'Today' weatherman Willard Scott retiring after decades on TV

Few faces could be more familiar to more Americans than longtime NBC weatherman Willard Scott, after 65 years at the network and 35 with the Today show.

But we won't be seeing him on TV anymore; Scott, 81, and NBC announced Friday he's retiring, hopefully to someplace with no weather to speak of (i.e., not Florida).

The news should be a blow to American centenarians or those soon to become one; saluting people who had reached the age of 100 had been Scott's special task in recent years.

The Today show plans a send-off tribute to Scott's work on Tuesday.

The genial Scott was the show's signature weatherman until he announced his semi-retirement in 1996, when Al Roker took over the job.

The Twitter tributes have already begun.

In recent years, Scott has appeared once or twice a week to mark the 100th birthdays of viewers. He began working at NBC as a 16-year-old page in the network's Washington bureau.

Scott, by the way, got married last year, at the age of 80. He and longtime partner Paris Keena were married in Fort Myers, Fla., after 11 years together.

Willard Scott weds longtime love!

The Today anchors on Friday recalled memorable Scott moments, such as the time he was stationed on the street during President George H.W. Bush's inaugural parade in 1989. The new first lady, Barbara Bush, peeled away from the parade to give him a kiss.

"America's first family chose to single out America's weatherman and I remember smiling from ear to ear at that moment for Willard," said Today anchor Matt Lauer.

Why did Barbara buss him? She explained at the time that she didn't actually know Scott. "I said, 'I don't know him I just love that face,'" Bush said.

Scott was delighted. "How about that? I've been kissed by the best."