Chief Meteorologist Emeritus Glenn Burns enters Atlanta Press Club Hall of Fame

Chief Meteorologist Emeritus Glenn Burns is entering the Atlanta Press Club Hall of Fame on Thursday night.

The honor comes after decades of keeping you and your family safe before and during severe weather.

While Burns retired four years ago, his love for meteorology runs deep.

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Burns’ fascination with and respect of weather came as a teen.

“All of a sudden the lightning bolt hit right next to me, blew me over with a shockwave and my skin was tingling. I couldn’t hear,” he recalled.

From that moment on, Burns was determined to learn all he could about weather. After college, Burns worked at television stations in Florida and Minnesota before the start of his 40-year career at WSB-TV.

He and his family arrived during Snow Jam ‘82.

“I said, this is never going to happen again on my watch,” he said.

Burns was promoted to chief meteorologist about a year later. The biggest moment of his career? The Blizzard of 1993, the storm of the century.

“I said, based on what I’m seeing here, I know the other stations are saying a couple of inches I’m going 20, 30 inches of snow is not out of the question.”

And Burns was right.

Severe Weather Team 2 are committed to getting it right and most importantly, keeping people safe: The 2000 Atlanta Super Bowl ice storm, 2013 Adairsville tornado, Snow Jam 2014 and the Newnan tornado in 2021.

Burns and Severe Weather Team 2 were there to guide north Georgians through all of it.

“In severe weather situations, people trust him and he has saved countless lives,” WSB-TV general manager Marian Pittman said.

Burns retired from WSB in Nov. 2022, passing the torch to Chief Meteorologist Brad Nitz.

But he is still part of the team as chief meteorologist emeritus, most recently warning viewers about the potential of Hurricane Isaias.

“You get you get invited into people’s homes and that trust has earned it. And I don’t take that for granted. I mean, that is an honor,” Burns said.

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