Joe Bastardi Departs AccuWeather 2/21/11, Forecaster had 'Distinguished 32 Year Career' Options

[mr freeze]

I am extremely devestated to hear this news. I 've been following him since the mid 1980's when he would give the weather on 1010 Wins radio. And lately I have been so into his predictions of global cooling over the next 20-30 years. Of course Joe is free to do what he wants but I think it is only fair that everyone deserves an explanation as to the reasoning behind this. It would also be nice to know where he will be forecasting in the future so his fans can follow in addition to accuweather. I love accuweather and appreciate all the blogs and headlines which are always packed full of information. And I also thoroughly enjoy these forums, especially during approaching storms. I have learned very much from it all. Still, I am severely disappointed to hear about no more Joe Bastardi at accuweather. Real disappointed!!!! This blows!!!!!

[jack]

Bastardi is a proud hard nosed induividual. Evidently Acuuweather has caved in to some of the badgering from George Soros sponsored groups like 'Climate Progress" and other quasi communist climate groups that verbally threaten anyone or any buisness that try and stand in the way of the global warming farse and more importantly Obmas/General Electric-Goldman Sachs cap and trade machine from being implemented. Another example of the liberal machine trying to flex their muscles while their buffon is still in the White House . Because once he out in 2012 -their done -and that bothering the heck out of all them, especailly after what just happened to the U.S congress this past Novemeber. Its pathetic decision not to stand by this guy and cave in to the liberal gloabl warming agenda.

[stretchct]

Wow - tough news. I signed up for pro for his personality and teaching. Learned a lot over the past 5 years. No other met I've seen that has such enthusiasm for teaching during his blogs or videos. I'm regretting not having kept notes on some of the more obscure ideas he discussed. Most recently the 10mb analysis, but a few others like Cahirs connection, "trough east/west of Hawaii", what the water temp pattern in the atlantic looks like for a neg NAO are just a few others that come to mind. And while he wasn't always right, when he was able to explain his errors, you learned from his mistakes.

I noticed he had mentioned in the long ranger today something about going to FL for a while, pointing to the MIA area on the map, with his family. Not sure if its related or just a quick vacation plan.

I gotta say I have to consider canceling the pro subscription. I'd only use it for the winter months without JB's comments on the tropics.

I wish him well and will miss him. His strong devotion to whatever his new path is will surely bring him success.

[mr freeze]

Total nonsense that Bastardi would just leave on his own or withoput notice. Totally out of character and quite frankly the ONLY man to ask is Elliot Abrams. Needless to say Accuweather either did not meet his wishes in some way($$$) or someone got a bug up there you know what about him for something -and it resulted in his sudden resignation and/or termination. Thats unfortunate, because if that is the case Accuweather has gone down the the road of the weather Channel and NWS and copped out of honest no/bs weather forecasting.

Agreed! Something definitely happened! If you watch the video on the free site of the global sea ice that he did this morning, there were several subtle hints he blurted out. Early on in the video, when referring to the graphs, he says something along the lines that "it won't matter after today". Also, later in the video, he mentions that a lot of people don't like him showing the graphs. Now its obviously all speculation at this point because we really don't know for sure yet but my gut feeling is that something has been brewing for some time and it finally came to a head. Just my opinion. It just happened so we don't have the facts yet but I believe we will hear some more info on this over the coming days and weeks. Joe would want his fans to be able to follow him wherever he goes. He may have left accuweather but he would never walk away from the weather. He's way to into it for that to happen. Eventually, more detailed info will surface on this. Hopefully sooner than later!

[SeaBassMD]

Part of Joe's Sunday post..

"Okay thats it for now. To answer the question Why am I in Reading, pa? Jessie is having a gymnastics meet. She is moving to beam now. Because I had my head down working, I missed her vault. That stinks. I can remember my parents sitting there in the cold watching me sit the bench in football, and here I am putting work in front of little girl. I came all the way to Reading, have been working since 6 am( except for the drive down) to prepare for tomorrow, and then I miss her vault.

No matter how far I go in this field, and no matter how hard I try, I dont know if I will ever measure up to being the parents I have.

ciao for now "

[jdrenken]

Part of Joe's Sunday post..

"Okay thats it for now. To answer the question Why am I in Reading, pa? Jessie is having a gymnastics meet. She is moving to beam now. Because I had my head down working, I missed her vault. That stinks. I can remember my parents sitting there in the cold watching me sit the bench in football, and here I am putting work in front of little girl. I came all the way to Reading, have been working since 6 am( except for the drive down) to prepare for tomorrow, and then I miss her vault.

No matter how far I go in this field, and no matter how hard I try, I dont know if I will ever measure up to being the parents I have.

ciao for now "

As a father of 4 girls...I'd be more inclined that his family calling was more important then the conspiracies floating around.

