Larry Sprinkle hits 40 years at WCNC. Can he forecast how many more he’s got left in him?
Since this story was first published online, WCNC-TV Charlotte’s Larry Sprinkle announced he will be leaving the station’s morning show (and the weather desk) for a new role next month. The following interview appears in its original form.
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After “What’s the weather going to be like tomorrow?” two of the more common questions WCNC-TV Charlotte’s Larry Sprinkle fields are these:
1. “Is Sprinkle really your last name? Like, that’s not made-up?”
And,
2. “Can I ask how old you are?”
He’s been open about the first answer for years. Yes, that’s his real last name. He even once furnished proof, to one of the greatest players in the history of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. (More on that in a minute.) But the silver-haired Channel 36 weather forecaster is much cagier on the second question.
“I’m ageless. I’m not sure, I’m not sure. I’ve never used age, ever, because I think that if you use age, it’s judgmental whether you’re too young or you’re too old. So I’m somewhere in between too young and too old,” Sprinkle says, chuckling. “I think of life as whatever you can do regardless of what age you are — whether you’re young, or middle age, or older age — keep doing it until you can’t do it again.”
While he has successfully kept his date of birth off the internet and a secret from everyone except the people who run the station he works for, he will soon celebrate a milestone that will mark an impressive number of years.
On Thursday, April 3, Sprinkle hits precisely four decades of serving in a full-time, on-air role at WCNC.
We recently sat down with the venerable weatherman in a conference room at the station’s building next to Billy Graham Parkway to talk about the highlights of his career, and to ask him perhaps the most burning question of all as this major anniversary approaches: How much longer does he want to keep doing this?
The conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Q. What set you on the path to becoming a weather forecaster in the first place?
I actually was fascinated with television and radio when I was like 6 years old. And when I was even younger than that — 4 and 5 years old — I was afraid of thunder and lightning. But it was like hot sauce: It burns you, but you want more. I was just really fascinated with storms. I would go out in rain and storms as a little kid. My parents had to bring me back in.
From the time I was 6 years old to 12 years old, we lived up in Winston-Salem, and I used to watch the “Shell Weather Man.” His weather was done from what was called the Shell Weather Tower. It was like a forest ranger station, but with all the weather gear around it, and it appeared that the weatherman climbed up the tower to get there. So I was fascinated with that.
Back in those days, it was WSJS. Now it’s WXII. And I had a chance at 10 years old to visit the TV station. I was in the studio, and I saw the set — the weather tower. That was kind of disappointing, because I thought they climbed up to the top of the tower, but it was really (just part of the set). And the weatherman came over, and I looked up and thought, Wow, this is the guy I see on television. He said, “How you doing? Are you interested in all this?” I said, “Yes, I really am!” And he goes, “What’s your name?” I said, “My name’s Larry Sprinkle. I didn’t change my name. That is my name.”
But I was fascinated with that (weather report). I thought, Gosh, if I could be like the “Shell Weather Man” someday. ...
(Years later, famed NBC “Today” show host) Al Roker said to me, “You had two opportunities in life. You could have been a urologist or a meteorologist with a name like that.” He said, “You chose the right one. The right occupation.”
Q. I know you’ve said publicly countless times the same thing, that that’s your real last name. Has anybody ever made you actually show your birth certificate to prove it?
No, no one has ever — ... you know what? You know who did ask me? And he may or may not remember this. So I’m sitting in the weather center, years ago, and Steve Smith (a wide receiver for the Panthers from 2001-2013) is a guest on the sports segment.
He was in the studio before they were on the air, and he came over and said, “You’re Larry Sprinkle.” I said, “How you doin’, Steve? Good to see you.” And he goes, “That’s not your real name.” I said, “Why do you say that? Yes, it’s my real name.” He said, “No, it’s not. I know it’s not your real name. People change their name.” I said, “Hold on.” So I got my driver’s license. I said, “There you go,” put it back in my pocket, and he went, “That’s still not your real name. That’s not a real driver’s license.” (Laughing.) He still didn’t believe me.
I think that is the only time anyone’s really asked for proof.
Q. What’s the origin of the name?
My father’s family is from the Winston-Salem area, and they came from what we call Moravia in Germany, way back. Maybe 1600s, 1700s, some of the early settlers that were Moravian. So it’s Germanic. The Sprinkles have been around here a long time.
