Alan Wilkie (weather presenter)

Alan Wilkie
Born	(1928-07-23) July 23, 1928 Childers, Queensland, Australia
Died	July 10, 2023(2023-07-10) (aged 94)
Occupation(s)	Meteorologist, television weather presenter
Years active	1950–2001
Known for	First television weather presenter in Australia; long tenure at Nine Network

Alan Douglas Wilkie (23 July 1928 – 10 July 2023) was a trailblazing Australian meteorologist and a pioneering figure in radio and television weather broadcasting.

Wilkie holds the distinction of being the first television weather presenter in Australia, debuting during the initial week of the ABC's Sydney launch. He later moved into commercial television with the Seven Network before embarking on a 25-year tenure as a weather forecaster based in Sydney at the Nine Network, where he worked alongside news anchor Brian Henderson.

Together with his brother Ray Wilkie and peers such as Mike Bailey, Wilkie represented an era when TV weather broadcasters were qualified meteorologists who presented forecasts using technical equipment like weather charts, markers, magnets, and pointers.

Early life

Born on 23 July 1928 to William Wilkie and Daisy Isobel Lewis, Wilkie was raised in Childers, Queensland, where his father was employed at the nearby Isis Central sugar mill.

Beginning in 1943, he attended Maryborough Boys State High School. Initially aiming for a teaching career, Wilkie later earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Queensland and completed postgraduate studies in meteorology at Melbourne University.

Career

Wilkie commenced his career with the Bureau of Meteorology in 1950, working at locations including Sydney, Melbourne, and Woomera. When ABC TV launched its Sydney station ABN-2 in 1956, the bureau encouraged him to audition as a television weather presenter.

After three years at ABC, Wilkie left to take up a role as quality controller at Rheem. He returned to TV in 1968 upon responding to an advertisement by the Seven Network seeking a new weather presenter for Sydney’s ATN-7 evening news.

Besides delivering weather forecasts on the station’s primary evening bulletin, Wilkie also appeared on Sydney Today, a breakfast program launched in 1969 that became nationally broadcast as Today from 1971. Additionally, he provided weather updates for radio outlets such as 2SM.

In 1977, Wilkie joined the Nine Network's Sydney station TCN-9, where he presented nightly weather reports on National Nine News. Despite attempts by Seven to retain him, he remained with Nine until his retirement in 2001.

After Wilkie’s departure, the Nine Network opted not to appoint a dedicated weather presenter; instead, newsreader Brian Henderson incorporated weather updates into the news desk presentation.

Personal life and death

At age 16, Wilkie experienced the loss of his mother, Daisy Wilkie, who passed away in Maryborough in 1945 at age 45.

His elder brother, Ray Wilkie OAM, also a meteorologist and television weather broadcaster known for his work at Network 10’s Brisbane station, died on 18 May 2023.

Wilkie announced his engagement to Virginia Anderson in August 1960; they married on 30 November 1960 at St Philip's Church, Sydney. The couple purchased a residence in Killara in 1961 and lived there until placing it on the market in 1992. They later divorced, and Virginia passed away at age 75 on 5 May 2015.

Alan Wilkie died on 10 July 2023, shortly before turning 95 and less than two months after his brother’s passing.