Don Woods (c. 1927 – June 12, 2012) was an American
meteorologist and cartoonist. He was the first television weatherman in
Oklahoma to hold a degree in meteorology. He started his Oklahoma career in
1954 on Tulsa's ABC affiliate television station, KTUL. He used a cartoon
character called Gusty during his weather forecasts every night, drawing
on-air, with a reference to recent weather as the focus of his simple
line-drawn character. Woods used Gusty to demonstrate how to be weather smart during
thunderstorm and tornado activity. At various times, Gusty would also be drawn
swimming, fishing, water skiing, or playing American football.
Gusty was a responsible individual — raking leaves in the
fall, mowing the grass in the summer, or sometimes just relaxing with a good
book. Every night during the weather forecast, Woods would announce a winner
for that night's original Gusty. The Gusty drawings became one of the longest
promotions for KTUL, lasting from the mid-1950s until Woods's retirement in
1989.
Gusty drawings are installed in Tulsa's Gilcrease Museum and
the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. Woods's work was part of a 2010
exhibition on Oklahoma cartoonists at the Oklahoma History Center. Woods has
received numerous local, state, and national awards and recognitions. Perhaps
as a testament to his love of weather, Don Woods taught at Tulsa Community
College for a time. And as for a sign of recognition for his influence on those
that watched his weather reports, and Woods' live drawings of Gusty, a special
honor came to him in April 2005, when Gusty was named Oklahoma's state cartoon.
