. BUILDING BLOCKS. FIRST ONE TO START SOMEWHERE, YOU KNOW, GREAT DELIVERY RIGHT OFF OF ALL.
THANKS FOR YOU KNOW, TODAY IS
THE DAY MANY MUST REALLY HERE AT
LOCAL 4 BEEN DREADING A BIT EVEN
AS WE WISH, PAUL GROSS. NOTHING
BUT THE BEST IN HIS RETIREMENT.
HE WAS HERE WHEN I ARRIVED AT
LOCAL 4 LONG AGO. IN FACT, HE
HAD ALREADY BEEN HERE MORE THAN
A DECADE BY THEN. AND IN THOSE
MANY YEARS, IT IS ALMOST
IMPOSSIBLE TO CALCULATE THE
CONTRIBUTIONS. PAUL HAS MADE US
TO WDIV’S AND TO YOU. KEY TO THE
HIGH IS THE WIND FLOW AROUND.
REMEMBER, I KEEP TELLING YOU
WINDS FLOW IN A CLOCKWISE
DIRECTION AROUND THE HIGH, NOT
TODAY SAID EVERYONE TALKS ABOUT
THE WEATHER, BUT NO ONE DOES
ANYTHING ABOUT IT. PERHAPS TRUE
, BUT FEW PEOPLE HAVE DONE MORE
ABOUT TRYING TO MANAGE IT OR
COEXIST WITH IT. PAUL GROSS FOR
THE AFTERNOON HOURS IS A BIG
GAME AND WHENEVER I’M GONNA BE
THERE AND IT BETTER, NOT RAIN,
OR I’LL BE UPSET. PAUL GROSS WAS
A STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
MICHIGAN. HIS CLASSMATES MIGHT
WALK TO COLLEGE IN FOR THEIR
PART TIME JOB. PAUL WAS DRIVING
EAST FOR HIS TO THE STUDIOS OF
WDIV’S, AND WHEN HE GOT OUT OF
SCHOOL, HE JUST KEPT WORKING FOR
EXTRA CREDIT FOR A WHILE, HE
WORKS SEVEN DAYS A WEEK,
SPLITTING HIS TIME BETWEEN THREE
DIFFERENT TELEVISION STATIONS.
IN FACT, ONE DAY HE DID THE
WEATHER ON ONE DETROIT STATION
AND THEN DROVE ACROSS TOWN AND
DID IT ON ANOTHER CASE. YOU’RE
JOINING US PAUL GROSS HAS JOINED
US ON MONDAYS AND TUESDAYS AS
OUR WEATHER FORECASTER. HE’S
WORKED BEHIND THE SCENES HERE
FOR QUITE SOME TIME. AND PAUL.
IT’S A PLEASURE TO HAVE YOU
ABOARD. HAPPY TO BE HERE. I WISH
I IMAGINE A BETTER WAY OF
DESCRIBING THE DEMAND FOR PAUL’S
TALENTS, BUT PAUL IS MORE THAN
THE GUY AT THE MAPS. A MOST
REMARKABLE DAY HERE IN GENEVA,
THE DAY BEGAN WITH AN UPDATE ON
GLOBAL WARMING. PAUL WAS TALKING
ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE LONG BEFORE
IT WAS FASHIONABLE. IN FACT, THE
AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY
HONORED HIM FOR HIS ABILITY TO
COVER CLIMATE CHANGE WITHOUT
INFECTING IT. POLITICS. THAT’S
NOT EASY. GENEVA PARIS, PAUL
TRAVELED EVERYWHERE TO LEARN AND
SHARE. HE IS A SPONGE. IN FACT,
IF YOU’VE GOT SIX OR SEVEN HOURS
ON YOUR HANDS, JUST ASK PAUL
ABOUT THE IMPACT OF WEATHER ON,
SAY, HUMAN WARFARE. BIGGEST
OBSTACLE FACING THE, HOWEVER,
WAS TREMENDOUS ALLIED AIR
SUPERIORITY AND THE ONLY WAY
THEY CAN PROTECT THEIR TROOPS
WAS BY GROUNDING THE ALLIED AIR
