Legendary Weatherman Glenn 'Hurricane' Schwartz Retiring

PHILADELPHIA — One of Philadelphia's most beloved TV personalities is retiring, as storied weather forecaster Glenn "Hurricane" Schwartz announced he is saying goodbye to the industry.

Schwartz, a Philadelphia native who graduated from Central High School and Penn State University, said he is hanging up his TV forecasting hat to "try some new things and pursue other things I’ve put off."

"Writing, public speaking, radio ... who knows," he wrote on NBC10 in his announcement.

Schwartz said he plans to further explore the Earth's climate, which he said is in a state of emergency.

"Yes, it is an emergency," he wrote. "Twenty years ago, it was just 'Climate Change,' then 10 years ago became the 'Climate Crisis.' Now we’re at DEFCON1."

Over his career, which began in State College and landed him at NBC10 in 1995, Schwartz said he's seen "changes that weren’t expected for decades to come—but now they’re here."

"Records aren’t just being broken (that’s happened forever); instead, they’re now being ;smashed," he wrote. "The catastrophic wildfires, hurricanes exploding in intensity, ocean and land flooding at levels never seen before, major heatwaves even in the Arctic and Siberia….and much more. The evidence has become overwhelming. We must not minimize how much worse it will get."

It's unclear how the longtime forecaster, who authored "The Philadelphia Area Weather Book" in 2002, will cover the climate, but we can be sure he will do so with the tenacity and accuracy viewers have come to trust.

Schwartz will remain at NBC10 through the end of May, he said.

Read Schwartz's full announcement on NBC10 here.