"Skillful", as his late WGN-TV colleague Bob Collins called him, was consulted for the movie The Weather Man, which was set in Skilling's hometown of Chicago at a fictionalized version of WGN-TV. He has long been hailed for his in-depth reports and striking accuracy, perhaps best highlighted by his correctly predicting the Groundhog Day blizzard in 2011 almost two weeks before it paralyzed the Chicago area. His weather broadcasts have always featured the latest technology in computer imagery and animation techniques. That feature, Ask Tom, ceased in August 2022 with a redesign of the weather page. He also writes the daily weather column for the Chicago Tribune. He is currently WGN-TV's chief meteorologist and is rumored to be the highest-paid local broadcast meteorologist in the United States. Skilling returned to the Chicago area and joined WGN-TV on August 13, 1978. At WITI, he delivered his forecasts with the "help" of the station's resident sock puppet mascot, Albert the Alley Cat. In 1975 Skilling took his first major-market television position, becoming the lead forecaster at WITI-TV in Milwaukee. While attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he worked at WKOW-TV and WTSO radio, both in Madison. Skilling attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison to study meteorology and journalism. At age 18, he began working at WLXT-TV in Aurora. Skilling's forecasts were accurate, and he was hired to forecast Aurora's weather three times a day. Skilling observed that WKKD's forecasts were inaccurate because they were for Chicago and not Aurora, so he approached WKKD and offered to forecast the weather for several days, with the condition that if his forecasts were accurate he would be hired to host his own weather program. While in high school Tom began his career in broadcasting at age 14, working for WKKD and WKKD-FM. The family moved to the Chicago suburb of Aurora, Illinois, where he attended West Aurora High School. His early years were spent in Westfield, New Jersey. The oldest of four children, Tom Skilling was born at Magee Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Thomas Jr. Since 1978, he has worked as a meteorologist at WGN-TV in Chicago. Skilling III (born February 20, 1952) is an American television meteorologist.
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