Audience says goodbye to weatherman Piet Paulusma in Harlingen | show

Two ladies from Zwaagwesteinde, who had been waiting for some time, were the first to enter. Moments later, former lawyer Hans Anker arrived at the building. “Very impressive”, Anker said after his farewell greeting. He did not know that Paulusma, whom he describes as ‘accessible, approachable and accessible’, was ill. The mayor of Harlingen and Jan Slagter, director of Omroep MAX, were also present early on. Meanwhile, the guests are trickling in. The municipality has deployed traffic controllers to guide the influx in the right direction.

Paulusma was seen on Dutch television for 25 years. After 23 years at SBS, where he broke through with his weather reports around the 1997 Elfstedentocht, he started working for Omroep MAX in January 2020. He always presented Piets Weer at outdoor locations and always concluded with ‘oant moarn, see you tomorrow’. He was also heard on NPO Radio 5. Paulusma last provided his weather forecast on television on Thursday 17 March. A day later he could still be heard on the radio.

Paulusma, who had learned the trade herself, made his first weather forecasts for the Franeker Courant. He worked for Omrop Fryslân and other media for about forty years. He was also a weatherman at major Frisian events such as the Elfstedentocht, the Skûtsjesilen, the Sneekweek and the PC handball competitions in Franeker. Paulusma was voted the most popular weather forecaster in the Netherlands three times. In January he was appointed knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

,,I am very happy that the Netherlands has always looked at me. I want to thank them for that. In four years there will be an Elfstedentocht. Will you think of me then?”, Paulusma said to his employer Slagter a day before his death.

Paulusma’s funeral will be private on Saturday.