Meteorologist Kirk Mellish announced he is retiring after 34 years at WSB radio.
Mellish, a 59-year-old Kennesaw resident, will officially retire at the end of July. He will become a consultant and work through the end of the year. He described the move as “early retirement” in a video with WSB radio morning news anchor Scott Slade Thursday.
Christina Edwards, a 32-year-old meteorologist at WHNT-TV in Huntsville, Alabama, will take over as the station’s meteorologist. A Georgia Tech grad, she previously worked at Georgia Public Broadcasting, WSB-TV and The Weather Channel. Mellish will help her transition into her new role and do some special projects as a consultant.
Mellish, whose real last name is Melhuish, graduated Valparaiso University in Indiana in 1984 and joined WSB radio in 1987.
“It has been a blessing to turn my childhood hobby into a career,” Mellish said in a press release Thursday. “I look forward to the next chapter in my life and am excited to pass the baton, or should I say barometer, to Christina Edwards.”
The station for more than 20 years has ranked weather each day using what it calls the “Mellish Meter.”
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2010, Mellish said he couldn’t remember whose idea it was but it wasn’t his. “I had zero input, but I get to decide the number every day so that’s something,” he said at the time. “I’d have neighbors call me the Meter. ‘Hey! It’s the Meter! What’s up?’”
WSB over the years also used a tagline that became integral to Mellish’ brand: “When the weather is hellish, depend on Mellish.”
Mark Arum, a WSB talk show host and traffic reporter, said he will miss Mellish’s sense of humor as well as his work on air. “Always calm, no matter how bad the weather is, Kirk was a reassuring voice to North Georgia for over 30 years.”
Glenn Burns, chief meteorologist at Channel 2 Action News, said in a text that “Kirk has proven himself time and time again when the weather has been at its worst... I wish him all the best and congratulations on a stellar career. I know Atlanta will miss him.”
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