Minnesota Loses A Real Weather Fan...

[azskyman]

I remember him as one of the ten most passionate weather people I ever met. Bruce told stories of how he assembled rain gauges from coffee cans and set them up all over the Minneapolis area just so he could have his own rain gauge network to use. He'd knock on doors and ask people if he could place one in their yard.

His curly hair and slightly quirkish demeanor was a perfect match for his way of telling weather stories. Bruce loved talking about the video of a tornado shot from a helicopter as it encircled it and showed it on live TV.

Mostly he loved Minnesota and the weather of Minnesota. He worked feverishly each year in a collaborative effort to put together a wonderful Minnesota weather almanac and calendar, and he would stand down to no one in making his long range winter forecasts.

I came to know Bruce in the late 1980's as he and I worked to pull together a group of Minnesota weather observers into an organized group of folks who loved the weather as much as we did. Bruce took it on himself to host not one, but TWO of our national weather meetings in and around his hometown of Roseville. Those were some fascinating and wonderful meetings that gave me an opportunity to meet some terrific Minnesotans who even today are among my friends in weather.

Just had an IM from Bruce a few weeks ago while sitting at my desk in Phoenix. All was well and he was enjoying another bitter cold winter there. I was about 70 degrees that day.

If one's life is based on being able to perpetuate a passion or an enthusiasm toward something, Bruce's life was very very significant. I learned of his passing from a weather friend in Galveston who learned of his passing from a weather friend in Oklahoma who learned of his passing....

Thanks Bruce for never standing in fear of your love of weather...never worrying if others thought of you as peculiar for caring about it so much. You helped me and others stand proud in our passion for it too.


Meteorologist Bruce Watson dies
Associated Press

March 19, 2004
Meteorologist Bruce Watson, who was known for his long-range forecasts of Minnesota's weather, has died. He was 71.
His daughter said Watson died unexpectedly of a staph infection Thursday. Watson had been a consulting meteorologist for nearly 50 years. He was senior author of the popular Minnesota Weather Guide and was willing to predict the weather months ahead. Watson graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1954. He kept a large library of weather information - including a complete set of daily observations taken in the Twin Cities beginning in 1819. According to his company's Web site, Watson had engaged in extensive research into Upper Midwest weather history and climatology since the 1960s. He used his large library of weather observations to develop highly sophisticated weather models, that covered ''virtually all meteorogical variables.'' Watson co-authored papers with researchers at the University of Minnesota that form part of the world climate-change data base, according to the Web site. Much of his work appears in daily newspapers and on television broadcasts in the Twin Cities. He also has frequently been quoted by the local news media on weather and climate conditions.

[Miss Mary]

Sounds as if Bruce will be sorely missed Steve. I'm so sorry for your loss. Thanks for sharing about his career with us.

Mary

[HurricaneGirl]

Aww! He sounded like such a cool guy! I'm sure he will be missed by many!