Harry Wappler | TV meteorologist, 73

Harry Wappler, 73, the face of weather coverage Seattle's KIRO-TV for three decades, has died of complications from Crohn's disease.

Andy Wappler said his father passed away Wednesday at Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue, Wash., after suffering a stroke Tuesday night. He had struggled with Crohn's for years.

Known for his quick wit and ability to ad-lib on live television, Mr. Wappler considered his favorite moments to be the ones when he made people laugh.

"He was sunny, good-humored even when he was talking about another cloudy, rainy day," said Andy Wappler, who also worked as a KIRO-TV meteorologist.

Mr. Wappler was born in Park Ridge, Ill. He majored in speech and debate at Northwestern University and earned a graduate degree in theology from Yale Divinity School.

He became an ordained Episcopal minister and directed parishes in Jacksonville, Fla. and Wilmette, Ill. He had entered the ministry to follow his brother but eventually decided it wasn't the right fit, Andy Wappler said.

After reading a magazine article about Seattle in 1968, Mr. Wappler decided to move his wife and two children to the city. He quickly landed at KIRO in 1969 as an editorial writer. Four months into that stint, the station's general manager told him, "You look like a weather man."- AP