![]() John Bridges, another KPLC legend, interviewed Rob a few years ago but his passion for the weather. New cover of ‘Hearts across the Water’ ebook. Yes, that’s our favorite Southwest Louisiana weatherman, Lyle… oops, I mean Rob Robin. Art Bell may or may not have known it, but he was interviewing a true weather legend. So Lyle Whitlake’s eloquent explanation of the mechanics and physics of Katrina was no surprise as I listened for the next hour to The Art Bell Show. It was like Christmas morning for Rob, I mean Lyle. My wife DeDe always loves to tell the story of once when a bad spring storm was approaching and Rob said, “Folks it’s going to be bad, and I’m going to be up to tell you all about it.” He now has a studio/weather station in his own home. When owner Russell Chambers sold KPLC TV, Rob left television but continued his weather reporting on the radio. His whole life was tied up in the weather. (He continued that storm chasing he’d picked up in the Air Force). We’d always heard that he took his vacations to go chase tornadoes in Kansas. ![]() Rob is famous for once excitedly pointing at his weather map as he told of an approaching cold front, “Now we’ll have to watch this cold mare’s ass coming out of Canada.” For him to get words tangled up was not uncommon. His long straight hair and odd-looking face and body were not made for TV, but it was evident that here was a man who ate, slept, and reported the weather.Įarly in his career, Rob would get very excited about impending weather systems. He quickly achieved a cult-like following. Rob Robin began his weather career in Lake Charles with KPLC-TV. I’ve grown up in an area where people still say, “But Rob said…” To think that his real name was not Rob Robin shocked me just as if I’d found out I had a brother or sister I’d never met. uh Rob Robin?”Īll of a sudden I realize that this Lyle Whitlake is really Rob Robin, Southwest Louisiana’s most famous and trusted weatherman for the past thirty years. Are you being affected by the storm?”Īs Lyle explains that not even rain is predicted for western Louisiana I’m much more curious.Īrt Bell introduced him as “a Lake Charles weatherman” yet I’ve never heard of him.įinally Art asks, “Now, Lyle my understanding is that you don’t go by your real name as a weatherman. He explains about collapsing eye walls and gives a thorough but understandable explanation of what we can expect in the next few hours from Katrina.Īfter the next station break Art returns to his conversation with Lyle, “Now Lyle you live and work in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Lyle Whitlake eloquently explains to Art Bell and listeners everywhere about the role of temperature of Gulf water in strengthening hurricanes. Lyle’s voice sounds familiar but I can’t seem to place him. He converses clearly and excitedly as they relive their storm chasing days. It is obvious Lyle Whitlake knows about the weather. Sure enough Art’s tornado chasing buddy joins him on the air via telephone. Our goal was to capture them on film and sell the video footage to local TV stations.” “My friend Lyle Whitlake and I would chase tornadoes during the spring. Art Bell intones in his radio voice, “After the next station break, I’m going to try to get hold of one of my old Air Force buddies who is a weatherman.”Īfter the promised break, Art returns to tell about his friend from their Air Force days in Wichita Falls, Texas. ![]() He is broadcasting from “high in the Nevada desert” but tonight’s show is centered on the approach of Katrina to New Orleans. I finally settle on the late night call-in show of radio commentator Art Bell. One forecaster predicts the possibility that we could “lose a major American city if this storm hits New Orleans head on.” I shake my head in disgust at this overreaction never dreaming that thirty hours later we will see it nearly begin to take place. Others give dire predictions from hundreds of miles in the sterile safety of a weather station full of gauges, maps, and screens. There is a tension in their voices you can sense even through the radio. Some are in the midst of the storm determined to be there for all of it. The announcers are talking to all kinds of experts on hurricanes. I am glued to the all night radio as they give reports from Biloxi, Gulfport, Houma, and New Orleans. Katrina is scheduled to make landfall after daylight somewhere to the south of New Orleans. It seems as if all of Louisiana is heading west to escape Katrina. The westbound lanes of Interstate 10 are full of vehicles slowly crawling toward Houston. It’s 2:30 am and I’m driving from the Houston airport east toward my Louisiana home. Chapter 17 : Lyle Whitlake August 29, 2005 We’re sharing excerpts from Hearts across the Water, a personal memoir written during 2005. It’s the 10th anniversary of the Louisiana hurricanes.
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