Q. Have you ever met anyone else that you’re not related to with the last name Sprinkle?
Maybe 30-plus years ago, I was doing a live shot up in Iredell County, in Statesville — and someone from management set this up, but — I’m on the air, and they brought on four other guys named Larry Sprinkle. Just shocked me. I could not believe it. I went, “This can’t be right!” It almost made me mad, because I thought I was the only one. One was a Rev. Larry Sprinkle from the Asheville area. One had worked for Duke Energy. And there were two others. Very strange. With that last name, I think probably, in some crazy way, they’re all distant cousins of mine. Had to have been.
Q. Have you ever met another TV weather person with a name that was weather-related?
Yes! There’s a few. Amy Freeze (formerly of Fox Weather), Dallas Raines (at KABC-TV in Los Angeles). There was a Johnny Thunder.
Q. Johnny Thunder’s gotta be fake.
(Chuckling.) I know, that’s gotta be fake, yeah. But, yeah, it’s my real name. I always joked about, I’m gonna get a T-shirt that says: “Yes, Larry Sprinkle is my real name.” And someone actually brought one over to the station. I may even have it here at the station.
Q. So your 40th anniversary is coming up April 3. That’s the first day that you started full-time. But you had been on the air at WCNC for years.
Yeah. I mean, I was in radio before (1985), but I started doing freelance (work for WCNC) back in ’77. I was doing commercials, doing the station announcements. “You’re watching WRET-TV.” And then, “You’re watching WPCQ-TV.” And then we became WCNC. The station was independent then, and they had weekend movies. So I’d do, “Welcome to the Sunday afternoon matinee. Today, John Wayne stars in ‘The Alamo.’ I’m Larry Sprinkle, your host.” That kind of thing.
I had my foot in the door and was just excited to be in the building. I’d been doing morning radio for so many years, and at that time we went on the air on the radio at 6 a.m. I could literally get out of bed at 5 o’clock. Didn’t matter how you looked. No one knew whether you took a shower or not. And you could get to the station in time to see the V meter starting to fade out, turn the mic on, and say, “Big WAYS at WROQ, Larry Sprinkle, that was Three Dog Night.” But I got out of radio because I had to get up at 5 in the morning. So what happens? I get into TV — and I get up at 1:30 in the morning.
Q. How long have you been getting up that early?
Twenty-seven years. What’s wrong with me, right? But that’s what you do (if you work on a morning TV show). That’s just part of your life.
Q. What time do you go to bed?
The problem is, I’m like a little kid. I don’t want to be in bed now! Years ago, I thought, I really should go to bed maybe about 7-ish. So I went to bed at 7. At midnight, I was wide-awake, and I went, What am I gonna do at midnight? I’m not going into work at midnight. So I stopped doing that. I really don’t go to bed until probably about 9.
Q. I mean, you must not hate waking up early to do it as long as you have. What are the advantages of a schedule like that?
What are the advantages? Gosh. I just enjoy being a part of it. It’s almost like this is home, in a way. Home away from home, and I’m comfortable.
Q. But I’m talking about the schedule. You could be comfortable and enjoy being at the station from, say, 9 to 5.
Yeah, I could, right. I guess. To be honest with you, there’s something about being on the air first thing, because you know that people are counting on you the very first thing. You’re the first thing that they see or listen to in the morning. Maybe it’s an egotistical thing. I know that they’re depending on me.
But I’m gonna have to have a big talk with myself at some point here. After 40 years at the TV station, it’s time to maybe have a regular schedule. Maybe not 9 to 5, but maybe 7 to 7. (Chuckling.)
Q. What are the major differences between the way you performed your job in the ’80s and the way you do now?
Technology. I mean, before I first started in weather — I started doing weather in ’87, or late ‘86 — it had gone from the weatherman drawing maps to the kind of like paste-on symbols, literally; then right before I did that, (forecasters started using) the most basic computer technology of all time. If you saw it today, it looks like something maybe someone who’s 4 years old could do. But it was state of the art at the time.
As far as satellite imagery, it was a couple hours old, but that’s what everybody had to use.
It was also the early days of radar, which was, you know, 1950s radar technology. In those days, you got what was called anomalous propagation. You could pick up anything and everything on radar. If you weren’t careful, the leaves on trees, you would see it covering the radar and you’d go, “Oh, it’s pouring! We must have a big storm.” If you didn’t go outside and confirm, you may be wrong.
