There’s been a major disturbance in the severe weather force.
Last night, we were first on the scene and on the story to report that Lord Gary England – the former chief meteorologist at KWTV News 9 and divine protector and guardian of the Oklahoma meteorological universe – passed away.
He was 85 years old and survived by his wife of 63 years, Mary, daughter Molly, and countless fans across the world.
I broke the sad news last night on X:
As foretold in the Severe Weather Scrolls – a catalog of ancient weather texts held in a vault inside the National Weather Center in Norman – Gary was conceived inside a churning wall cloud high above the Glass Mountains in 1939.
A meteorological prodigy, he spent his early childhood and teenage years studying barometric pressure, wind speeds, and Oklahoma town names — all from the lower-level interior closet of his two-bedroom home in Seiling.
Upon graduating from high school – and constructing the town’s first tornado siren – Gary traveled the world in a top-secret U.S. government weather balloon, where he studied the ancient meteorological arts and attempted to harness the power of lightning.
After injuring his left arm fighting a haboob during the Six-Day War in Egypt, Gary returned to Oklahoma and attended college at OU, where he graduated in 1965 with a B.S. in mathematics and meteorology. He then entered the media field so that he could share and spread his teachings with the rest of us.
And — jump back, Loretta — he sure did.
After a brief stint at KTOK News Radio, Gary touched down at KWTV News 9 in 1972 and launched a legendary 42-year career tracking tornadoes, inventing new weather forecasting technologies, coining iconic catchphrases, and — most importantly — keeping Oklahomans of all ages advised.
It didn’t matter if he was fist-pumping his way into a Friday Night in the Big Town, sharing proud photos of his favorite pigs, or — in the case of May 3rd — calmly instructing viewers to get underground or die, Gary wasn’t just a weatherman. He was an institution. An oracle. A permanent fixture on the pop-cultural radar of Oklahoma.
Obviously, Gary’s passing — and his foretold resurrection that should happen any day now outside Robbers Cave State Park — has hit the TLO Home Office hard.
As strict adherents to the Church of Gary England, we grew up listening, watching, and obeying his weather holiness at all times, and did whatever we could to spread the weatherly gospel of his name to all who would listen.
In fact, the very first article on this site served as a tribute to his weather holiness!
From that point forward, we became the unofficial deacons of the Church of Gary England Fan Club. Although it’s even hard for me to determine whether our worship is satirical or sincere, it was a bit we’ve always taken seriously — and enjoyed.
Whether we were crafting “Winter Rules” to his famed drinking game, shutting down the site because he inadvertently blocked us on Twitter, or simply making t-shirts that a couple hundred people would buy, we always found a way to pay proper tribute to his holiness.
Out of all the site content we’ve dedicated to Lord England over the years — and trust me, there’s been a lot of it — my favorite is the pilgrimage that our co-founder Tony and I took to his hometown of Seiling in 2013. It was absurd, weird, and totally TLO. Gary got such a tickle out of it that he shared one of the relics we discovered during one of his forecasts:
Over the years, it wasn’t uncommon for Gary to break the fourth wall and acknowledge our existence — on air, through a site comment, or a social media tag. It always made me a bit uncomfortable to directly interact with him. I guess it would be like the Pope opening Gmail and seeing an email from God.
Out of all our digital interactions, my favorite was when Gary — a proud girl dad — blessed the birth of my daughter.
To provide a quick update to Gary’s very accurate forecast: I’m still wrapped up.
Towards the end of his career, just as social media moved across the weather communications universe like a polar vortex, Gary naturally started to slow down a tad.
In 2013, during an early spring episode of Severe Weather Theater, News 9 unveiled a giant new touchscreen iPad for its meteorologists to use during live severe weather coverage.
In a video that’s still equal parts hilarious and painful to watch, a dumbfounded Gary struggled mightily with the “rascal” as a tornado warning rolled through the metro, eventually calling for Michael Armstrong to help save him:
Only a few months after that spectacle, News 9 rocked the weather world by announcing that Gary England would be moved out to pasture and given an advisory role with the station to make way for David Payne to take over as chief meteorologist.
For people like me who grew up watching Gary and viewed him as some sort of holy adopted meteorological grandpa, the move triggered the expected levels of anger and outrage. But at least it helped score him the national attention and recognition he rightly deserved:
After Gary hung up the Gentner, he quietly finished out his time in the background at News 9. He eventually took a figurehead teaching position at OU and joined Jason White as a pitchman for Air Comfort Solutions.
During this period, Gary gradually slipped out of the public eye and seemed to spend his retirement doing what many older Americans do these days — sitting in front of a computer, succumbing to right-wing paranoia psychosis: a dangerous and debilitating condition that causes individuals to consume, believe, and share large volumes of right-wing propaganda and misinformation on social media.
This eventually led to an online dust-up with one of his primary severe weather torchbearers — Severe Weather Princess Emily Sutton:
Naturally, some people viewed Gary England’s descent from a beloved Severe Weather God into a Trump-loving conspiracy theorist who shares 4Chan memes as a stain on his legacy.
I guess I can see why.
I’d rather my weathermen support widely accepted scientific theories about global warming than spread misinformation generated by foreign bots and authoritarian strongmen — but in Gary’s case, I’m willing to look past it.
First of all, Gary wouldn’t be the first person to fall victim to right-wing paranoia psychosis. I’m sure we all have friends and family members who suffer from it. While it sucks to see them go down that path — and have to mute them on social media — it doesn’t mean I love or like them any less.
Second, if you’re going to get mad at Gary England for something, it should probably be for inventing the silly state map graphic that appears in the bottom corner of your TV screen during any weather event! It was a great invention at the time, but I’m sure Gary felt a bit like Oppenheimer every time he flipped over to the Masters in June and saw a giant map of Oklahoma covering up the scores while warning him about a flash flood watch in Roger Mills County!
Once again, our thoughts and condolences go out to Gary’s wife, Mary, and daughter Molly.
I hope they’re reading all the tributes that have poured in over the last 12 hours like a record rainfall and truly appreciate the life, legacy, and influence he left on so many people across this state.
From aspiring TV meteorologists to young kids who would later become bloggers and steal one of his signature catchphrases, he was an inspiration to many — and always will be — an Oklahoma legend.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
