DENVER His name and style of delivering crucial information on a nightly basis has become synonymous with weather in Colorado.He really is a weather wizard, said Kim Christiansen, one of Mike Nelsons former colleagues.Christiansen worked with Nelson when he first arrived in Colorado back in the early 90s.He was the first person I ever saw who would sleep at the station, she said. Just own it. Say, This is a big deal." But his career started long before that all the way back in Madison, Wisconsin when he met Terry Kelly in the late 70s.Well, when I met Mike first, it was because I was an ice cream fan and I still am to this day and Im 78, said Kelly who is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society. Between the 6 and 10 oclock shows that I was doing, I used to go over to Baskin Robbins and get some ice cream, and who was serving ice cream behind the counter but Mike Nelson.An ambitious ice cream scooper with his head in the clouds so-to-speak, asking Terry, the local weatherman, over and over if he could come and check out the TV station. Maybe could he even empty my trash? Maybe he could clean up the office? Maybe he could do anything," said Terry.He added that Mike would have worked for nothing, but as it turned out this kid chasing rainbows scored a paid internship.We were using cardboard pull up boards that you pull up like this to show temperatures or push them down to show where the clouds were, Kelly said. It was very crude. And we had carved zip-a-tone, Im not sure if you know what that is but its colored plastic. And we had carved clouds on the map.A career and a man now on cloud nine, Mike would go on to work in St. Louis for six years and would eventually land on the newly launched 4 p.m. newscast at KUSA in Denver.It was quite the team, Christiansen said. In a lot of ways, it was kind of the dream team in that we had this really magical connection amongst each other.Christiansen remembers the show being a hit, and Mike stealing the thunder as viewership snowballed into a huge following.And he set the standard for being involved in the community, she said. Both Christiansen and Kelly said Mike set the bar with appearances outside of TV.And thats really how you build a following, Christiansen said.Mikes move to Denver7 quickly took KMGH to first place in the Nielsen ratings at 5 p.m. in 2005 when he left KUSA and crossed the street.He became one of the most sought-after guests in schools across Colorado with his trademark tornado dance.Incredible time he spent with students, teachers, and others, Kelly said.With the school visits that was next level, Christiansen said. Because youre impacting the next generation and beyond. Kids today who are now grown adults remember Mike.And he deserves more credit for that than anything else in my opinion, Kelly said.But as they say, the sun is now setting on this long chapter of Mikes life, as he throws caution to the wind to shine a light on his longtime passion of climate change.If I know Mike hell be very busy with his new career selling land for wind farms and land for solar, Kelly said.He cares so much about whats happening with our planet and our Earth, Christiansen said. Related video: What is Mike Nelson doing after retirement? He discusses with Colorado Public Radio. What is Mike Nelson doing after retirement? He discusses with Colorado Public RadioA weatherman who quite literally changed the world, by developing weather technology to warn and inform.Those systems are today used still in more television stations around the world than any others, Kelly said.A man who helped all Coloradans weather too many storms to count.Oh, I wish him very best, Christiansen said. I hope he has all the time in the world with his family the people you love. Someone said recently, The gift of time. The gift of time. We cant put a value on it.