Tom Skilling

Tom Skilling, born Thomas Ethelbert Skilling, III on 20th February 1952, has been a Chicago based meteorologist. He has presently been the chief meteorologist for 5 pm, 6 pm, 9 pm and 10 pm newscasts on weekdays on Channel 9 of WGN. Tom started doing predictions about the weather on WGN from 13th August 1978, and the WGN channel celebrated recently Tom’s association with the TV channel for 40 years.


During these years, he has not only done weather forecasts but also carried the audience with the vagaries of the weather across the globe. Before associating with WGN, Tom had worked for WKKD, WLXT-TV, and a few others. Tom is particularly famous for Tornado Video Classics: The Magnificent Puzzle (1993), Bowling Brothers (2017), and The Weather Man (2005)

Personal Life

Tom spent his early life in Aurora, Illinois, USA, where he was born. He was born to father Thomas and mother Betty. Much is not known about his childhood days. However, Tom has siblings, three in number, and they are Sue Skilling, Mark Skilling, and Jeffrey Skilling. As for Tom’s education, he attended West Aurora High School. After completing his education at the high school, he joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison from where he graduated in journalism and meteorology. Tom is of American nationality, but his ethnicity is not on record.

Tom has not married as yet. So far as the information is available, he has not been in any relationship any time during his life. He has not ever spoken about his private life. He is totally committed to his job at hand. There had been some rumor about his being gay, but it was never confirmed. Tom has kept his personal life a guarded secret, and there is nothing in the record in this regard. Since he has not married so far, he has not divorced anyone.

Career

Tom’s career started in broadcasting with FM and WKKD-AM when he was only 14. At that time, he was still studying at his High School. Next, Tom became associated with Channel 60 of WLXT-TV at the age of 18 in Aurora, Illinois. He started working with WTSO AM and WKOW-TV even while he was studying at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Tom had been associated with WITI in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as a meteorologist for three years from the year 1975 to 1978.

Tom came to Chicago in 1978 and started working with Channel 9 of WGN-TV. He started working with WGN from 13th August 1978. He has been presented the chief meteorologist of WGN, where he is said to be getting a huge sum as salary. Presumably, he has been the highest paid meteorologist in the USA. He is particularly acclaimed for his insightful reporting and accurate information. Tom has also been associated with the National Weather Association and the American Meteorological Society as a member.

So far as awards are concerned, Tom has been honored with Honorary Doctorate of Humanities by the Lewis University, Romeoville, Illinois. As per his biography, his net worth is estimated at $14 million.

Last Modified: Apr 3, 2020


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