ABC7 honors Dallas Raines for 40 years of forecasting Southern California's weather

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- It was 1984, a year Los Angeles was bustling with the energy of the Summer Olympics. But along with all the athletes swinging into town, over at KABC someone else was about to make a big splash.

That was when meteorologist Dallas Raines arrived from CNN, sporting a thick headful of hair, a gold-medal tan and the perfect name for a weather expert.

And now ABC7 is honoring Dallas for his 40 years of forecasting Southern California's weather.

Or as fan and longtime watcher Jimmy Kimmel joked, perhaps Dallas has the skills to do more than just forecast....

"On the day I got married to my beautiful wife Molly, it looked like there was going to be a thunderstorm and it was an outdoor wedding and we were out in Ojai," Kimmel recalled.

"And I called Dallas and I said, 'Dallas, please, is there anything you could do?' And Dallas went outside on this front lawn .... He looked up at the sky and he shouted at the thunderclouds, 'Go away! I beseech thee!' And the sky cleared, we had a beautiful wedding thanks to the power of Mr. Dallas Raines."

Over the years, Dallas has perfected a series of trademark gestures and motions. There's the four-knuckle forecast. The whirl. The swing. And of course, the crouch.

"Forty years with KABC. Dallas Raines you are a legend!" said ABC News meteorologist Ginger Zee.

"You are Los Angeles weather," said Lisa Ann Walter, of "Abbott Elementary." "You're mostly sunny and sometimes a little windy."

And among his biggest fans are his colleagues at the station.

"You are really just a ray of sunshine and a big bright spot in my life," said ABC7 meteorologist Leslie Lopez.

"Unique, incredibly talented, knowledgeable amazing guy that he is," said meteorologist Danny Romero. "One of one."

For his decades of service, the Walt Disney Co. is honoring Dallas with an anniversary statue.

"Dallas, I want to congratulate you on achieving your 40-year milestone with the company," Disney CEO Bob Iger said. "As someone who's been with the company for 50 years this year, it means that you've worked with me for 40 of the 40 years that you've been around - well minus 11 months. Anyway, congratulations on your 40-years anniversary. And thanks for all that you do for KABC, Eyewitness News and for the city of Los Angeles."