Neil Frank, a former Director of the National Hurricane Center and longtime meteorologist for Houston’s CBS affiliate, died over the holidays.
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Frank passed away on Dec. 19, as reported by KHOU 11, where he served as chief meteorologist from 1987 to 2008. The station shared that the 94-year-old had entered hospice care just one day earlier.
Born in Kansas in 1931, Frank originally planned to study physical education and become a high school basketball coach. However, one of his professors suggested he study chemistry instead, so he could teach chemistry if coaching didn’t work out.
Dr. Neil Frank was not only a great meteorologist but he was an even better person. A great Christian. He was 92 in this picture from November of 2023. We celebrated KHOU-TV’s 70th anniversary that day and looked great, in his ever-present flat top! Rest in Peace my friend. 🙏❤️ pic.twitter.com/PfhIibDdHw
— Matt Musil (@MattMusilSports) December 24, 2025
In his senior year of college, the military drafted Frank and chose to join the Air Force. With his chemistry background, the Air Force trained him in weather forecasting, where he discovered a passion for the field.
Meteorologist Neil Frank’s Pioneering Work in His Field
During research flights over the Caribbean Sea, far from any desert, Frank’s team noticed a layer of dust on the plane’s wing. Analysis revealed it came from the Saharan Desert, thousands of miles away. This dust, now named the “Saharan Air Layer,” is known to significantly impact hurricane development and is tracked daily in Atlantic tropical updates.
Frank joined the National Hurricane Center as a forecaster in 1961, before satellites could track storms. By 1974, as director, he oversaw advances in forecasting technology, including the first probability system used to predict Hurricane Alicia’s path in 1983.
Alicia hit Houston, leading to the development of the forecast cone system used by meteorologists today.
After 25 years at the Hurricane Center, Frank joined KHOU 11 as Houston’s chief meteorologist in 1987. For over two decades, he used his expertise to keep the community safe, occasionally appearing on the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather.
Even after leaving the station in 2008, he continued to support the new chief meteorologist, David Paul, by sharing advice from his extensive experience.
The station called Frank, “a true family man with children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.”