Tom Jolls (born August 16, 1933) is a retired television personality
best known for his 34-year tenure at WKBW-TV in Buffalo, New York. At
WKBW, Jolls hosted "The Weather Outside" segments during Eyewitness
News, performed many of the station's voiceovers, and served as
children's host Commander Tom.Tom Jolls was born in Newfane, New York.
Jolls grew up in Lockport, New York, where he worked at WUSJ from 1951
to 1962. He moved to Buffalo, working for WBEN (AM)/TV, and in 1965
was effectively traded to WKBW-TV in exchange for Stan Barron; at
WKBW, Jolls become the station's evening news weatherman. Before the
end of the year, he was also hosting The Superman Showâ€"interstitial
segments featuring Jolls as Captain Tom, later Commander Tom, which
aired around broadcasts of Adventures of Superman. The program evolved
into The Commander Tom Show and would be on the air in various formats
for 26 years.Jolls, along with news anchor Irv Weinstein and sports
anchor Rick Azar, were a nighttime fixture on WKBW. As host of "The
Weather Outside," Jolls would stand out in the elements to report on
weather conditions, and seeing him shivering or struggling to keep
balance in gusty winds became common. Another one of Jolls's
trademarks was his "Weather Word," a summation of the weather forecast
in one word (a particular favorite of Jolls was salubrious, for
beautiful weather), as well as ending his temperature listing by
reminding us that it was "...and cooler by the lake!" He also
maintained a weather stick as a forecasting aid; it was eventually
broken apart by vandals.Jolls never earned any certification in
meteorology; he believed that the art of weather forecasting was
simple enough that it did not require advanced meteorological
training. (In attempting to convince Mike Randall, then a feature
reporter, to get into weather forecasting, Jolls said "Weather is so
easy, High pressure is nice weather, low pressure is bad weather.") He
also maintained a subscription to Accuweather.
best known for his 34-year tenure at WKBW-TV in Buffalo, New York. At
WKBW, Jolls hosted "The Weather Outside" segments during Eyewitness
News, performed many of the station's voiceovers, and served as
children's host Commander Tom.Tom Jolls was born in Newfane, New York.
Jolls grew up in Lockport, New York, where he worked at WUSJ from 1951
to 1962. He moved to Buffalo, working for WBEN (AM)/TV, and in 1965
was effectively traded to WKBW-TV in exchange for Stan Barron; at
WKBW, Jolls become the station's evening news weatherman. Before the
end of the year, he was also hosting The Superman Showâ€"interstitial
segments featuring Jolls as Captain Tom, later Commander Tom, which
aired around broadcasts of Adventures of Superman. The program evolved
into The Commander Tom Show and would be on the air in various formats
for 26 years.Jolls, along with news anchor Irv Weinstein and sports
anchor Rick Azar, were a nighttime fixture on WKBW. As host of "The
Weather Outside," Jolls would stand out in the elements to report on
weather conditions, and seeing him shivering or struggling to keep
balance in gusty winds became common. Another one of Jolls's
trademarks was his "Weather Word," a summation of the weather forecast
in one word (a particular favorite of Jolls was salubrious, for
beautiful weather), as well as ending his temperature listing by
reminding us that it was "...and cooler by the lake!" He also
maintained a weather stick as a forecasting aid; it was eventually
broken apart by vandals.Jolls never earned any certification in
meteorology; he believed that the art of weather forecasting was
simple enough that it did not require advanced meteorological
training. (In attempting to convince Mike Randall, then a feature
reporter, to get into weather forecasting, Jolls said "Weather is so
easy, High pressure is nice weather, low pressure is bad weather.") He
also maintained a subscription to Accuweather.
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