[mr freeze]

Part of Joe's Sunday post..

"Okay thats it for now. To answer the question Why am I in Reading, pa? Jessie is having a gymnastics meet. She is moving to beam now. Because I had my head down working, I missed her vault. That stinks. I can remember my parents sitting there in the cold watching me sit the bench in football, and here I am putting work in front of little girl. I came all the way to Reading, have been working since 6 am( except for the drive down) to prepare for tomorrow, and then I miss her vault.

No matter how far I go in this field, and no matter how hard I try, I dont know if I will ever measure up to being the parents I have.

ciao for now "

Would it be such a terrible thing for Joe to do a final video announcing his departure from Accuweather? Probably not if it were purely a decision to spend more time with the family and retire. But one could not expect such a video if it ended on bad terms weather he resigned or was terminated. That reasoning along with the subtle hints he gave in his free site video such as "this will sort of be ending after today" as well as his constant mentions about how he got in trouble or how people are mad at him for posting certain graphs and charts. I had the honor of meeting Mr. Bastardi at a seminar in Manhattan, NYC in the Fall of 2007. If he had one now, I am sure there would be loads of people from these forums attending and meeting each other. A brilliant meteorologist. And one that will have the last laugh in 30 years when the globe has cooled as he predicts. I can only hope that we find out how we can continue to follow this genius wherever he lands!

[meridionaljet]

This depresses me as well. I have been following Joe since I was 9 years old, and words cannot describe how much I have learned from him. He is one of the most brilliant meteorologists alive today. I hope he continues his work elsewhere in some fashion. He will be greatly missed.

[RobB]

Bastardi is a proud hard nosed induividual. Evidently Acuuweather has caved in to some of the badgering from George Soros sponsored groups like 'Climate Progress" and other quasi communist climate groups that verbally threaten anyone or any buisness that try and stand in the way of the global warming farse and more importantly Obmas/General Electric-Goldman Sachs cap and trade machine from being implemented. Another example of the liberal machine trying to flex their muscles while their buffon is still in the White House . Because once he out in 2012 -their done -and that bothering the heck out of all them, especailly after what just happened to the U.S congress this past Novemeber. Its pathetic decision not to stand by this guy and cave in to the liberal gloabl warming agenda.

Funny stuff

[RobB]

As a father of 4 girls...I'd be more inclined that his family calling was more important then the conspiracies floating around.

3 girls here...And yes I agree with your statement..

[snowguy716]

A shame, to be sure. Besides my skepticism of global warming, there's probably not one political issue I agree with Joe on... but his long range forecasting was spot on. I've always looked forward to his videos because of that.
I've been a pro subscriber since about 2002 or so (with some vacations now and then) and he certainly has been the centerpiece of it all. The model information is great... but Joe has a way of tying it together in a "the sum is greater than its parts" kind of way.

As others have mentioned, I will continue to subscribe to see how things go. Henry is also one of my favorites at Accuweather. He's got a few tricks up his sleeve as well and is no doubt the best replacement for JB, in my opinion.

Wherever Joe ends up, I wish him and his the best. I also wish Henry the best as he has some very big shoes to fill! (Though I doubt I shall be disappointed).

Still... a reduction in the subscription price wouldn't be a bad idea Maybe back to $19.95/month, even for 6 months or something? That would definitely sweeten the pot and I'd definitely stick around for that price!

[PSUweatherman]

Would it be such a terrible thing for Joe to do a final video announcing his departure from Accuweather? Probably not if it were purely a decision to spend more time with the family and retire. But one could not expect such a video if it ended on bad terms weather he resigned or was terminated. That reasoning along with the subtle hints he gave in his free site video such as "this will sort of be ending after today" as well as his constant mentions about how he got in trouble or how people are mad at him for posting certain graphs and charts. I had the honor of meeting Mr. Bastardi at a seminar in Manhattan, NYC in the Fall of 2007. If he had one now, I am sure there would be loads of people from these forums attending and meeting each other. A brilliant meteorologist. And one that will have the last laugh in 30 years when the globe has cooled as he predicts. I can only hope that we find out how we can continue to follow this genius wherever he lands!

I just watched the every video from today and noticed those things also you mentioned. Hopefully he has decided not to quit forecasting all together.

[snowguy716]

Now that I watched the free site video from JB, it has become clear that he got slapped by somebody who didn't like his politics. I really doubt it was down to "he just needed to move on"... it sounds like somebody was trying to silence him. Anybody higher up at Accuweather should know that Joe isn't the type of person who can be silenced or forced to present things in any way except his own way. In that respect, he is an independent minded person. I'd like to know who slapped him on the wrist and what the reasoning was for it and whether it will have been worth losing a 32 veteran of the company over it. I'd hope that person was packing his/her desk tonight as well.

