Passing of Meteorologist Rick Tasetano

This is not a weather report but I wanted to pass this on to those who may have known Rick.

Former longtime KTOK meteorologist Rick Tasetano died early today. Details are not yet available and funeral services are pending. KTOK was notified of Rick's death by the family. He had been ailing in recent months. Rick was a former career Air Force man where he retired after decades as a meteorologist. He was part of the weather unit at Tinker Air Force base where much of the early tornado warning systems were developed. He was a veteran of the Korean War where he survived at least one crash of a weather plane. Rick joined KTOK in the mid-1980s and became known for such sayings as his 'full skirt alert' warnings to women on windy days. He was a native of New York City and still carried his Bronx accent as he predicted the weather and covered severe weather. Rick was notorious for bringing a cot to his small weatherroom at the KTOK studios and spending many nights monitoring severe weather and issuing alerts to the radio station listeners.

Rick was also with Emergency Management and stayed in radio contact with us, keeping us up to date on the storms while storm spotting. He will be missed.