Longtime Seattle TV weather forecaster Steve Pool died this week of complications from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, his family said Friday.
“We are so blessed to have had him in our lives,” his wife Michelle Lee Pool wrote on his Facebook page. “He was an extraordinary man, husband, father and good friend to many. Please know that he truly loved his job and this community and felt so privileged to be a part of your life.”
KOMO 4, where 70-year-old Steve Pool worked for four decades, said he died Wednesday.
“He was the best,” KOMO host Eric Johnson wrote on Facebook. “Unforgettable, irreplaceable. A sweet man, a great friend and a legendary broadcaster.”
Pool graduated from Tyee High School in SeaTac, where he served as student body president. He began his career at KOMO as an intern while still a student at the University of Washington. After graduating, he was hired full-time in 1978 and began his career covering sports and news, according to KOMO.
RIP Steve. What an incredible man. Could have worked at any level, anywhere. And yet he stayed to serve our communities. Legendary. https://t.co/u8DM4lHwju
— Jesse Jones (@JesseKIRO7) November 24, 2023
In 1984, he became KOMO’s chief weather forecaster after returning to the UW to receive specialized training in atmospheric sciences. He won several Emmys for his work, making him one of the first black weather forecasters in the country.
“I was the only one who came from the plains to the Pacific Ocean, and I was very aware of it,” Pool told the Seattle Times in 2019. “I was hoping it would open doors. I give KOMO a lot of credit. They were as proud as I was that they did it.”
About a year into his job as chief weather forecaster, his agent called. Would he fill in for ABC’s Good Morning America when their weather expert went on vacation?
“To say I was stunned is a huge understatement,” Pool wrote on his personal website. “My answer? Not just yes, but damn it!”
Over the years, he filled in for Good Morning America more than 70 times.
He was inducted into the UW Communications Hall of Fame in 2004.
“Steve was always an integral part of our Puget Sound community and we will miss him greatly,” the university said posted on social platform X on Friday.
RIP to UW alum Steve Pool, ’77. Steve is always an integral part of our Puget Sound community and we will miss him greatly. 💜💛
Steve’s legendary career with @komonews was one of our region’s most trusted weathermen for more than four decades.
📷: KOMO news pic.twitter.com/beRVfIRlbn— University of Washington (@UW) November 24, 2023
“His groundbreaking life and journalistic career have set an unparalleled standard for the Seattle media industry,” the Seattle Association of Black Journalists said in a statement, adding that Pool’s “loving combination” of skill, grace, wit and versatility gave him that gave the audience the feeling of belonging to the family.
And to fellow journalists, he is a “critical example of SABJ’s mission and credibility,” chapter President Jerry Brewer said in a statement. “We will never forget that we stand on the shoulder of an incredible journalist whose talent was only surpassed by the kind and selfless manner in which he carried out his work.”
“I believe his excellence and elegance helped open and keep the door open for me and all other Black television journalists in Seattle,” said Essex Porter, who retired in 2021 after nearly four decades as a KIRO 7 reporter .
The honors for Pool Friday extended beyond Seattle. In Fort Wayne, Indiana, WPTA-TV chief meteorologist Matt Leach said it was “the loss of a legend in the weather community.”
Pool, he wrote in a Facebook post, sparked his love of weather by watching him deliver the weather forecast while growing up in Silverdale.
“His infectious personality attracted me from a young age,” Leach wrote. He met Pool as a 12th birthday present and 10 years later he completed an internship with Pool.
“He was just as nice in person as he was on TV…Calling him my mentor is a great honor.”
In September 2018, Pool was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent proton therapy for a year at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Proton Therapy Center.
When he retired in 2019, Pool looked back on his career and told The Seattle Times that he always strived to be an optimist in the newsroom.
“I always think, ‘You’re lucky to be able to do this job. “It’s not easy to get in here,” Pool said.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell called Pool a “Seattle news legend and pioneer” one year. Social media post.
“Steve Pool was friendly and authentic – he embodied professionalism,” Harrell wrote. “I mourn with him and express my deepest condolences to his family. Steve’s legacy will live on through the people and causes he supported.”
Pool is survived by his wife Michelle and daughters Lindsey and Marissa.
This story contains information from the Seattle Times archives.
Greg Kim: 206-464-2532 or [email protected]; Greg Kim is a Seattle Times reporter covering homelessness.