NORFOLK, Va. — Patrick Rockey, our longtime friend and Chief Meteorologist, is retiring. I got to sit down and reflect on his more than two-decade career here at WTKR News 3.
My first question was about some very youthful pictures we've uncovered around the time he started here.
Kurt Williams: "I mean, how old were you there?"
Patrick Rocky: "I was. I was in my 30s."
"Then? Really?"
"Yeah, yeah, I was, yeah. It's really the last few years working with you that I aged." A response that gave us both a good laugh.
Kurt: "When did you know you wanted to do weather?"
Patrick: "Every year we would go camping at Lake Gaston, which you know, is right outside of our area here. And we were camping, and a big storm came up and it rained and wind, and it was a mess... just remembering that—watching that, seeing that. It wasn't like the light bulb moment, like the cartoon went over my head. But that's when I really started paying attention to the weather and being fascinated."
"How old were you?"
"Then, I was seven."
Kurt: "What storms? Is there one storm or storms, plural, that stand out?"
Patrick: "Hurricane Isabel. You know, I came in what, late 2002, and that was August, September 2003. Just our house, we were without power for 10 days. And then I was working the morning show and had to find a wind-up alarm clock to wake up at like 1:30 in the morning to get to work. And then I came here to shower because we didn't have hot water at home. And you know, folks lost homes. It took years to rebuild. That was a big scar on this area."
Watch: A look back at Hurricane Isabel, 20 years later
Kurt: "Isabel. Isabel is the storm that stands out, really, for you the most?"
Patrick: "As far as tropical weather, but, I mean, we had a big tornado outbreak, I think, in 2008. We were on the air, gosh, probably six, eight hours tracking storms. That was the Suffolk tornado that just devastated neighborhoods, I mean, destroyed neighborhoods. And to be able to follow along and stay on the air, and that was one of the first times where we really started to do that."
Watch: Suffolk residents reflect on the devastating tornado that touched down 9 years ago
Kurt: "When you were field anchoring out in the Great Neck section of Virginia Beach, you found a family. We found a family. And I believe they said they remember listening to your warning."
Patrick: "Yeah, and this has happened a number of times where people will say, 'I did what you told me to do, and that's why I'm here,' or 'that's why I wasn't hurt,' or 'that's why I survived.' I've literally had people come to me and say, 'I'm alive because of you. What you said — I did what you said. My home was destroyed,' or 'my home was badly damaged, and I walked away.'"
"How does that make you feel?"
"You know, I get choked up, and it's just, it's just humbling."
Watch: Couple whose home was damaged by tree in Virginia Beach EF-3 tornado reflects on a very close call
Kurt: "What have you loved about this job?"
Patrick: "Oh, gosh, there's so many things. I mean, number one, the people. People we broadcast to, but especially you and all the people that we work with. There have been several folks, and just some wonderful people to work with, and it's going to be really hard to not see you, not see Beverly, not see Jessica, my weather team every day."
Kurt: "How would you sum up how you wrestled with why now is a good time to leave?"
Patrick: "I've been thinking about this for a couple of years. You know, I've lost both my parents over the last couple of years. I have my own health problems, open heart surgery. So I think it's just time to step back and not have a nine-to-five job."
"Yours was not nine to five. Yours was... whenever there was crazy weather, you would come in."
"Yeah, yeah. So that I will miss, because it's exciting and you feel like you're really doing something important."
