UNI Alum Being Considered For A Guinness World Record

He was called the boy weatherman and now he might be called a Guinness World Record holder.

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Jym Ganahl, a University of Northern Iowa alumnus is in the running to break a world record, a Guinness World Record to be exact. The former UNI student has had a long and successful career as a meteorologist.

Originally from Cedar Rapids, Ganahl rose to national fame as a weatherman for KWWL. At the young age of 17, Ganahl gave his very first weather forecast on the Waterloo news station in 1966.

At the time, he was regarded as the youngest broadcast meteorologist in the country. After about 12 years, the beloved boy broadcaster moved on to Columbus, Ohio where he forecasted the weather for more than 50 years.

Award-winning broadcaster, talented meteorologist and now he's looking to add world record holder to this laundry list of accomplishments.

The Guinness Book of World Records committee is considering Ganahl for the title of longest-serving television weatherman for his half a century-plus on the job. This month will be his 56th year in the industry.

He still is giving the people of Ohio forecasts, even in his semi-retirement. Ganahl studied speech, math, and climatology at UNI. In a statement from the university that was made to celebrate this major accomplishment, a staff member said,

"We're proud of all our alums and it's exciting to see the success Jym has had in his record-breaking career," said Geography Department head Mark Welford.

"Geography is a major with applications in many different fields including weather forecasting, mobile maps, and even aerial drones."