This afternoon's surprise announcement that The Weather Channel will return to DirecTV after a nasty public dispute over programming and finances came as a shock to almost everyone who's kept up with the situation over the last couple of months.

Variety reports that The Weather Channel unexpectedly announced today that it is returning to the DirecTV channel lineup tomorrow after agreeing to reduce its reality programming by half on weekdays, and its CEO David Kenny apologized for the ugly public flap.

DirecTV and WeatherNation have signed a 'multi-year' deal to keep the fledgling weather network on the satellite provider's channel lineup, according to a joint press release from the two companies.

Like a jilted lover bent on revenge, The Weather Channel is far from getting over its nasty breakup with DirecTV this past January. The Atlanta-based weather network filed an official complaint with the Federal Communications Commission on February 7, alleging that its replacement network on DirecTV — WeatherNation, which broadcasts to over 20 million homes in the United States — puts deaf and hard of hearing viewers at risk with its sometimes wildly inaccurate closed captioning.