Dan Satterfield, who served for nearly two decades as chief meteorologist at Huntsville television station WHNT, is retiring after a dozen years at an East Coast station.

The Oklahoma native left WHNT after 17 years to become the chief meteorologist for WBOC on the Delmarva Peninsula, which straddles Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

After 12 years in his latest role, Satterfield announced his retirement Thursday, according to WBOC.

“Dan is among the top meteorologists in the country when it comes to television,” Draper Media President Craig Jahelka said. “We’ve heard from people who tell us that they think they’re alive today because of what Dan Satterfield and WBOC did to give them early warnings.”

Draper Media owns six television stations, including WBOC.

While Satterfield will be retired, the meteorologist may occasionally be on the WBOC airwaves as a volunteer fill-in meteorologist if needed.

Satterfield was praised at WHNT as “a pioneer in weather coverage in the Tennessee Valley” and as “a leader in the consortium” between WHNT, the University of Alabama in Huntsville and NASA that launched the first live dual polarimetric radar in the nation. ARMOR Doppler radar is the only dual pol radar in the Tennessee Valley.