FORCE WITH AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF
BAD WEATHER DOCUMENTARY ON THE
CRITICAL ROLE OF WEATHER AND
WEATHER FORECASTING ON THE D DAY
INVASION OF 1944. IS ONE OF THE
CROWNING ACHIEVEMENTS OF HIS
CAREER, AND YOU CAN FIND IT AT
THE DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY. IT’S NOT
INCONCEIVABLE THAT THE
TEMPERATURE EVEN WHEN YOU
WEREN’T SEEING PAUL ON THE AIR,
HE WAS ALWAYS AN INTEGRAL PART
OF THE FORECAST. WE LIKE TO JOKE
THAT HE WAS GILLIGAN TO CHUCK
GAY VICARS SKIPPER, BUT THEY
WERE MORE LIKE A MARRIAGE THAN
OFFICE MATES JUST LIKE HANGING
OUT WITH A GOOD FRIEND FOR THAT
LONG OR BEING MARRIED TO MY
SPOUSE, SUSAN PAUL COULD FINISH
MY I SENTENCES. AND I WOULD WALK
IN AND SAY SOMETHING LIKE YOU
KNOW, NEXT MONDAY. WE’D BETTER
WATCH OUT FOR A BIG AND HE’D SAY
SNOWSTORM, I’D SAY YEAH. ALSO
OFF THE AIR. PAUL WAS THE GO TO
GUY FOR THE DETROIT TIGERS.
AMERICA PARKS GROUNDSKEEPER
HEATHERTON. BOSNIA KEEPS PAUL ON
SPEED DIAL, AND MAYBE IT GOES
BACK TO THAT DAY THAT YOUNG PAUL
LEARNED THAT THE RED SPOT ON
JUPITER IS A MASSIVE STORM
LARGER THAN PLANET EARTH. BUT
PAUL’S SCIENTIFIC PASSIONS WENT
WELL ABOVE OUR CLOUD COVER
CELESTIAL EVENTS. THRILL PAUL TO
NO END. AND THAT HAS BEEN MOST
INFECTIOUS. CHANCES ARE HE’S HAD
YOU CRAWLING OUTSIDE IN YOUR
PAJAMAS AT FOUR AM TO STARE UP
AT A RARE ALIGNMENT OF PLANETS
OR A SHOWY METEOR SHOWER. SOME
SCIENTISTS, IN FACT, BELIEVE
THAT TITAN RESEMBLES ANCIENT
EARTH MORE THAN PRESENT DAY
EARTH DOES, AND WE’RE FAIRLY
CERTAIN THAT PAUL IS INTERVIEWED
MORE ASTRONAUTS, ASTRONOMERS AND
SPACE RESEARCHERS THAN JUST
ABOUT ANYONE. WELL ANYONE DOWN
HERE ANYWAY. WHAT WILL MISS WHAT
I IMAGINE YOU’LL MISS HIS PULSE
PASSION FOR TEACHING NOW.
ADMITTEDLY SOMETIMES THE
STUDENTS WERE A LITTLE CLUELESS
, RIGHT, STEVE, YOU ALWAYS HAD A
WAY OF TAKING THE MOST
COMPLICATED INFORMATION. AND
MAKING IT SIMPLE ENOUGH THAT
EVEN I COULD UNDERSTAND IT. I
NEVER CARED ABOUT DEW POINT
UNTIL YOU EXPLAINED IT, BUT THAT
NEVER SLOWED PAUL DOWN OR
KNOCKED HIM OFF HIS MISSION. IT
IS A MISSION WITH A LEGACY. THE
NEXT TIME YOUR KIDS COME HOME
AND TELL YOU ABOUT THE TORNADO
DRILL THAT THEY HAD AT SCHOOL
THAT DAY, JUST KNOW THAT THAT’S
THE RESULT OF THE GROSS WEATHER
. BILL JOHN ENGLISH SIGNED IT
INTO LAW IN 1998 AFTER PAUL
LOBBIED LANSING TO TAKE UP THE
SAFETY OF MICHIGAN’S CHILDREN.
THAT IS A REAL LEGACY. AND
THAT’S WHY HE’S DESERVING OF ONE
HIMSELF. AND FOR THAT REASON,
PAUL GROSS TODAY BECOMES WDIV’S
FIRST EVER METEOROLOGIST