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<\/p>\nThe Press Democrat, Monday, April 21, 1986 1B<\/p>\n
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Photo Caption: Colonel Wingnuts at the microphone of radio station KOZT in Fort Bragg<\/p>\n
By PAT McKAY
\nCorrespondent<\/p>\n
FORT BRAGG \u2013 Can you believe a weatherman by the name of Colonel Wingnuts really is a shy guy who shuns attention? Yet he swears it’s true.
\nColonel Wingnuts: the name begs to be emblazoned in big fancy scroll on the side of a wagon in a 19th century traveling medicine show.
\n“Colonel Wingnuts” is the registered trademark of Walter J. McKeown, 43-year-old meteorologist, science writer, inventor and college teacher.
\nMcKeown chose the corny stage name when he started performing in local bands on weekends many years ago. Naturally, the former Air Force lieutenant gave himself a ”promotion” in the process.
\nSome of his neighbors on the Mendocino Coast may have forgotten his real name by now because, he is known as Colonel Wingnuts to one and all. But who could ever forget his old one-man-band act at Mendocino’s Sea Gull Cellar Bar, or that his eyes, twinkle and he laughs a lot?
\nYoung Walter’s sparkling eyes surely were destined to scan the heavens. His father was a barnstorming pilot in the Midwest, the sort who would skip from one small town to the next selling airplane rides to the adventurous.
\nThe boy, too, longed to fly. At 15 he made his first solo venture into a sudden thunderstorm. The experience only made his interest in the art of weather prediction keener.
\nMcKeown also inherited a bit of his father’s showmanship, if not his bald head. (The weatherman shaved his skull many years ago to remind himself to keep a New Year’s resolution. He kept the resolution, he says, and he also kept shaving.)
\nHe has degrees in meteorology and aerospace engineering. He was a military and civilian airlines weather officer. He has taught meteorology, astronomy, futuristics and pilot training at College of the Redwoods for 13 years.
\nMcKeown also is finishing a book about how to harness hydrogen from the weather as an alternative fuel source.
\nColonel Wingnuts says it helps to have a sense of humor in the classroom as well as oh the air because his forecasts can come back to haunt him any time.
\nHe can good naturedly put up with being wrong about the day’s weather. But he is not selling snake oil or trying to rain on anyone’s parade when he looks into the future and sees trouble coming.
\nMcKeown is one of a growing number of scientists to warn that changing global weather patterns could turn the life of the planet upside down.
\nThis sobering message will be heard more and more as scientific evidence continues to mount, he says.
\n“People should start caring about this issue like they do nuclear weapons. It can be just as deadly,” he says.
\nRedwood Empire residents can catch his daily broadcasts (KRCB-TV, KQTE-AM, and KVRE-FM, all in Santa Rosa, and KOZT-FM, Fort Bragg) to learn more about weather of the past, present and future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Press Democrat, Monday, April 21, 1986 1B Photo Caption: Colonel Wingnuts at the microphone of radio station KOZT in Fort Bragg The world of Col. Wingnuts Ex-Air Force lieutenant part showman, part meteorologist By PAT McKAY Correspondent FORT BRAGG \u2013 Can you believe a weatherman by the name of Colonel Wingnuts really is … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4,3061,6,7,10,3825,13,15,3279,17],"tags":[4881,4884,427,4876,698,4885,4879,4882,4883,4880,4878,4877],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-sergneri","4":"post-5386","6":"format-standard","7":"category-california-history","8":"category-california-newspaper-archive","9":"category-climate-change","10":"category-environment","11":"category-ethical-and-green-living","12":"category-faits-divers","13":"category-flying","14":"category-history","15":"category-politics","16":"category-science","17":"category-the-anthropocene","18":"category-thinking-about","19":"post_tag-4881","20":"post_tag-astronomy","21":"post_tag-climate-change","22":"post_tag-colonel-wingnuts","23":"post_tag-fort-bragg","24":"post_tag-futuristics","25":"post_tag-kozt","26":"post_tag-mendocino-coast","27":"post_tag-meteorology","28":"post_tag-the-press-democrat","29":"post_tag-walter-j-mckeown","30":"post_tag-weatherman"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sergneri.net\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sergneri.net\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sergneri.net\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sergneri.net\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sergneri.net\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5386"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.sergneri.net\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5407,"href":"https:\/\/www.sergneri.net\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5386\/revisions\/5407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sergneri.net\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sergneri.net\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sergneri.net\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}