When Eddie Walker was in high school in Moore, OK in 1999, he saw a massive EF-5 tornado up close. It was the first in a series of giant twisters he would see throughout his life, but this one in particular made him realize that he wanted to make a difference as a meteorologist. It just so happened that he lived down the road from the University of Oklahoma, one of the best colleges in the world for meteorologists.
As a senior at the University of Oklahoma, Eddie ran into a former classmate at an on-campus career fair. From there, he met two people from WeatherData, Inc, which AccuWeather later acquired. Upon graduation, he interviewed with them and became part of the AccuWeather family.
Eddie has been with AccuWeather for 16 years and has worn many hats, including Morning Shift Coordinator, Seminar Supervisor, and Senior Storm Warning Meteorologists. At the operations center in Wichita, KS, Eddie forecasts current and active weather conditions and helps train the next generation of meteorologists. He also dedicated duties and distributed workloads amongst the meteorologists every day. At the same time, Eddie enjoys forecasting all types of weather, including severe weather in the North American Central Plains and hurricanes.
Tornadoes follow Eddie wherever he goes. Not only has he seen dozens of tornadoes, including two EF-5 tornadoes up close as a storm chaser, but he’s also been close to tornadoes even when he wasn’t chasing. In 2022, he saw the EF-3 Andover, KS tornado from his back porch. He also remembers when he was a child seeing three tornadoes at a distance with the sun setting behind them at his Aunt’s farm near Wichita Falls, TX. The scariest tornado he had ever witnessed was the EF-5 tornado in Moore, OK. Because it took up so much of the sky, it was hard to believe it was a tornado.
Working at AccuWeather enables Eddie to make a big difference in clients' lives by saving them large amounts of money and thousands of lives. He does this by utilizing AccuWeather’s tools, including the proprietary SmartWarn system, which gives AccuWeather For Business a considerable advantage over competitors. SmartWarn enables “met-watchers” to view various real-time meteorological datasets, which are seamlessly overlaid with all client locations. Eddie says it’s like being in a candy store of information, and even after a decade, he still “geeks out” over it sometimes.
His favorite part about working for AccuWeather is the people. Watching a newer meteorologist grow into a very knowledgeable and trustworthy peer, then that same meteorologist mentoring another new meteorologist is always rewarding and brings things full circle according to Eddie.
When Eddie is not forecasting the weather or issuing warnings to clients, he loves to cook and enjoys watching the Food Network. He also likes to have Nerf battles with his two sons and listen to loud music. Eddie says even though his house gets loud and is usually chaotic, he loves every second of being a dad. At one time, Eddie was a Martial Arts instructor, and he earned a black belt at the age of 14. He has been training his oldest son Liam, 10 and would love to pass his black belt down to him one day.
