Longtime Philly TV weatherman Herb Clarke dies

Weatherman Herb Clarke, who worked for WCAU-TV in Philadelphia for 39 years, has died. He was 84.

According to the Broadcast Pioneers organization, Clarke’s wife Barbara said her husband died yesterday of complications from Alzheimer’s.

Clarke began work for WCAU as the “Atlantic Weatherman” in 1958. He retired in 1997, two years after the station changed affiliations from CBS to NBC. The Broadcast Pioneers’ website says he also covered health and science, was anchor of the Sunday night News for many years and was part of the team that covered the Mummers Parade.

Clarke used chalk and a blackboard at the beginning of his career. The Broadcast Pioneers says when he introduced radar to the reports in 1982, WCAU became the first station in Delaware Valley to use a computerized display.