Famed meteorologist John Coleman, who revolutionized the way Americans consume weather information, passed away at his Las Vegas, Nevada home at age 83 yesterday. After forecasting the weather on ABC’s “Good Morning America”, Coleman co-founded the Weather Channel during the early days of cable television. The Weather Channel became a significant voice in the forecasting community after it’s May 2, 1982 launch. Founded by Coleman with Frank Batten, then-CEO of Landmark Communications, the duo kicked-off the cable network at 8pm ET with meteorologists Bruce Edwards and Andre Bernier. While Coleman left the Weather Channel, his legacy leaves behind a significant brand. In April 2017, Harris Poll EquiTrend showed that The Weather Channel was the most popular TV news brand. The study ranks consumer brands on familiarity, quality and consideration. This is the seventh year in a row Weather has topped this poll; in 2017, The Weather Channel beat out Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and CNN for the honors.
John Coleman made headlines recently for being a “scientific realist” that disagrees with climate change theories being proposed by others. “Shame on you, Al Gore,” Coleman said. Meteorologists and climatologists “can rarely get on TV, ever since Al Gore made it a plank of the Democratic Party,” Coleman said in an interview he had on the Fox News Channel. In recent years, Coleman has become outspoken with his views on climate change, claiming “global warming is a hoax.” Coleman would frequent news networks to discuss why he and other scientists don’t believe in man-made climate change. Coleman calls the concept of “climate change” the “greatest scam in history,” and has said that “the polar ice is increasing, not melting away. Polar bears are increasing in number.”
The Weather Channel, which has adopted a philosophy in stark contrast to its founding meteorologist, released a statement. “Mr. Coleman does have a place in our company’s history, and we appreciate the contributions he made more than 30 years ago. However, we want to be clear: John Coleman is no longer affiliated with our company, and his opinions do not represent The Weather Company. We regret any confusion this has caused.”
Coleman was born in 1934 in Alpine, Texas, the fifth child of a college professor and his math teacher wife, Claude and Hazel Coleman. He is married to Linda Coleman. In May 2016 the Colemans moved to the Summerlin Community of Las Vegas. He passed away surrounded by his family, according to his wife Linda.
