Gary Beeler Retires

You've seen him forecast some huge storms in our area, but after 41 years of working for the National Weather Service, Beeler is making a big change of his own.
He says, "Instead of worrying about the weather, I'd like to enjoy it. And that's what I'm going to do for a while."
You may recognize Beeler, for the past few decades he has done everything from survey tornado damage to track hurricanes.

He says, "Our primary mission is to save lives. Whether the storm is hitting here or not, we know it's going to impact somebody. We just hope we got the word out."

He says the worst tornado damage he can remember in our area was the Miller's Ferry EF 4 tornado in March of 2007. That tornado destroyed a fishing hot spot.
"We were up in a helicopter looking at the damage and we just looked at it and it's like all the trees had been cleared away for a landing strip, but in reality, the tornado came and blew all the trees down."

After nearly half a century at the National Weather Service, Beeler says he will miss his family at the office, but will enjoy his free time too.
"Now maybe I can spend more time exercising."