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Published: Dec. 16, 2021, 5:06 a.m.

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After 33 years forecasting the weather for Charlotte viewers of WBTV-TV, Chief Meteorologist Eric Thomas is retiring.

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In a special sitdown interview with the Carolina Weather Group\'s Scotty Powell, Eric revisits his 3-decade career, including historic coverage of Hurricane Hugo, tornadoes, and other severe weather events. Eric also outlines the evolution of his career - from television into the age of streaming technology and social media.

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From our archive: Hurricane Hugo anniversary special

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Starting in 1988, Eric would oversee the creation and growth of Channel 3\'s functioning weather center as the Queen City\'s first degreed meteorologist on TV.

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As Eric explains, his degree and career track can be attributed to his father: Who encouraged him to seek the weather education ahead of a plan to go into the United States military and flight school. Eric, who had always dreamed of becoming a commercial airline pilot, studied the atmosphere and meteorology in college. A medical limitation that caused him to fail out of basic training, landed him into his storied career as a forecaster.

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Eric shares his own personal story of being given up for adoption and the loving family who took him in as their own. Eric has been paying that forward through local efforts in the Charlotte community to help families and children be united through adoption and fostering. Eric is also currently involved in the Carolina Radar project, a cooperative public-private initiative meant to help Charlotte solve its radar coverage issues.

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From our archive: The Carolina Radar Project

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In this unique opportunity to sit down and talk at WBTV studios, the Carolina Weather Group\'s Scotty Powell explains how Eric mentored him into a life of weather. And stay tuned until the very end for surprise messages from Eric\'s fellow meteorologist - colleagues and competitors alike.

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