The Weather May Be Frightful, But Pete Bouchard Is Delightful

I have been a big fan of Pete Bouchard since Channel 7’s chief meteorologist was the aptly-named Todd Gross. My love for Bouchard started by reading his “weather blog” on the station’s website. Any guy who can work references to classic rock or obscure movies into a weather forecast is a man to be admired.

Since WHDH unceremoniously dumped Gross back in 2005, and went with Bouchard, I haven’t kept up with Pete’s writeups like I did in the past. But the channel called in the chief for today’s snowstorm, so we have the rare privilege of a workday Bouchard writeup.

The web team at WHDH isn’t really clear on the definition of “blog,” since the entries are always deleted when the next forecast is posted. But this was the writeup Bouchard posted as of 10 a.m.

Storm time table has been moved up! Everything’s moving faster than I thought last night. These things happen with snowstorms, so don’t get up in my grill about it. First flakes fall early this morning, and last flakes fly around midnight.

That’s pretty ballsy talk from a man who’s predicting 5-9 inches of snow in a region that is already sick of winter, especially when you consider that he’s received death threats in the past. Bravery is just one of Bouchard’s charms. He’s also optimistic.

By Saturday morning, it’ll be gone like that satellite they shot out of the sky. Sun will follow, and by Sunday you’ll be ready to

“Shake and bake!”

Hey, we loved Talladega Nights too!

The humor in the forecasts almost makes us forget that we’re going to have yet another evening commute that’s hindered by snow. WBZ blandly calls for 6″-9″ around Boston. FOX 25 doesn’t even use words on its website. While we’re still cranky about shoveling snow, Bouchard’s good humor mellows us out.