Blue Skies

It was a hot summer day in the Alamo City. Then again, most summer days are hot in San Antonio. I was doing my noon to three show on KONO. It was approaching news time at five until the top of the hour.

Let me digress for a moment to tell you about KONO’s owner, "King" Jack Roth. He always made sure that we had the latest in broadcast equipment and "toys" for us fortunate on-air personnel, to help keep us at or near the top of the ratings game. One of the so-called “toys” was a Bendix Weather Center (BWC) located on the roof of the KONO building. The meters, attached to the BWC, were installed in the control room so both the disc jockey and the news person could see them, and provide accurate current weather readings.

With this in mind, it was now time for newsman Tom Ellis to deliver the news. I verified that he was indeed ready by peering through the control room glass to my right. The music faded into the KONO news intro and Tom started his newscast. I decided I needed a break to stretch my legs. So, I walked through the lobby and outside for some fresh air. It was a beautiful Texas day with nothing but blue skies, and a ninety-degree plus temperature.

All to soon I had to return inside. Once back inside the building, I heard Tom Ellis start the weather by stating the KONO Weather Center was reporting very heavy rain in downtown San Antonio. I was incredulous! This couldn’t be! I had just been outside, and it was a perfectly clear day! I raced down the hall and into the control room. I frantically yelled and waved my arms in front of the window that separated the control room from the newsroom in an attempt to stop Tom. It was too late.

The hourly time tone, the Gary Allyn show open, and my next record all happened in quick succession. I just stared in disbelief as the rain gauge kept clicking higher and higher at eye blurring speed. Then Tom and I looked at one another dumbfounded, as it continued on...ten, fifteen, twenty inches of rain.

I finally recovered enough to say to Tom through the intercom “It is NOT raining! It's clear as a bell out there. Go outside and look for yourself.” When he did, he only found clear blue skies and NO rain.

Some quick research provided the cause of the deluge…our methodical, brilliant and pipe smoking chief engineer Bill Kiley. He was up on the roof cleaning out the rain gauge by pouring water into it, not realizing how the cleaning process was affecting readings in the control room below.

We all had a good laugh, and all of us will always remember how we weathered the "storm" on a clear day back in the sixties!

Gary Allyn

Gary Allyn

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