SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The KSL family tonight is mourning the loss of Bob Welti, who for 26 years brought our viewers the weather forecast as part of a legendary team.
Bob retired in 1991, passing away today at age 94.
From the early days of television news to the Golden Age, Bob Welti brought his larger than life personality to his weather forecasts.
“He just always had this glow about him,” former KSL Anchorman Dick Nourse said. “And this sense of humor that he would walk in and right away, you would start laughing.”
As weather forecasting technology improved — Bob Welti learned and delivered.
FULL INTERVIEW WITH DICK NOURSE HERE:
“He had meteorological training as a navy pilot in WWII,” former KSL weatherman Kent Norton said. “But more importantly he just spoke the people’s language.”
Historic partnership with anchorman Dick Nourse and sportscaster, Paul James created one of the legendary teams in American television news.
When he got a forecast wrong – like no more snow but it snowed… Paul and Dick gave it to him on the air.
“While Bob was doing his weather forecast, his weather report, we made snowballs and we fired them at him,” Nourse remembered, laughing. “We were going ‘here is your 4 inches of partly cloudy, mostly sunny.’ Bam! Bam! Bam! We peppered Bob with snowballs. We did that, and you know, today I’m not sure you could do that anymore.”
Welti brought a folksy, friendly manner to an industry that changed so quickly, but he never did.
Sorry to learn of the passing of Bob Welti (middle). He anchored the weather @KSL5TV for 26 years before retiring in 1991. He will always be a key figure of our KSL legacy. pic.twitter.com/nFKZbTTUQA
— Dave McCann (@DaveMcCannKSL) June 4, 2019
“You just felt like he was not through the tube, somwhere far away… but he was sitting in the room with you and you were just having a conversation,” Norton said.
In looking back, all of us in television news salute those who paved the way, who showed us how.
“Bob lived his weather and he loved it,” Nourse said.
Bob Welti delivered more than a weather forecast — he became part of everyone’s family. KSL’s viewers looked forward to seeing and listening to a man they trusted who felt like a best friend.
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