Tonight's Hall of Fame Episode pays tribute to the legendary late broadcast meteorologist and industry pioneer Gary England, who passed away on June 10th 2025. He was 85 years old. We have three Guest WeatherBrains tonight to help us honor Gary England, who was a pioneer and a trailblazer in the field of meteorology. Our first two Guest WeatherBrains appeared on Episode No. 946.

First up is David Payne, who is the Chief Meteorologist of KWTV Channel 9 in Oklahoma City. He replaced Gary England when he retired in mid-2013. He is a native Oklahoman and an OU graduate and previously he spent 19 years at KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City.

Appearing second on the show is the morning broadcast meteorologist at News Channel 9 in OKC. She's an OU graduate and has been at News Channel 9 since 2011. She previously interned with Gary England for several years while she was a student at OU. Lacey Swope, it's great to see you again.

Last but certainly not least, we introduce Barbara Merckx, who is now the News Director for OU Nightly at the OU Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. She previously worked with our very own James Aydelott at NBC 5 in Fort Worth, TX. Thanks for joining us tonight, Barbara!

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: [email protected].

• Lacey's experience with meeting and working with Gary England (10:30)
• Experiences working with Gary (25:00)
• Gary-isms (48:30)
• Looking back at 2013 El Reno, OK tornado (50:00)
• Importance of building rapport with the public as a broadcast meteorologist (01:14:00)
• Gary England paving the way for future generations (01:28:30)
• Warning process during devastating Texas floods (01:34:30)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:29:45)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:31:00)
• E-Mail Segment (01:32:00)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 1018:

David Payne on X

OU Nightly on YouTube

Meteorologist Lacey Swope on Facebook

Picks of the Week:

David Payne - Drummond charges Oklahoma City man for damaging TV station's weather radar

Barbara Merckx - Willie Gillespie on LinkedIn

James Aydelott - "Those Terrible Twisters And The Weather Of Oklahoma" by Gary England

Jen Narramore - Guin, AL F5 Tornado Series

Rick Smith - Oral history interview with Gary England: Oklahoma Mesonet YouTube

Troy Kimmel - Foghorn

Kim Klockow-McClain - Senate Report

Kim Klockow-McClain - House Report

John Gordon - HDSC World Record Point Precipitation Measurements

Bill Murray - Foghorn

James Spann - NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Troy Kimmel, Bill Murray, Rick Smith, James Aydelott, Jen Narramore, John Gordon, and Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating podcast about weather.