Covering the weather in TV news has changed greatly since the 1970s. Instead of news anchorpersons doing brief one-minute weather segments, there are now several weather forecasters at each news station.

Weather has become an important segment that will likely continue to be a fixture in future newscasts. In 1972, KHVH (now KITV) introduced a 6 1⁄2-inch doll that never spoke to help forecast the weather. This month we look back at Imi Loa, a popular weather forecaster that may have changed the course of weather presentation.

The late Terry Zahn came to KITV in 1974 to anchor the weekend and 10 p.m. newscasts. "Imi Loa was developed as a way for on-air personalities not to get the blame for inaccurate forecasts. Who was going to blame a weather doll?" said Zahn’s widow, Jean Takehara Zahn, a Roosevelt graduate now living in Virginia. KITV anchorpersons would introduce Imi Loa and ask him if it would be sunny or rainy. His accuracy record would appear on the screen.

The anchorpersons would also try and banter with the doll and at times the results were hilarious. "One evening, Terry said that Imi’s scores were pretty bad for the week. Cut to a tight shot of Imi leaning against a prop miniature lamp post. Suddenly, you see Jim Leahey’s fist enter the shot as he punches Imi, who goes flying out of the shot. The guys had a lot of irreverent humor and had fun with Imi," Zahn said.

KITV viewers would mail in outfits from kimonos to aloha shirts to kilts for the doll, which would change outfits frequently.

In an obvious attempt to bring in ratings, Imi Loa was once kidnapped and held for ransom. Weeks went by with irate phone calls and letters coming into the station demanding it be returned. Imi Loa was eventually "rescued" and returned to the station, but after an incorrect weather forecast, Imi Loa was fired on air by Zahn and not seen on local television again.

"Bob Sevey always took the position that the weather was never news in Hawaii unless it was news and then covered as such. The weather was essentially the same every day. No one really argued against that. But then, along came Imi Loa. That planted the seed which eventually grew into the high-tech weather segments we know today," said Don Rockwell, who anchored with Zahn at KITV during the 1970s.

In 1975, the station overhauled its news staff, letting several anchors and reporters go, including Zahn. Imi Loa was replaced by actual on-air talent to handle the weather for the station, Emme Tomimbang.

The Zahns took Imi Loa with them to the mainland. "Imi Loa has been a good-luck charm, as far as weather goes, in every city we have lived in," Zahn said. "When I tell my friends here (in Virginia) about Imi, they tell me I can never leave or take Imi with me."

At the KITV studios there is a wall of history and Imi Loa is displayed among the popular personalities, news reporters and anchorpersons who have helped shape the station over the past 60 years.

"Whoever came up with the idea of Imi Loa actually had a clever marketing idea. When I heard about the passing of Sharie Shima, Hawaii’s first on-air meteorologist, I realized how far from the Imi days local weather coverage had become," Zahn said.

A.J. McWhorter, a collector of film and videotape cataloging Hawaii’s TV history, has worked as a producer, writer and researcher for both local and national media. Email him at flashback@hawaii.rr.com.