Peter Coade, one of the country’s longest-serving meteorologists, has passed away at the age of 82.
Coade died Saturday morning. He’d been hospitalized since November.
Born and raised in North End Halifax, his interest in the weather started early, job shadowing Rube Hornstein at CBC – Nova Scotia’s first TV weatherman – while still in high school.
By 1962, he was doing on-the-job training at the Meteorological Service of Canada, posted to Truro, NS, Toronto, ON, and Goose Bay, NL, where he began his first broadcast weather reports, overnight, on CBC affiliate CFLA-TV. He moved to Toronto in 1970 to work as an Environment Canada spokesperson, while also handling weather duties on CFRB.
After 20 years, he returned to Nova Scotia in 1990 where he spent the next 17 years as the evening weatherman for ATV’s Live at Five broadcast, in addition to the Atlantic Satellite Network. Upon his mandatory retirement from the station in 2007, he joined CBC Nova Scotia, heard across CBC Radio One in the Maritimes, in addition to the evening news.
Coade, who retired in 2016, set the Guinness World Record for the longest career as a weather forecaster in 2013, at 50 years, eight months and 21 days. The record was eventually surpassed by Cleveland TV weatherman Dick Goddard.
Former colleague and retired CTV anchor Steve Murphy wrote in a post to X that he was saddened to learn of the passing of his former on-air partner and friend.
“He was a broadcasting trailblazer and forecaster in the style and tradition of his mentor Rube Hornstein,” wrote Murphy. “Did I mention his sense of humour? Rest easy, Peter.”
