Tom Skilling

Thomas E. Skilling III is a television meteorologist. Skilling was born in Pittsburgh, lived his early years in New Jersey, and moved with his family to Aurora, Illinois, where he attended West Aurora High School. Skilling exhibited a keen interest in weather at a young age, and at 14, while working at Chicago’s WKKD, he observed that the weather forecasts for Chicago were not accurate for Aurora. Skilling proposed that he be allowed to forecast the weather for several days, and if correct, he would be hired for his own weather program. Skilling’s reports proved remarkably accurate and, as promised, he began working at WLXT-TV in Aurora. Skilling majored in meteorology and journalism at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and upon graduation, he was hired as the lead forecaster at Milwaukee’s WITI-TV. There his creativity and sense of humor emerged as he used a sock puppet mascot, Albert the Alley Cat, to help deliver the weather. Skilling became the city’s number one meteorologist. Since 1978, Skilling has worked as a meteorologist at Chicago’s WGN-TV, where he is known for his in depth weather segments, accuracy, and utilization of the latest computer technology. In 2011, he predicted the huge Ground Hog Day blizzard almost two weeks in advance. At WGN-TV, he also narrated two (2) documentaries, It Sounded Like a Freight Train and When Lightning Strikes, and maintained a popular weather blog. Skilling also wrote “Ask Tom Why,” a daily weather column for the Chicago Tribune until 2022. In addition, he served as a consultant on the major motion picture The Weather Man, set in Chicago at a fictionalized WGN-TV. A member of the American Meteorological Society and National Weather Association, Skilling has hosted weather seminars for 38 years at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, welcoming a veritable “who’s who” of the weather research and forecasting community. In recent years, he has been speaking at events on the subject of climate change. Skilling has won multiple Emmy Awards, funds a scholarship for local college students each year, and in 2018, won the Illinois Broadcasters Association Broadcast Pioneer Award, in recognition of his years devoted to local programming and serving the community. Tom Skilling retired after 45 years at WGN-TV on February 28, 2024.