Lawrence Douglas Hill (July 29, 1950 – November 22, 2021) was an American

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

. He was the chief meteorologist for ABC 7 News/

WJLA-TV WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (alongside dual Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF hannel 45in Baltimore), and is also sister ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, at noon, 4, 5, and 6. He was awarded the "Seal of Approval" from the

American Meteorological Society The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is a scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences. Its mission is to advance the atmosph ...

. Hill was honored with a Washington Emmy Award for broadcast excellence. Hill has also served as a meteorologist for affiliates in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

and

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. Hill graduated from Towson State College. He enlisted in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, serving for four years mostly at

Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force (USAF). In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form ...

. After leaving the military, he served as a

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

for

Prince George's County Prince George's County (often shortened to PG County or PG) is located in the U.S. state of Maryland bordering the eastern portion of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 967,201, making it the second-most populous ...

for six years. Hill began his meteorology career in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, where he got his first break at WWBT-TV as the weekend weatherman. He then moved on to Detroit working at WXYZ for the next four and a half years until returning east to

Washington, D.C Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

., with

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

affiliate WUSA in 1984. He stayed at WUSA for 16 years until moving to

WJLA WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (alongside dual Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF hannel 45in Baltimore), and is also sister t ...

. In addition to TV, he often reported live on WTOP 103.5 FM's "Weather On The 8s And When It Breaks" segments until his retirement. He retired from

on September 15, 2017. He was a radio personality on WGTS 91.9 FM, a Christian radio station. He stated that he wanted to use his platform as a well-known figure in the Washington area for

Christian ministry Christian ministry is the vocational work of living and teaching about faith, in the hopes of increasing the population of God's people done by the church, church officials, congregational members, and Jesus followers. The '' Cyclopedia of Bib ...

. Hill died on November 22, 2021, at the age of 71. He was married twice, latterly to Mary Ann Vranken, and had four children, one of which predeceased him.

References

External links

Biography Page on WJLA-TV website
1950 births 2021 deaths People from Calvert County, Maryland Towson University alumni United States Air Force airmen Television anchors from Washington, D.C. Television meteorologists from Washington, D.C. People from Towson, Maryland {{US-tv-bio-stub