Paul Douglas (meteorologist)

Paul Douglas (born June 12, 1958; real name Douglas Paul Kruhoeffer) is a meteorologist, author, entrepreneur, and software expert in Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minnesota. Paul Douglas is a nationally-respected meteorologist with 32 years of broadcast television and 36 years of radio experience.

During his first radio job in high school, the General Manager of WHEX-AM in Columbia, Pennsylvania, interviewed him on the phone and asked him what his name was. When he told him “Doug Kruhoeffer” there was a long pause. He said, "Our DJs can’t even say their own names. What’s your middle name?” Douglas told him “Paul”. He said, "Okay, from today on, if you want to collect a check for $25/week, your on-air name is Paul Douglas." This was 1975, and once I started using the Paul Douglas name on WHEX it, was hard to switch back.

Douglas had a consulting company called Total Weather when he was at Penn State working for WNEP-TV from 1976-1982, about a dozen radio stations, and a construction company. He resurrected Total Weather in Minnesota during his KARE 11 days in Minneapolis from 1985 to 1992. In addition to being on WLOL (with Hines and Bergland and Roger too!), he did morning radio spots with Steve Cochran at KDWB and provided weather forecasts for M.A. Mortenson, the construction company that put up the Mall of America. During his WCCO-TV days, he also did radio for WCCO-AM and WLTE-FM during afternoon drive.

Douglas graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Meteorology from the Pennsylvania State University in 1980. While a senior at Penn State University, he broadcast the weekend weather for WNEP-TV in Wilkes Barre/Scranton - where he was promoted to the weekday position in 1980.

In 1982-1983 he worked at Satellite News Channel in Stamford, CT, delivering 21 national weather shows daily. He was also tapped for appearances with Ted Koppel on ABC News Nightline.

From 1983 to 1994, Douglas was employed by KARE-TV in Minneapolis, MN. While there, he began a daily weather column in the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper. He authored a book, "Prairie Skies; The Minnesota Weather Book", and taught a broadcast meteorology class at the Saint Cloud State University in 1992-93. His most recent weather-related book, "Restless Skies; The Ultimate Weather Book", was released nationwide by Barnes and Noble in late 2004. It's now coming out of its second printing with Sterling Publishing.

In 1989, Douglas founded a software venture called EarthWatch Communications. Hundreds of television stations in the United States and 20 other countries licensed EarthWatch’s three-dimensional weather graphics technology. In addition to applications for television, Steven Spielberg employed the special 3D effects in the movies "Jurassic Park" and "Twister".

From 1994 to 1997, Douglas worked at WBBM-TV in Chicago, where he made occasional appearances on the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather.

Douglas received a Seal of Approval from the AMS, The American Meteorological Society. In 2005, he passed a rigorous exam to become Minnesota’s first CBM, or Certified Broadcast Meteorologist, recognized by the AMS in Boston. He served as Chief Meteorologist for WCCO-TV in the Twin Cities from 1997 to 2008.

He worked at WCCO-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota from December 1997 until he was laid off in April 2008 as part of nationwide cutbacks by CBS. He was previously employed by WBBM-TV in Chicago from 1994 to 1997 and KARE in Golden Valley, Minnesota from 1983 to 1994. He currently leads a number of companies that he founded or co-founded, including WeatherNation (as CEO), Broadcast Weather (as CEO) and Smart Energy (as President). Douglas regularly writes and speaks about global warming and is critical of those who say that it is not occurring or is not caused by human actions.

Douglas wrote a daily weather column for the Star Tribune from 1997 until his replacement by the WCCO-TV weather team in February 2009. He provided forecasts for three local radio stations. He remains a reporter for the Twin Cities Public Television show Almanac.

Douglas received a B.S. in Meteorology from Pennsylvania State University in 1980.

He founded EarthWatch Communications in 1990, which created weather visualizations for the films Jurassic Park and Twister. He made a cameo appearance in a weather center scene in the latter. He also co-founded Digital Cyclone in 1998. The company creates weather applications and supplies content for wireless devices under the My-Cast brand name. Douglas sold Digital Cyclone to Garmin in 2007 for $45 million.

Douglas has authored two books, Prairie Skies (1991) and Restless Skies (2004).

