For the span of nine years, Bridgeport’s Jason Parrish was a regular on WBOY. He was the weatherman everyone trusted, and everyone seemed to love as noted by thousands inviting him into their homes via their television for years.

 

Parrish started at WBOY in June of 2005 and quickly grew a following. Along the way, he ended up marrying one of my best friends in Nicki Marsh and that’s when I found out just how easy it was to like him as more than a weatherman.

 

Jason Parrish, whose actual title was chief meteorologist, was not just good at calling the weather. He was good as a person should be to the core and outward

 

I realized I wasn’t the only that felt that way in December of 2014. At that time, Parrish decided to make a career change. He was going to go from behind the camera to in front of doctors and others in the medical field as a pharmaceutical representative.

 

Amidst the happiness most had for Parrish when he announced – at least publicly in the very blog on Connect-Bridgeport – he was leaving, the amount of attention was staggering. To this day, it is one of the most read stories to ever appear on the Web site.

 

Perhaps the saving grace for those that loved to hear him call the weather is Parrish has been an occasional pinch hitter for the last several years on WBOY. Since he left, there have been plenty of evenings when he’s shown up – often bow tie and all – to once again deliver the weather in a substitute roll.

 

The public enjoyed it. Parrish did too.

 

“It’s a nice little break from my regular job that I love and am blessed to have, but I get to go back and see some of the long-time people I worked with and do what I used to do and still love to do,” said Parrish. “That’s why it was so easy to go back and fill in on occasion.”

 

That, for many in the area, was a treat as Parrish began to thrive in a new career and still keep in touch with his old one here in North Central West Virginia. While that new career is still thriving, it’s almost certainly over for his local weather days in any capacity at WBOY.

 

On June 24, Parrish’s job with Takeda Pharmaceuticals will be taking him to Austin, Texas, which is a little too far of a commute to do a few evening weather shows back in Clarksburg. As for Austin, it’s not a place unfamiliar to Parrish as his sister and her family live there, while his brother and his family live three hours away in Dallas.

 

“I’m excited, but any time you make a huge life change like this it’s nerve wracking,” said Parrish. “I think it’s going to be fine and it’s a bonus to have family right there.”

 

And he’s also in the heart of Big 12 country.

 

“This will give me an opportunity that we can catch the random Mountaineer game against Baylor, TCU or even Texas,” said Parrish. “A little bit of home will be coming to where I’m going to be on a regular basis.”

 

The weather calls may be over here in West Virginia and on WBOY, but for the guy who “still follows the weather every day” the forecasting may still have some life.

 

“I’m hoping Nexstar (Media Group), which owns 12, may consider me to freelance after I get settled. They actually own a station there in Austin. If that happens to present itself, that would be great,” he said.

 

And if it doesn’t? That’s not a problem either.

 

“If I’ve done my last weather show, I’d be comfortable. I’ve done what I wanted to do by doing weather in different areas and working at The Weather Channel for four years,” said Parrish. “To finish out in West Virginia was coming back full circle. If that’s the way it wraps up, then it’s fine with me.”

 

As for his current work forecast, he’s still on the job locally with Takeda. He’ll actually fly to Austin on June 23 and start work the next day while staying with his sister. He’ll eventually return home in early July to finish his move out of Bridgeport to his new home in the Lonestar State.

 

Yet as he leaves, one of the most iconic local television personalities I've known in decades (and he earned that status in just a few years) was thankful so many people welcomed him into their homes. He said it was something he never took lightly.

 

“I always took it really seriously because, first, people decided to watch us instead of someone else. Second, it was a job to take seriously because there was always a public safety aspect to it,” said Parrish. “For me, the best way to pay back people for being loyal to me and the station was to be the best I could be. I always felt I had a good rapport with our viewers and I know I’ll miss that.”

 

I’ll miss it, too. Here’s hoping one of the best in his business and outside of the business as well finds the same success in Austin. If his persona has anything to do with it, the forecast on every front is certainly is a good one.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Jason Parrish in the WBOY weather lab, while he's shown in a screen shot on the job during a severe weather situation during his full-time gig in the second photo. In the third photo, Parrish is shown hamming it up for a commercial for the station, while he's shown below with his wife Nicki.