After a nearly 37-year career with the National Weather Service, Christian County native Rick Shanklin will retire from the Paducah office July 31.
Shanklin has served as the regional Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the last 27-years.
He was raised in Christian County, where his love for all things weather began on his family’s farm and with his grandfather.
Shanklin said it’s been great to serve the residents of the quad-state region, and he was glad to return home.
The Warning Coordination Meteorologist is the primary liaison between the NWS office and community partners while encompassing everything dealing with hazardous weather.
Christine Wielgos, the Assistant Warning Coordination Meteorologist, said she had learned a lot from Shanklin over the last 21-years and that he will be missed.
Steven Eddy, Meteorologist in Charge at the Paducah NWS office, said Shanklin had been a mentor from afar throughout his 37-year career.
As for Shanklin, he and his wife Deanna will spend more time with grandchildren in Tennessee and Florida and do some traveling. Shanklin added he would not fully give up doing something weather-related while in retirement.
