5:30pm Thursday…
It’s been a bit wet at times today, but not exactly a big soaker. This wraps up the month of September AND the “water year”. We use “water years” because we want to put all of each wet season into one “bucket” for historical purposes. Since each wet season in our climate begins Oct/Nov and ends in April, meteorologists across the Western USA have created a “water year”…precipitation from October 1st to September 30th. We will end up with just over 30” this year; the number below will end up a bit higher after the showers today…

Notice we’ve had 4 dry years (lots of drought in Oregon) after two very wet years. Hopefully this winter we can get more rain/snow to recharge groundwater and fill reservoirs. More on that in a later post about the upcoming winter. It’s obvious we have a nice start to October. Both Friday and Saturday will be dry with warming temperatures. Anything above 70 is now considered warm…things change quickly this time of year.
But let’s get on to the big story…

Brian MacMillan is moving on…yes, Brian is leaving KPTV/KPDX here in Portland
After 12 years, my best “weather buddy” is leaving us. No, no one did or said anything offensive or illegal. He’s not getting fired, laid off, and probably won’t leave tire marks in the station lawn on the way out. Nothing like that. Brian has accepted a new position with…wait for it…FOX…13, not 12, in Seattle. I grew up in Chehalis, so I regularly watched Q-13 (KCPQ), just like Brian did since he grew up in the northern suburbs of Seattle. They are making some changes and one is the retirement of longtime morning weather anchor MJ McDermott. So Brian is taking over her morning shift in his “hometown”. It’s a great opportunity for him, but I’m really going to miss that guy!
Brian came here from Bend in 2009 with just a couple years of TV under his belt. Just a young guy with no obligations. During that time he got married, bought a house, and now has two kids. He’s blossomed into a solid meteorologist and reporter that we will miss. The old saying of “jack of all trades, master of none” doesn’t apply to him. He’s really good at just about everything and a solid professional. EVERYTIME I (or a boss) asked him to fill a role, he did it without complaining.
We just finished a brand new FOX12 WEATHER PODCAST (episode #30) and Brian talks about all the different roles/responsibilities he held here at KPTV. We had some great laughs as he went over 12 years of memories and crazy stories. I think this podcast is my favorite of dozens we’ve produced.
Find it on your Apple Podcasts or just go to this link: https://www.kptv.com/podcasts/weather/

One of my favorite memories is Brian (trying) to take a drink up at Women’s Forum viewpoint during a raging easterly wind…now THAT was good TV!
And he could have been a window washer! Luckily the ropes held for this story…

We were recording something at one point and BMAC just jumped at the chance to spray me down. We were aiming for that “sweaty” look, but putting diet coke in a some fancy wine glass just didn’t work out quite right…

And who fills out THIS MANY vacation requests all at once???

I once walked in to this pile of his requests; I left the pile and added the large red DENIED sign. We’ve had a lot of fun!
All those tornadoes? From Aumsville to Manzanita to Longview, we worked them together. I’m really going to miss Brian’s forecasting skills too. I’ll come in during a snow/ice event (or in the lead up to one) or we’ll have a conversation about the meteorology as we compare notes. We almost always have the same forecast, even in those tough winter weather setups.
And of course most of all I’ll miss Brian’s friendship here at work. We’ve shared the ups/downs of family life, (a couple) crazy coworkers, training new employees, conversations about COVID, riots, elections, deck staining, roof replacement, strawberry varieties, ties, suits, music, etc… You only see us for a few minutes at a time on TV, but remember we work together for 8 hours each day behind the scenes just like “regular” office folks. Brian is the nicest guy, always positive, and always asks his coworkers “how things are going”. I’ve learned a lot from him! Luckily, we’ll only be three hours apart via freeway…not too far away. Always time for a little Seattle vs. Portland gossip right?
So… to wrap it up, we’re losing a great employee but in a good way I suppose. New experiences are one of the best parts of life.
Good Luck Brian!
Chief Meteorologist Mark Nelsen