Piet Paulusma
Weatherman and presenter Piet Paulusma has died at the age of 65, Omrop Fryslân reports. Paulusma had had cancer for quite some time, but chose to keep it quiet. He died in hospital in Leeuwarden.
Earlier this weekend, Paulusma’s condition deteriorated sharply. “We are amazed that it would go so quickly,” his twin brother Lume Paulusma told Omrop Fryslân. “We would still do a lot, but that is no longer possible. I think it is terrible.”
‘Everything had to change for the weather’
The Frisian weatherman made his radio debut with Omrop Fryslân in 1985. Later he did the weather forecast on television, both for Omrop Fryslân and for RTV Noord. He was still involved with those broadcasters.
From 1996 Paulusma became the regular weather forecaster of SBS6. In Piets Weather Forecast he came every day from a different outdoor location in the country with the weather forecast. He closed the program, broadcast after Heart of the Netherlandsstandard with the Frisian words oant moarn (‘see you tomorrow’).
“Piet had a passion for the weather. Everything had to make way for that. That had to continue. Whatever happened, he had to and would do it again,” said his twin brother.
At the end of 2019, Paulusma stopped working at SBS6. As of January 1, 2020 Piets Weer can be seen at Omroep MAX and heard on NPO Radio 5. Last Friday he presented a weather forecast on the radio. “It is unbelievable how bravely Piet endured his illness. As long as it went on, he wanted to continue working,” says Omroep MAX director Jan Slagter.
Royal award
In January of this year, Paulusma was appointed knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau because of his commitment to Friesland and various charities. “It does a lot to me,” he said at the time.
Paulusma received the royal decoration from the king’s commissioner in the province of Friesland Arno Brok. He praises the weatherman as “ambassador for Friesland and the Frisian language”. “His weather forecast was an anchor point on the day for decades.”
