Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's a legend of the airwaves in Denver, but it
won't be long before he calls it a career.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
And it's a pleasure now to be joined by Channel
seven chief meteorologist. I'm want to make sure I get
this name right, Is it Mike nie Elson? Did I
say that right, sir? Yeah, that's it Mike Nelson. Good morning,
my friend. Thank you for coming on Colorado's morning news.
It's an honor. I probably shouldn't say this, because I'm
sure you bristle at this, but I was a young
person remember watching you on TV for all these years.
(00:26):
It's going to be hard for me not to see
you now, in my late fifties on TV anymore.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
There you go. I've had so many people that have
come up to me in recent weeks and said, I
remember when you came and spoke to my third grade class,
like you've gotten a lot taller, Mike.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Forty years of broadcasting, twenty years alone at Denver seven.
What has changed since the first day you entered those
doors and this business until what we see today.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
The graphics are the biggest change. When I started in
the mid nineteen seventies, we still had magnets and magic
markers to do all the weather maps, and that all
started to change about forty five years ago. At the
very first weather computers of which I was a part
of the development. I actually worked on one of the
first computer systems that went anywhere in the country and
(01:18):
would travel in the late seventies and early eighties around
the country to install weather computers. So I trained Al
Roker on his very first weather computer that he ever used,
and in nineteen eighty two came to Denver with the
very first weather computer system at any of the TV stations,
and I trained Bill Custer and Stormy Rotman on the
(01:39):
very first system that they ever use. And today everybody
has a computer system, and most of them are actually
made by the exact same IBM company. So whether he
went across the street to nine or four or Fox,
I could run their computers too.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Man, you mentioned names Bill Custer and Stormy Rotman. That
definitely takes me back, Mike as a young person. I
was going to ask, how has Denver changed in the
forty plus years since you've been here.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Well, obviously the growth is just tremendous, but I'm going
to swing it around a little bit to one thing
that I think really speaks strongly, and that is when
we moved here in nineteen ninety one and we're building
a house, the real estate agent said, do you want
air conditioning? And having moved here from the Midwest, I
looked a little quizzically and said a lot of people
don't have it because it cools off so much at night.
(02:27):
You would never ask that question today, And of course
that's related to climate change, and our weather has changed
so much. We used to maybe get one day of
triple digit temperatures in a summer, and right now we
average about four or five. And if we don't stop
adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, by the time
(02:49):
my grandchildren are in their forties their school kids now,
we'll be looking at twenty days of one hundred in
an average summer.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Mike, When you look back at your career, what are
some of the moments, What are some of the stories,
What are some of the forecasts that you will remember most?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Blizzard of nineteen ninety seven always comes to mind because
that was the day that the Broncos were trying to
get out of Denver to catch a plane to Buffalo,
where it was ironically sunny and sixty and I was
on the phone phoning in reports. I was on Channel
nine at the time, and I looked out through the
(03:29):
snow and across the street I could see this figure
huddled for shelter behind a big mailbox enclosure. I yelled out, Hey,
are you okay, and faintly through the snow, I hear yeah,
I'm waiting for a snowmobile. And I said who are you?
And the answer comes back, Steve Atwater. And I said, Steve,
(03:49):
it's Mike Nelson from TV. Come on in here, you
can wait. And he was waiting across our front yard.
The snow was breaking at his waist. I mean at
Water's like sixty five sixty six. And so he came
in the house and I had my kid cam that
I used for the school visits, and I took some
video of him, and the snowmobile came up and he
ran off into the snow. I took the video with
(04:11):
me to the TV station. Ron Zipolo ran it DOUN
the sports that night. It made Sports Center and way
after the Broncos had won the Super Bowl. My son
and I he was about ten at the time. It's
a hot day in the middle of the summer, and
I said, let's watch at King Super's highlight video, and
we stuck the VHS tape in the machine and lo
(04:32):
and behold in the highlight video where they show something
from each week of the season, there's about five seconds
of my video and includes the top of my son's
head standing next to the Tiva at waters. That's always
been one of our favorites.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Mike, We're gonna We're definitely gonna miss you. And I
just saw this as an aside. I've met your wife.
She's lovely, your daughter Tiana, with all the stuff she
does with CSU, my connection with her there, she's a great,
great young woman. What kind of advice would Mike Nelson
now give it to Mike Nelson thirty thirty five years ago.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Well, I do give this advice because our industries radio
and TV are changing a lot. But if somebody is
a young person that loves weather and I've loved it
since I was a little kid, and you want to
do this profession, I would say, don't let the naysayers
talk you out of it, because you know they'd say,
what are the odds of you making in a career
(05:28):
like TV or radio, especially in a big city like Denver.
Every year in professional sports there are great new rookies.
And if those kids, when they were in great school
or middle school listen to somebody saying what are the
odds of you making in professional sports, they would never
be great new rookies. So if it speaks to you,
(05:49):
if that's what your passion is, I'd still say go
for it. Yeah. Is it going to be harder, Yeah,
the industry is different. But pursue something you love and
that makes your work way more satisfying.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Great advice. Channel seven Chief Meteorologist Mike Nelson, Congratulations. You'll
be delivering your final weathercast attestation coming up on Thursday.
We'll all be watching. Thank you so much for all
your commitment to the community. We greatly appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Oh, you're very welcome. Good to talk to you this morning.
