and personality. Wetherbee was recently named to the Georgia Association of Broadcasters 2024 Hall of Fame for his work as a meteorologist. He had also previously been inducted in the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame in 2014.
“I’ve known ‘Big’ John Wetherbee first as a listener when he was a rock and roll disc jockey in Chicago, and then after re-connecting again here in Atlanta,” GAB President Bob Houghton said. “His energy never slowed down. I can tell you that when I called him to tell him he was being inducted into the GAB Hall of Fame, the very first thing he said was, ‘How can I help you?’ And that was so typical of John. There wasn’t a nicer guy in the business.”
Wetherbee has been a weather forecaster on WDUN’s airwaves since 2019. He worked in a variety of positions in the broadcast industry throughout his more than 30-year-long career.
Dennis Winslow, the current Vice President of Friends of Georgia Radio, spoke Friday morning on WDUN's Mornings on Maine Street and said Wetherbee was a larger-than-life figure.
"He was such a warm human being that you just wanted to give him a hug around the neck," Winslow said. "It was really hard for short people like us to reach up and hug that big old six-foot-nine guy around the neck, but by golly, we all did it, didn't we?"
Many referred to Wetherbee as "Big John" due to his stature.
Winslow said Wetherbee worked as a meteorologist for stations across the country and cared deeply for each of them.
"Every station he was on, he sounded like he was a local guy ... he was passionate about the local communities and he studied them," Winslow said. "He could take what can sometimes be a real dry subject and make it interesting and touch you with the way that he was relating it to your life and your world."
Winslow's full interview with Bill Maine can be heard in the above Soundcloud link.
Specific details regarding his cause of death have not been released.
