{"id":1780,"date":"2026-02-11T05:09:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T11:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edmontonski.com\/?p=1780"},"modified":"2026-03-11T13:53:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T19:53:23","slug":"bill-matheson-edmontons-beloved-weatherman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edmontonski.com\/en\/eternal-1780-bill-matheson-edmontons-beloved-weatherman","title":{"rendered":"Bill Matheson \u2013 Edmonton\u2019s Beloved Weatherman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bill Matheson was a renowned television host in Edmonton, celebrated for his confident and engaging weather forecasts on ITV. Adored by colleagues, friends, and viewers, Bill was famous for his poetic, almost Shakespearean language on air. His weather reports often featured unique and whimsical expressions, such as \u201cGather ye rosebuds while ye may, for a cold front is coming,\u201d or referring to storm clouds as \u201cdark shadows.\u201d Read more on edmontonski<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding His Path<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bill Matheson was born on April 26, 1926, in Lethbridge. At 17, he joined the military and served in the paratroopers during World War II. After completing his service in 1948, Bill began working in Canada\u2019s Meteorological Department, gathering environmental data in Alberta’s remote regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1954, he transitioned to broadcasting, hosting a program called Phone Bill on CJCA radio, which gained a loyal following. A few years later, Bill started presenting weather forecasts on CITV-TV, a position he held for over 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1970, Matheson accepted an offer to join ABC in New York, but he returned to Alberta two years later due to citizenship requirements, as continuing his career in the U.S. would have required American citizenship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Returning to Edmonton<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Upon his return to Alberta, Matheson resumed work at CJCA, co-hosting the Bill-and-Bill<\/em> show with Bill Jackson. Concurrently, he rejoined CITV-TV as a weatherman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bill stood out among his peers with his distinctive presentation style, engaging storytelling, and calm demeanor. His charming appearance and soothing voice captivated audiences. He was known for his signature tools: a felt marker, a meteorological board, and a long pointer, which he would toss into the air and catch at the end of his forecasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1995, Matheson received the title of \u201cWorld\u2019s Best Weatherman,\u201d a testament to his skill and charismatic nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although his shows on CJCA were widely popular, the station\u2019s closure in 1993 prompted Bill to move to 630 CHED, where he hosted a solo show. This program featured a unique format, allowing listeners to call in without a specific agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Career Days and Legacy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the fall of 1999, Matheson retired from radio and television. During his final weather broadcast on ITV, he delivered a heartfelt farewell speech, thanking his viewers. His words moved his colleagues to tears. As a tribute, the studio symbolically lifted Matheson\u2019s weather board to the ceiling, mirroring his iconic pointer toss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bill Matheson passed away in September 2016 at the age of 80 from complications of Alzheimer\u2019s disease. He left behind a loving family: two children, four grandchildren, and his wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Bill\u2019s colleagues, Claire Martin, frequently recalls his influence. Initially working in Canada\u2019s Ministry of Health, Matheson encouraged her to pursue a career in meteorology. In 1996, Claire began hosting evening and weekend weather forecasts and eventually took over Matheson\u2019s position after his retirement, becoming a full-time weatherman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bill Matheson was a renowned television host in Edmonton, celebrated for his confident and engaging weather forecasts on ITV. Adored by colleagues, friends, and viewers, Bill was famous for his poetic, almost Shakespearean language on air. His weather reports often featured unique and whimsical expressions, such as \u201cGather ye rosebuds while ye may, for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":403,"featured_media":1781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[187],"tags":[1400,1395,1408,1404,1406,1407,1398,1405,1397,1410,1399,1403,2371,1401,1396],"moimportance":[29,30,33],"motype":[196],"moformat":[74],"class_list":["post-1780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-show-business","tag-alberta-broadcasting","tag-alberta-weather-history","tag-best-weatherman-award","tag-bill-matheson","tag-bill-matheson-retirement","tag-canadian-meteorology","tag-citv-tv-edmonton","tag-cjca-radio","tag-claire-martin-meteorology","tag-edmonton-tv-history","tag-edmonton-weather-icon","tag-edmonton-weatherman","tag-itv-weather-host-en","tag-meteorological-broadcasting","tag-weather-forecasting-legend","moimportance-aktualna-bilshe-roku","moimportance-golovna-novyna","moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatory","motype-eternal","moformat-copywriting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmontonski.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmontonski.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmontonski.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonski.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/403"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonski.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1780"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonski.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1784,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonski.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780\/revisions\/1784"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonski.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmontonski.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonski.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonski.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1780"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonski.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=1780"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonski.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=1780"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonski.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=1780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}