After a four-decade career guiding audiences through blizzards, tornadoes, floods, heat waves and a rapidly changing climate, MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner is retiring.
Huttner’s final day at MPR News marks the end of nearly 20 years with Minnesota Public Radio and a career that began in operational forecasting at Chicago’s weather command in 1986. Many Minnesotans first came to know him when he joined WCCO-TV in 1988, where he reported on some of the state’s most memorable weather events, including the Halloween Blizzard of 1991.
Huttner returned to Minnesota and joined MPR News in January 2007. On his first day, he was already doing what would become familiar to listeners: delivering a forecast with a mix of science, history and practical context.
Speaking with then-All Things Considered host Tom Crann about an Alberta Clipper, Huttner explained that the fast-moving systems are named for clipper ships because they “zip on through.”
That blend of useful information, clarity and curiosity became a signature of Huttner’s work. Over his years at MPR News, he helped launch the Updraft weather blog and built Climate Cast into a weekly segment and podcast focused on climate science, data and the effects of a warming world in Minnesota and beyond.
His interest in weather started early. As a 4-year-old near Deephaven, Huttner watched the May 6, 1965, tornado outbreak move through the Twin Cities from the window of his basement. The storm helped spark a lifelong desire to understand the science behind severe weather.
Before coming to MPR News, Huttner’s meteorology career took him from Minnesota to Chicago and Arizona. He worked at WGN-TV in Chicago, where he covered the historic July 1995 heat wave, and later led a weather team at KGUN-TV in Tucson.
At MPR News, Huttner became one of the station’s most familiar and trusted voices. He helped listeners navigate dangerous weather while also explaining broader climate trends shaping Minnesota’s future.
Mandy Thalhuber, a meteorologist for MPR News, said Huttner had “this way of turning the atmosphere’s chaos into clarity,” helping people make sense of storms, blizzards and everything in between.
Mark Seeley, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota, said Huttner’s work stood out because he regularly brought climate context into daily weather coverage.
“To me, the climate context, that is the seasonality and what the public expects, and things of that nature are really important, because we have such a variable climate and such variable weather in Minnesota,” Seeley said. He also called Huttner “a really good educator,” particularly through Climate Cast.
Sven Sundgaard, a meteorologist for MPR News, said Huttner is “probably one of the most respected meteorologists in our state,” noting that when significant weather is on the way, people often share Huttner’s posts as a trusted source.
That reputation was built over thousands of forecasts and conversations. During his time at MPR News, Huttner hosted about 14,000 live weather chats, wrote roughly 8,000 Updraft posts and produced more than 650 Climate Cast episodes.
Former WCCO anchor Don Shelby said Huttner’s scientific approach stood out early in his television career. Shelby said Huttner showed courage in connecting changes in weather to human-caused climate change at a time when that was still a contentious subject in broadcast meteorology.
For colleagues, Huttner’s legacy is not only about forecasting accuracy. It is also about steadiness.
“What I remember most is how calm he was,” Thalhuber said, recalling his coverage of the Halloween Blizzard. “Years later, getting to work alongside him, I realized that’s exactly who he is every day.”
As Huttner signs off, he leaves behind a body of work that helped Minnesotans understand not just what weather was coming, but why it mattered.
In his parting message, Huttner thanked listeners for following “this weather-obsessed 4-year-old kid who made a career talking about all kinds of weather and climate these past 40 years.”
“Our weather and climate are a big part of what makes us Minnesotans,” he said. “So may your days be sunny with just a few storms to keep things interesting.”
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