He makes monthly appearances on Twin Cities Public Television’s Almanac program where he discusses current weather trends and issues. He currently provides daily weather reports (print, video, and web) for the Star Tribune, additional daily blogs for the St. Cloud Times, Conservation Minnesota, and his company WeatherNation.

In 1998, Douglas founded Digital Cyclone, Inc (DCI), which personalized the weather forecasting experience for consumers on the web, e-mail, and cell phones. His goal is to create personal weather channels for every consumer on a new generation of data-enabled cell phones. The service, Mobile My-Cast, is currently available on iTunes and Android platforms, enabling consumers to see location-based weather alerts and hourly weather reports and even see custom weather graphics, including Doppler radar, lightning, and severe storm tracking on cell phones, making the weather experience unique for every user. In January 2007, Douglas sold DCI to Garmin, Inc, the leader in global navigation systems, for $45 million. There were over 100 local Minnesota investors in Digital Cyclone.

In 2007, he co-founded SingularLogic LLC, a patent holding company, and founded WeatherNation LLC and NoozMe LLC, which hope to capitalize on SingularLogic's patents.

In 2009, the St. Cloud Times took him on as the head of their meteorological team and Conservation Minnesota partnered with him to create MNWeatherCenter, a hub for Minnesota weather.

In 2010, the Star Tribune rehired him as a weather blogger.

In the summer of 2011 a new, national weather channel, WeatherNation was launched, with offices and studios in Denver and Minneapolis. A separate subsidiary, Ham Weather, provides custom data and graphics services to nearly 1,000 websites nationwide.

Alerts Broadcaster is an alerting service for weather-sensitive companies as diverse as Wells Fargo, Sprint, and Home Depot. Polaris, among others cutting-edge companies, is tapping Ham Weather’s new generation of location-specific apps, tying in with social media to enhance consumer engagement and satisfaction. '

Douglas is also co-founder of Singular Logic, a separate technology and patent-holding company, attempting to reinvent advertising by allowing consumers to choose the categories of ads they have to watch on their PCs, TV sets, cable systems, and mobile apps.

A third company, Smart Energy, is focused on fine-tuning forecasts for wind farms, utilities, and energy traders, with optimization algorithms extending into the HVAC and irrigation markets. Teaming with La Cross Technology, an additional company, Data Direct, launched in 2012, provides data and support for a new generation of consumer and corporate weather sensors deployed to maximize efficiencies, save money, and personalize alerting services.

Born in 1958, Douglas became interested in weather and public service at a young age. After suffering through a devastating tropical storm (Agnes) in 1972, which flooded much of his hometown of Lancaster, PA, he developed a network of flood gauges, which were monitored by ham radio operators during flash flood situations.

At the age of 16, he became Weather Officer for Lancaster Country Civil Defense. An Eagle Scout, Douglas still teaches weather and astronomy merit badge to fellow scouts. He’s actively involved with the Northern Star Council of the Boy Scouts and a former board member for the Minnesota Planetarium Society, as well as Smartkey Corporation, which has created a revolutionary device for vehicles that may someday make DUIs a thing of the past.

He is also the spokesperson and public face of SAVE, Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, a non-profit company based in Bloomington, which counsels people suffering from depression, educates the public about warning signs, and helps to identify at-risk people nationwide.

Douglas continues to volunteer his time for school talks, charitable fundraisers, and speaking engagements on such topics as his entrepreneurial career, tornado chasing, and climate change. He serves on the Climate Science Rapid Response Team (CSRRT), providing meteorological input along with 130+ climate scientists delivering highly accurate science information to media and government representatives.

His wife of 28 years, Laurie, is a professional architect. They have two boys: Walt graduated from Penn State and is a budding musician. Brett will graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2012 and fly fixed wing jets or helicopters for the Navy.

Douglas and his wife live in the Excelsior, MN, area. His offices are in nearby Shorewood. Alerts Broadcaster is an alerting service for weather-sensitive companies as diverse as Wells Fargo, Sprint, and Home Depot. Polaris, among others cutting-edge companies, is tapping Ham Weather’s new generation of location-specific apps, tying in with social media to enhance consumer engagement and satisfaction.

External links

• Article about Douglas's stormy arrival at the StarTribune
• Paul Douglas Bio at National Science Teachers Association PDF