When he steps out into the KARE-11 Backyard, he's immediately reassuring--even if he's about to proclaim another record-cold evening or an anticipated 14-inch snowfall. Is it the quirky, crooked smile? The way he looks so suave in that winter overcoat? The mellifluous voice that predicts without panicking? Back in 1994, when KARE-11 tapped Barlow to lead its weather team after Paul Douglas left for his short-lived stint in Chicago, few in the Twin Cities weather-watching community thought the station's second-string meteorologist since 1990 would outgrow the shadow of his predecessor. But has taken his scientific skills and made himself at home in the Backyard, where he anchors the weather on the weekday broadcasts at 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., and 10:00 p.m. He's the epitome of easygoing, calmly alerting us to approaching storms without making it sound like the apocalypse, and eagerly sharing our hope for the first true sunny days of spring. In a world where it seems like weather reports are wrong half the time anyway, here's an Everyman you can trust.