Brandon Twp.? Watching a brightly colored radar screen, John McMurray keeps an eye on a long line of thunderstorms that approach from the west, extending from Saginaw Bay south toward Lansing and Kalamazoo. Donning earphones, McMurray pauses momentarily and waits to hear his cue.
‘This is John McMurray from the WJR Weather Center. Plan on bringing an umbrella to Friday night’s high school football games, you’re going to get wet,? said McMurray into the headset, broadcasting live to radio listeners statewide.
The weather voice of WJR radio and the morning weather face of Flint-based ABC12’McMurray has been forecasting, reporting and explaining the weather for more than 40 years.
‘I don’t always get it right,? laughs McMurray, 65, in a slightly firm New York accent. ‘But that’s the weather business.?
At 6:30 p.m., Sept. 18, McMurray will discuss meteorology and his long career at the Brandon Township Library, 304 South St., Ortonville, as a guest speaker.
A native of Queens, N.Y., McMurray graduated from the New York State Maritime College, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Meteorology.
‘I spent my summers out on Long Island,? said McMurray. ‘I’d watch the ships sail past the beach’I thought, ‘That’s the job for me.? By the time I was in my early 20s, I’d been in just about every port in western Europe on a ship working for Bethlehem Steel.?
McMurray entered the U.S. Air Force in 1965, where he served as a meteorologist at Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Okla. He worked with the Air Force as a flight meteorologist until 1970, when he entered the private sector, anchoring the weather at Flint-based ABC12 News until 1975. He is also heard as the weather voice on WJR Radio in Detroit and operates the Commercial Weather Service, a database for weather information.
McMurray re-joined ABC12 News in January 1989 as a weather anchor. Currently, he is the morning meteorologist for WJRT-TV in Flint.
McMurray also teaches a meteorology class at Saginaw Valley University, where interest in the science continues to grow.
‘I’m sometimes called into court by an attorney to testify about weather facts or the conditions of a specific day of an accident,? said McMurray. ‘If someone claims they slip and fall on ice in a parking lot and it’s too warm for ice to form, then the outcome of the case can change.?
McMurray and his wife, Mary Ellen, live in Grand Blanc. They have three children and four grandchildren. In his free time, he enjoys sailing and skiing. Professional Associations: American Meteorological Society; Saginaw Bay Yacht Club. He earned his American Meteorological Association ‘Seal of Approval? as a broadcast forecaster in 1972.