We were more free-form as far as what we did. I don’t want to say undisciplined, but more free-form.
You got information from the National Weather Service. But it didn’t matter who you were, whether it’s National Weather Service or it’s television, or whether it’s industrial meteorology, there was a lot of guesswork involved. You didn’t have the satellite technology that we have today. You certainly didn’t have the radar coverage that we have today. I would say that if you were going out five to seven days, those fifth, sixth, seventh days could be a little bit iffy.
Weather’s still an inexact science. Fronts can slow down. Weather systems can speed up or slow down. So it still can be a challenge at times. But back in those days, (we’d get weather that) was not predicted at all.
Q. Could you ever have predicted you’d spend your whole career in Charlotte?
Even back long before the Charlotte we know today, it just felt like everything I need is here. And even though, yeah, you dream, What if you could go to Chicago or New York or LA, go network?, I just felt comfortable with Charlotte. I have, over the years, had those opportunities (to go elsewhere). I’ve always liked Tampa. Tampa always reminded me of if you took Charlotte and put it in Florida. So I always thought, Well, if I went somewhere, maybe that would be it, or if the “Today” show called. But in general, I thought, I’m gonna stay here. I had no reason to leave.
It’s hard to believe it’s been four decades. I mean, I get people coming up to me who were in kindergarten (when they started seeing me on TV) and literally say they grew up with me. The people that grew up with you are now adults, and they have kids. Sometimes the kids have kids.
I’ve just felt so comfortable in this community. I love the people, I love the area, and been so involved in so many different organizations that the comfort level is there. It’s almost like, Gosh, I’d be afraid to leave here.
Q. Well, even though I don’t know how old you are, I can do a little math based on your start years. How much longer do you think you can do this — or will want to do this?
As far as the getting up at 1:30 in the morning, the reality is (I can’t do that forever). But here’s another thing I need to honestly look at: There is someone in that studio who works with me that deserves (my job). Chris Mulcahy — good friend — has been there, and at some time, I’ve gotta say to myself, Be fair, because there are other things you could do.
I want to be at this TV station until television is no more. But maybe moving away from getting up at 1:15 to a more normal time, and letting someone who deserves the job come in and take the job.
Q. But you’re saying that you have zero plans to leave.
I really don’t. I have a passion for it, and I just can’t imagine that going away. I mean, if they want me to, you know, maybe just rearrange the chairs in here or sweep the floors (chuckling), I’ll do it.
Q. So we have some sense of your future plans. What do you think the future holds for the TV weather business, now that everyone has access to weather apps constantly in the palms of their hands?
Your phone can’t give you the nuances. They can’t do it second-by-second. They can’t explain the situation as it is. That severe thunderstorm warning that you see on your phone, I can tell you how fast it’s moving, where it’s going to hit. That tornado, where it is now, where it’s going to be. I can tell you right now where that tornado or that hurricane is. What’s in the path. Those are houses. Or those are woods. We can be exact, whereas your phone can’t be.
We’re there to explain it, to really kind of walk you through the situation. I still think people want to have that person say, “Hey, you need to get to a place of shelter now. That tornado is going to affect you in 10 minutes. You need to go to your basement. You need to cover your head. If you have some kind of helmet to put on, do that. But get to that lowest level.”
I’m not sure if an app can do that in the way that a person can — a trustworthy person who’s been there, who’s shared this with you before, who knows that experience. I think that’s the difference in what television can do versus a telephone or an app.
Q. Last question — just because you’ve still got such great hair after all these years. How long does it take you to do it?
Maybe a few minutes, that’s it. (Mimes combing and spraying.) Industrial-strength weatherman’s hair spray. It can withstand wind gusts over 180 mph.
I actually did a story on a wind tunnel and how hurricane-force winds or high winds can affect you, and how it feels to the body. And I did get up to, I think it was maybe 110- or 120-mph wind. Did not affect the hair. So I know for a fact it can withstand 120 mph winds.
I’m gonna be selling that hair spray at the corner of Billy Graham and South Tryon later today, if you guys want to stop by and buy some.
Q. Ha. Well, thanks for doing this. Oh, and how old did you say you were again?
(Laughing.) Same age as my hair.
Uniquely Charlotte: Uniquely Charlotte is an Observer subscriber collection of moments, landmarks and personalities that define the uniqueness (and pride) of why we live in the Charlotte region.
This story was originally published March 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