He's a legend of the airwaves in Denver, but it
won't be long before he calls it a career.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
And it's a pleasure now to be joined by Channel
seven chief meteorologist. I'm want to make sure I get
this name right, Is it Mike nie Elson? Did I
say that right, sir? Yeah, that's it Mike Nelson. Good morning,
my friend. Thank you for coming on Colorado's morning news.
It's an honor. I probably shouldn't say this, because I'm
sure you bristle at this, but I was a young
person remember watching you on TV for all these years.
(00:26):
It's going to be hard for me not to see
you now, in my late fifties on TV anymore.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
There you go. I've had so many people that have
come up to me in recent weeks and said, I
remember when you came and spoke to my third grade class,
like you've gotten a lot taller, Mike.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Forty years of broadcasting, twenty years alone at Denver seven.
What has changed since the first day you entered those
doors and this business until what we see today.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
The graphics are the biggest change. When I started in
the mid nineteen seventies, we still had magnets and magic
markers to do all the weather maps, and that all
started to change about forty five years ago. At the
very first weather computers of which I was a part
of the development. I actually worked on one of the
first computer systems that went anywhere in the country and
(01:18):
would travel in the late seventies and early eighties around
the country to install weather computers. So I trained Al
Roker on his very first weather computer that he ever used,
and in nineteen eighty two came to Denver with the
very first weather computer system at any of the TV stations,
and I trained Bill Custer and Stormy Rotman on the
(01:39):
very first system that they ever use. And today everybody
has a computer system, and most of them are actually
made by the exact same IBM company. So whether he
went across the street to nine or four or Fox,
I could run their computers too.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Man, you mentioned names Bill Custer and Stormy Rotman. That
definitely takes me back, Mike as a young person. I
was going to ask, how has Denver changed in the
forty plus years since you've been here.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Well, obviously the growth is just tremendous, but I'm going
to swing it around a little bit to one thing
that I think really speaks strongly, and that is when
we moved here in nineteen ninety one and we're building
a house, the real estate agent said, do you want
air conditioning? And having moved here from the Midwest, I
looked a little quizzically and said a lot of people
don't have it because it cools off so much at night.
(02:27):
You would never ask that question today, And of course
that's related to climate change, and our weather has changed
so much. We used to maybe get one day of
triple digit temperatures in a summer, and right now we
average about four or five. And if we don't stop
adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, by the time
(02:49):
my grandchildren are in their forties their school kids now,
we'll be looking at twenty days of one hundred in
an average summer.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Mike, When you look back at your career, what are
some of the moments, What are some of the stories,
What are some of the forecasts that you will remember most?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Blizzard of nineteen ninety seven always comes to mind because
that was the day that the Broncos were trying to
get out of Denver to catch a plane to Buffalo,
where it was ironically sunny and sixty and I was
on the phone phoning in reports. I was on Channel
nine at the time, and I looked out through the
(03:29):
snow and across the street I could see this figure
huddled for shelter behind a big mailbox enclosure. I yelled out, Hey,
are you okay, and faintly through the snow, I hear yeah,
I'm waiting for a snowmobile. And I said who are you?
And the answer comes back, Steve Atwater. And I said, Steve,
(03:49):
it's Mike Nelson from TV. Come on in here, you
can wait. And he was waiting across our front yard.
The snow was breaking at his waist. I mean at
Water's like sixty five sixty six. And so he came
in the house and I had my kid cam that
I used for the school visits, and I took some
video of him, and the snowmobile came up and he
ran off into the snow. I took the video with
(04:11):
me to the TV station. Ron Zipolo ran it DOUN
the sports that night. It made Sports Center and way
after the Broncos had won the Super Bowl. My son
and I he was about ten at the time. It's
a hot day in the middle of the summer, and
I said, let's watch at King Super's highlight video, and
we stuck the VHS tape in the machine and lo
(04:32):
and behold in the highlight video where they show something
from each week of the season, there's about five seconds
of my video and includes the top of my son's
head standing next to the Tiva at waters. That's always
been one of our favorites.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Mike, We're gonna We're definitely gonna miss you. And I
just saw this as an aside. I've met your wife.
She's lovely, your daughter Tiana, with all the stuff she
does with CSU, my connection with her there, she's a great,
great young woman. What kind of advice would Mike Nelson
now give it to Mike Nelson thirty thirty five years ago.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Well, I do give this advice because our industries radio
and TV are changing a lot. But if somebody is
a young person that loves weather and I've loved it
since I was a little kid, and you want to
do this profession, I would say, don't let the naysayers
talk you out of it, because you know they'd say,
what are the odds of you making in a career
(05:28):
like TV or radio, especially in a big city like Denver.
Every year in professional sports there are great new rookies.
And if those kids, when they were in great school
or middle school listen to somebody saying what are the
odds of you making in professional sports, they would never
be great new rookies. So if it speaks to you,
(05:49):
if that's what your passion is, I'd still say go
for it. Yeah. Is it going to be harder, Yeah,
the industry is different. But pursue something you love and
that makes your work way more satisfying.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Great advice. Channel seven Chief Meteorologist Mike Nelson, Congratulations. You'll
be delivering your final weathercast attestation coming up on Thursday.
We'll all be watching. Thank you so much for all
your commitment to the community. We greatly appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Oh, you're very welcome. Good to talk to you this morning.
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