Al Roker

Albert Lincoln "Al" Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American television personality, weather forecaster, actor, and book author. He is best known as being the weather anchor on NBC's Today. From Monday, July 20, 2009 to Friday, October 2, 2015, he co-hosted his morning show, Wake Up with Al, on The Weather Channel, which aired weekdays live from 5:30 to 7:00 am ET one hour and a half earlier than Today. Roker also appears occasionally on NBC Nightly News. He holds an expired American Meteorological Society Television Seal #238. Writing with Dick Lochte, Roker began a series of murder mysteries in 2009 that feature Billy Blessing, a celebrity chef turned amateur detective. The second book in the series, The Midnight Show Murders (2010), was nominated for a 2011 Nero Award. On November 12, 2014, 10 PM EST, Roker attempted to beat the previous unofficial world record for an uninterrupted live weather report of 33-hours held by Norwegian weather broadcaster Eli Kari Gjengedal. On November 14, 2014, 8 AM EST, Roker set the new official Guinness World Record by reporting for 34-hours.

Roker

Coordinates: 54°55′23″N 1°21′58″W / 54.923°N 1.366°W / 54.923; -1.366

Roker (/ˈroʊkər/, local /ˈrɔːkər/) is a tourist resort and affluent area of Sunderland, North East England, bounded on the south by the River Wear and Monkwearmouth, on the east by the North Sea, to the west by Fulwell and on the north by Seaburn. It is administered as part of the City of Sunderland.

The majority of the houses in Roker are terraced or semi-detached. Further west, to the part bordering Fulwell, are cul-de-sacs with semi-detached bungalows, these being owned mainly by members of Roker's sizeable elderly population. Roker was known worldwide for being home to Roker Park, home of Sunderland A.F.C. for ninety-nine years until 1997.

In addition to Seaburn seafront, the coast at Roker seafront plays host to Sunderland International Airshow, the biggest free airshow in Europe, which takes place each year, usually over the last weekend in July.

On the site of Sunderland AFC's former stadium is a small housing estate, its street names all being references to the football club (Clockstand Close, Goalmouth Close, etc.). The streets in between Roker Baths Road and Roker Avenue are all named after members of William Ewart Gladstone's cabinet (Gladstone, Hartington, Forster, Bright, Stansfield, and so on). On Roker Terrace (Roker's main street) are exclusive apartments and hotels which overlook the seafront.