CHICAGO (WGN) — Frank Wachowski and Tom Skilling go way back.
For decades, he provided critical data for WGN forecasts, often from his home.
The wind speed gauge atop the roof of his South Side bungalow is just one of many devices he has nurtured in his garden of instruments.
Wachowski has converted his home into a veritable weather observation station, the likes of which may not exist anywhere else in the United States of America.
And it all started in a chicken coop.
“My dad had an old chicken coop, and I turned it into a weather office,” he said.
His early fascination with the weather sparked some concern.
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“My aunt came over and she said, ‘What’s he doing in the window?’ He watches thunderstorms [was the answer],’” Wachowski said. “She said, ‘He’s crazy!’ [Then] she said, ‘You better be careful with that kid.’“
Years later, in 1956, Wachowski landed his dream job with the National Weather Service. He was 18 years old. First stationed at Midway International Airport and later, O’Hare, he meticulously recorded every tornado, heatwave and blizzard that hit Chicago.
Along the way, he was recognized for his unwavering service over the past 69 years and counting.
Perhaps the only timeline more impressive than the length of his professional career in weather is the centuries of weather info found in Wachowski’s home.
There are nearly 150 years of records in his basement. Frank rescued the now-digitized handwritten charts—produced after the Chicago Fire destroyed earlier documents—from the garbage bin.
Skilling: if there is one constant in our atmosphere, it’s Frank Wachowski. At 87 years old, Chicago’s official weather observer has no plans to slow down.
“I’m the only one in the country now that takes sunshine readings, so a person came up to me and said, ‘Frank, you’re the only one that records sunshine.’ I said ’Yeah.’ ‘When are you going to retire?’ I said, ‘When the sun sets,’” Wachowski said. “I look at it this way, I enjoy every minute of what I’m doing.”
Skilling: Frank has been a true friend to me and an invaluable resource for our meteorology team at WGN. He’s arranged for all his records to go to the National Weather Service when he’s no longer with us.
Tom Skilling
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