Paul Barys has been the Chief Meteorologist on Channel 3 television here in Chattanooga since 1985. He began his career in private weather forecasting in 1974 before moving to television broadcasting in 1975. He joined Channel 3 after working in stations in Washington, North Carolina, Fort Wayne, Indiana and Cleveland, Ohio. He has a B.S. in Meteorology from Northern Illinois University, and the American Meteorological Society’s Television Seal of Approval in 1975.
The A.M.S. Seal of Approval program was established in 1957 as a means of recognizing television and radio weather forecasters who display informative, well-communicated, and scientifically sound weather broadcast presentations.
It took him a few years after starting at the station in the mid-1980s, but by the early 1990’s Paul Barys had begun to establish his reputation as the premier weather forecaster on Chattanooga television. Today, twenty years later, his name is synonymous with Chattanooga weather. He’s regularly voted the best and most trusted meteorologist in Chattanooga polls. But how much do we really know about the man who is such a presence in our lives? For me, the answer to that question was remarkably little as I first discovered when I talked to him for a short piece on Around & About in September. Many people it turned out were as curious about him as I was so I invited him back for a longer chat. This time in addition to talking about his life and career, he shared some of his favorite records.
