"All of us at WTAE are praying for Don's swift recovery, as well as a massive, crippling winter storm in the five-day forecast." PITTSBURGH - WTAE News Director Bob Longo released a statement today announcing that Weather Watch 4 Meteorologist Don Schwenneker is being treated for depression. According to an anonymous source at the station, Schwenneker had been spending long hours staring at the Doppler Radar Screen searching for Arctic Clippers or lake-effect snow. Schwenneker reportedly hadn't left the station since last Friday when a rare warm spell gripped the region with temperatures well above the norm. When Anchorman Mike Clark arrived for work Monday, he found an unkempt, unshaven Schwenneker at his desk, surrounded by the latest storm modules and mason jars filled with urine. Security escorted Schwenneker from the premises. Longo cited an extremely mild January with a concurrent lack of precipitation as the primary reasons for Schwenneker's condition. "All of us at WTAE are praying for Don's swift recovery, as well as a massive, crippling winter storm in the five-day forecast. The combination of heavy snow and heavy doses of psychotropic drugs should have Don up and around in no time," said Longo. Schwenneker is the second WTAE meteorologist this year to succumb to a mild form of mental illness. Stephen Cropper underwent electro-shock therapy to help him deal with his own depression after Hurricane Katrina failed to deliver flooding rains to the Pittsburgh area last fall.
