|
Don Thompson The WLNG radio family is sad to announce the passing of our longtime weather man Don Thompson. Don passed away today (Friday 4/3/20) at the age of 66 in Denver, Colorado, where he lived for the last several years. He had been with WLNG for the last quarter century and had also been a DJ here years ago, going by the nickname “Big Daddy.” Don worked right up to the end, even filing weather reports on Gary Sapiane’s morning show today (4/3/20) His daughter Beth says the family will have a memorial service on the East End at a later date. No donation information is available at this time.
On-air Weatherman Don grew up in Southampton, New York. He now resides in Denver, Colorado but still does the weather from there . Don's love for the weather started when he is was young lad. Going thru several hurricanes in the 1950's Don started to be fascinated by the weather. Going through the Eye of the Hurricane of 1960 really peaked his interest. Studying the climate of Eastern Long Island and going through the many different seasons gives him and insight to do his weather forecasts everyday. Don started doing the weather back in the early 1980's and enjoys doing it everyday. He as on air once and hour for most of the day for 4 days during Hurricane Sandy and has given extensive coverage during major weather events. Most people say the weatherman never looks out the window. Well Don does even from Denver the first thing he does is looking at all the surface observations then continues studying the maps to formulate a forecast. Don enjoys hearing how much the listeners depend on his forecast and makes it so worth getting up at 3 a.m. from Denver to put it all together for you. Don was President of the Long Island Weather Observers for many years. Don also helped in the survey of Hurricane Bob and helped the NWS confirm there were 2 small tornadoes on Eastern Long Island. Don also did over 40 Hurricane awareness seminars across the Island and has talked to many schools on severe weather awareness. |
 |
 |
|
|
