Don Westbrook, who worked for nearly 40 years at New Orleans CBS affiliate WWL, died Monday after a short illness. He was 79. “His biggest skill was that he was a communicator and he could look you in the eye and tell you what the weather was going to be,” former station announcer and host John Pela, told WWL. “Don, to me, to this day, is the consummate weatherman.”
Westbrook was known in New Orleans for his voice–used in commercials for the station and clients–and his weather forecasts. He was WWL’s morning and noon weather anchor for 20 years, and part of the station’s dominant weather team. Westbrook appeared alongside fellow station veterans Bill Elder, Eric Paulsen, Andre Trevigne and Sally-Ann Roberts.
He and Paulsen were the first anchors of the Eyewitness Morning News when it premiered in 1977.