“I haven’t invented anything, I try to explain phenomena so that they are understood by everyone. There are two rules in this sense: what you say must be true and it must be understood.” Paolo Sottocorona spoke like this, much more than a simple meteorologist, who died suddenly on Wednesday at the age of 77.

He had been on air until a few hours earlier, appearing around 8am before “Omnibus” and at 1pm, within “L’Aria che tira”. Circumstances that further amplify the shock and the perception of disorientation.

A symbol of the network

At La7 since 2002 and previously at Telemontecarlo, he had become a symbol of the network, capable of identifying it even more than Enrico Mentana. Sottocorona was a phenomenon, in every sense, with its eight-minute daily appointment which often achieved the share record for the entire day. “The time has an impact, if I did the weather forecast at 11 it would total less, it’s normal. At the beginning of the day it’s an expected moment.”

Born in 1947, after his classical studies he initially enrolled in the faculty of engineering. The passion for meteorology came only later. “I had to serve in the military and from there I began my experience in the meteorological service. For a while I managed to work and take exams, but the balance was broken. I slowed down with the exams and I reached the crossroads, either I became an engineer or a meteorologist. I chose the second path. I had 6-7 exams to go before graduation, but I couldn’t follow two paths at the same time. At that point I took the competition to move up the ranks and became Officer on duty permanent and no longer temporary. I remained in the weather service for 25 years, before leaving and continuing as a freelancer.”

If Rai has always relied on the Air Force and Mediaset on Meteo.it, La7 has been pursuing a commercial agreement with 3BMeteo since 2018. Yet Sottocorona had never left, building his own impassable and recognizable little garden. A real world apart.

He knew he was unique

Interviewed last July by Todaydid not give up the irony: “They asked Einstein why he often went to visit the neighbor’s child and he replied that he liked his snacks and that the little boy liked the way he did his math homework. It goes without saying that I’m not Einstein, but evidently someone likes the way I do my homework.”

He knew he was unique: “I believe that rather than the Sottocorona forecasts, we can talk about the forecasts according to Sottocorona. Perhaps the way of sharing them with those who follow me changes, compared to other colleagues. I certainly put my own spin on it, I add information, comments, some reflections on the weather and on life, it’s not the naked forecast. And then there are the much appreciated meteorological photos that they send me”. Yes, because in addition to the predictions, Paolo had activated a close correspondence with the public, including suggestions, curiosities and images transmitted during his small space. A direct, confidential relationship that generated inevitable empathy: “I carry out this job in the way that I think is technically best, I put all my effort into it. I’m happy when people stop me on the street and tell me that they understand what I’m saying.”

The relationship of affection (and respect) with the public

In the summer, a period in which alarmists were unleashed, Sottocorona put on his armor and threw himself into battle. “One of the trends I can’t stand is the names given to heat waves: Charon, Lucifer and so on. They mimic the mechanisms of hurricanes in America. But there they have very specific regulations, you can’t give the first names that come to mind. Here, however, a site invents a name and everyone follows suit.”

Profoundly respectful of his audience, in his analyzes he never exceeded seventy-two hours: “The three-day forecast is a trend line. Beyond five days you enter the fog, at seven you already go crazy, especially in the chronology. If on Monday you want to know if it rains the following Sunday because you have to get married, I can’t give you certainties.” Yes, weddings. People really consulted him in view of the wedding: “And not only that: also for communions, trips, fairs and for the stages of the Giro d’Italia!”.

The weather will certainly continue to exist. Sottocorona, on the contrary, will no longer be born.