Friday, September 9, 2011

Chuck George Takes Leave of Absence Following Odd On-Air Segment

Posted By on Fri, Sep 9, 2011 at 6:46 PM

Meteorologist Chuck George is taking his second leave of absence from KOLD Channel 13 within the last 18 months, station general manager Debbie Bush announced today.

George struggled during a weather report on Tuesday's 10 p.m. broadcast. He spoke in a slow-motion, slurred manner, and rambled a bit about a hurricane developing in the Atlantic Ocean.

He's not been seen on the air since.

Later in the newscast, anchors Heather Rowe and Dan Marries covered for him during the weather segment, and he was not onscreen during the news wrap, which usually includes some time devoted to weather.

Tuesday’s incident marked at least the third time that George has noticeably struggled with a weather report since returning from that five-week hiatus in March and April of 2010. In April of this year, George appeared wobbly during a weather segment; another time, he phoned in the segment.

Erin Jordan has filled in for George during the remainder of this week, leaving KOLD’s morning news program without a weather presence since fellow meteorologist Aaron Pickering was on vacation.