It was obvious that Joe was upset in the video... and while it would be neat and nice to say "he left of his own accord"... that doesn't seem to be the case.

Joe was not a political beast. He made his politics known almost in disclaimer form and never attacked anybody. I say that as somebody who holds largely the opposite political beliefs. The guy loves weather... and weather nowadays has been politicized by both the right and the left and it's impossible not to get caught up in it.

As I already said, I hope he does well wherever he moves to. You can't say "Accuweather made Joe Bastardi" without also saying "Joe Bastardi made Accuweather".

[mr freeze]

Now that I watched the free site video from JB, it has become clear that he got slapped by somebody who didn't like his politics. I really doubt it was down to "he just needed to move on"... it sounds like somebody was trying to silence him. Anybody higher up at Accuweather should know that Joe isn't the type of person who can be silenced or forced to present things in any way except his own way. In that respect, he is an independent minded person. I'd like to know who slapped him on the wrist and what the reasoning was for it and whether it will have been worth losing a 32 veteran of the company over it. I'd hope that person was packing his/her desk tonight as well.

It was obvious that Joe was upset in the video... and while it would be neat and nice to say "he left of his own accord"... that doesn't seem to be the case.

Joe was not a political beast. He made his politics known almost in disclaimer form and never attacked anybody. I say that as somebody who holds largely the opposite political beliefs. The guy loves weather... and weather nowadays has been politicized by both the right and the left and it's impossible not to get caught up in it.

As I already said, I hope he does well wherever he moves to. You can't say "Accuweather made Joe Bastardi" without also saying "Joe Bastardi made Accuweather".

Exactly! This is what I was saying about the free site video. I hadn't even saw the video until after I saw the shocking announcement that he was gone. But yes, he was definitely *bleep*ed off internally during that 4 minute video. I strongly recommend that anyone who has yet to watch that video to please do so and you will see exactly why Bastardi got a raw deal. With all the AGW's of the world, he proudly would always stick to his guns about believing the opposite. And yes, he was quite vocal at times while displaying those beliefs but he always backed up his thoughts and ideas with solid objective data. We won't know if he was right for 20-30 years but if he does wind up being correct on his predictions, he will have the last laugh! That's for sure! FWIW, I think he is on to something with his ideas! I only hope to be able to follow him from this point on as I have for many many years now! I doubt accuweather will announce where he winds up if they even know or find out in fear of losing potential site traffic to him. We'll likely have to track him down on our own. I still love accuweather but I am determined to track Joe down to follow his weather ideas. This is a real bitter pill to swallow tonight!

[yankeepilot]

After 32 years, I just doubt he would quit without any warning at all...He probably wasn't fired either....He probably was offered what he considered a better opportunity, decided to accept it, then told Accuweather (who probably tried to change his mind)...When that failed, they told him to leave IMMEDIATELY!!....He'll eventually show up at a competitor in some category....This is all just my opinion...

I like Accuweather!...Have even visited the facility in State College...Its full of wonderful and gifted people...However, that being said, I don't believe you can replace a personality like JB...He was gifted, humorous, and to me....He was the main reason I subscribe to the pro site....It will not be the same without him!!

[blizzard200]

I like him too global warming is not coming he new that and some people dont like that . I never support global warming more people across usa dont support it either.

[snofan]

Above is our official announcement. I will be glad to answer any (reasonable) questions here. Joe was a great guy and I was honored to work with him for 14 years.

This is really tough news for me to hear. I remember living in Philly and listening to JB on KYW news radio way back in the early 90's. Moving up here to Vermont I continued to follow his long range weather on the pro-site. This is just devastating news to hear.

I wish Joe all the best luck and happiness in the world. There will be no way to replace Joe. Big loss for AccuWeather and for all of us.

I also wish AccuWeather the best of luck moving forward from here. I know things won't be the same, but AccuWeather will continue to shine as the world leader in the news of weather!!

Dave Claghorn
Jericho, VT

[snowguy716]

I'd like to echo Snofan's comments about Accuweather. Despite the loss of Bastardi, Accuweather continues to be my favorite source for weather information. Your blog team setup is a great, easy way to get into the pithy details of the weather.

Overall, I've been glad that Accuweather hasn't gone the route of "Weathertainment" like The Weather Channel.

[TJ Schulte]

I feel bad for accuweather. I mean him leaving is like Peyton Manning leaving the Colts rite now. He's gotta be moving on to something else soon

[Caleb]

There are a lot of good things about Accuweather, but the sole great thing was Mr. Bastardi. He was why it was worth it to pay. I'll hang around a bit, but I have a sense it will not be the same. And, because the bad economy has me looking about for ways to save a little money, Accuweather may well get the ax.

I would like to hear his side of things. It is upsetting to have him vanish without even a good-bye.