BILL WALSH, WCSC (CBS) Bill Walsh, of WCSC, has been
forecasting Lowcountry weather the longest of the three local chief meteorologists. After weather posi- tions at a New England cable station and in Providence, Rhode Island, Walsh arrived in Mount Pleasant in 1986, forecasting for WCIV. He moved to WCSC in 1993. Like Fowler, his interest in weather began as a child.
“I used to watch the local weather people up in Rhode Island,” Walsh remembered. He also enjoyed aviation and TV
production, so he earned his pilot’s license, began learning more about weather and wrapped it all up into a career.
“I took two things I really like a lot, television and weather, and put them together. It was a perfect match,” he said. Walsh majored in mass communi- cation and meteorology at Emerson College and Lyndon State College. He earned a master’s in military art and science/national security studies from the U.S. Air Force Air University. Walsh has had many significant
weather experiences in the Lowcountry, but one stands out as the most memorable.
“I think the biggest thing, of course,
was Hurricane Hugo,” Walsh noted. “For the weatherman, it was like the Super Bowl. I was on channel 4 at the time, and we had to evacuate the station and stay on the air at the same time – as they were bringing boxes out the back door.” Six feet of water rose in the build-
ing, according to Walsh. He was forced out of his own home for three months. “It was a very challenging time. It
was exciting, but it was challenging,” he recalled. “It was the first major hurricane I had worked.” Ten years later, Walsh was on the
air as Hurricane Floyd threatened the Carolina coast.
“Tey called it the Floyd Fiasco because
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it took so long [to evacuate.] It took 15 hours to drive to Columbia,” he said. “While everybody was leaving, we broadcasters had to stay behind as the storm was coming,” he said. Floyd caused minimal damage in
South Carolina. However, each hurricane that threatens the coast has the potential to be a killer; each storm is unique and requires steady focus from the Lowcountry’s weathermen. “You have to look at every hurricane as a brand-new storm,” Walsh explained. “Tere are similarities in tracks and forecast- ing, but, for the most part, they are
Bill Walsh has been a
meteorologist with WCSC since 1993.
all different. Storms can take various paths and the challenge is forecasting the tracks while fore- casting the intensity.” A former naval officer, Walsh
served on two aircraft carriers. He currently is a Lt. Col. and chief of public affairs for the 315th Airlift Wing at Joint Base Charleston. He enjoys life with his wife, Janet, and two children, Frank, 16, and Amy, 13. “A lot of people know who we
are. I think it’s an absolute great part of my job to be able to serve people and also talk to people,” Walsh said.
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