today’s list is a summer scorcher, as we’re taking a look at some of the most beautiful meteorologists, weather girls and news anchors to hit the airwaves in recent years. Good looks and talent in abundance, these women cast a spell over their millions of viewers based all over the world.
Maria Quiban
Maria has a long-standing reputation as the weather anchor for KTTV in LA. Her origins are a little more humble, being born in the Philippines and relocating to Hawaii before her tenth birthday. It was here that she embarked on a Journalism major, eventually landing a role on KHNL in Honolulu after graduation. The big cities were starting to call her name, and producers in America were keen to see her make the move. She worked a job in Orange Country in 1998, before moving to KTTV in 2000.
Maria Quiban
Chita Craft
Knoxville born Chita Craft is popular among viewers for her charm, wit, and bombshell-like appearance. She received a formal qualification from Mississippi State University, which would lead her to KHOU 11 News This Morning in Houston, delivering the weather as lead meteorologist. It suffices to say that she doesn’t struggle to get up in the morning, with the show kicking off daily from as early as 4:30am. 2011 saw a move to Houston, following a two year streak of winning ‘Best Media Personality’ in the region.
Chita Craft
Jackie Johnson
California based Jackie Johnson wows viewers as the weather forecaster for KCBS-TV in Los Angeles. Starting her career as a weekend anchor in Florida, she would later get a full-time job with WSVN-TV in Miami as a reporter and meteorologist. A stint at KCAL 9 News would follow, before joining the team she is a part of now in 2010. Johnson has a career outside daytime television, appearing in several popular films as a version of herself, doing none other than reading the news or giving a weather update.
Jackie Johnson
Sian Welby
One of England’s treasures, Sian is well known for being animated and high energy during her weather reports. You can always count on her to deliver the right punchline for a joke, and to keep you entertained even in the worst of weather conditions. Welby’s career has spanned many channels, including ITV, BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Four years ago radio called her name, and she started presenting a national show on Heart FM on weeknights, to rave reviews. Talk about versatility!
Sian Welby
Mayte Carranco
Mayte Carranco is an internationally renowned meteorologist, and if you’ve seen her on air you’ll know that she takes her job very seriously. With roots in Nuevo Leon in Mexico, her career got its start on a different path initially, when she wanted to become a singer. The recording industry was not meant to be her forte, and a beauty pageant win back in 2007 would lead her to change direction completely. In 2009, she was dubbed Miss Televisa Monterrey out of some stiff competition that year.
Mayte Carranco
Marilu Kaufman
Originally from Mexico, Marilu is a force on Multimedios Television and Milenio TV. These platforms have made her a household name across the country, far from her humble beginnings on local cable newscast. Known for her eloquence and grace, Marilu has also been offered endorsements for television commercials, print ads and even being asked to star in a music video from time-to-time. It won’t be long before she reaches 200 000 Instagram followers, currently sitting at over 135 000.
Marilu Kaufman
Lluvia Carrillo
Lluvia Carrillo not only has a beautiful name that rolls off the tongue. The talented broadcaster first worked for Televisa Deportes, a Spanish based sports program. Since, she made the move to Televisa Monterrey, where she acted as a replacement for the popular broadcaster Yanet Garcia. Broadcasting aside, Carillo is also a renowned model and beauty queen, gracing the covers of many magazines. Some of her fashion spreads caught the eye of Javier Aquinho, who plays soccer for the Mexican National Soccer team. She seems to have found a good work-life balance in the process!
Lluvia Carrillo
Cristina Blackwell
Known for speaking multiple languages, Christina has origins in Mexico and Alabama. A lot of her childhood involved relocating from place to place, which made her more vulnerable to being a victim of bullying at schools. Skip to many years later, and with a degree from the University of Texas under her belt, she was now ready to take on the world of communications. The journey would lead her to Spanish and English networks, ultimately landing her a spot on Eyewitness News for Kens-TV 5, in a position she still happily occupies to this day.
Cristina Blackwell
Llarissa Abreu
Llarissa Abreu speaks multiple languages, typically delivering her forecast in Spanish and English. Now working as an on-air broadcaster for AccuWeather, her career has spanned many depths and multiple locations, ranging from Latino Vision TV and NBC to Univision. While being in front of the camera is her first love, she isn’t shy about stepping behind it either. This has opened up some new avenues for her in her career. As with many meteorologists, she cites her inspiration for a career in this field from being subjected to multiple extreme weather events early on in her life.
Llarissa Abreu
Yanet Garcilla
Speaking of household names, it’s likely that you’re heard of Yanet Garcilla, who has an astonishing 5 million followers on Instagram. The Mexican model turned meteorologist burst onto the scene in 2013 as part of a casting call for a popular reality series. The series made her recognisable to audiences of all types, and at just 27 years old, she is now the proud owner of her own modelling academy called Yanet Garcilla Models. Who knows where the next few years will take her, but we’re excited to go along for the ride.
Yanet Garcilla
Carolina Ramirez
Popular on social media, Carolina Ramirez has made a name for herself on screen and online. This Colombian beauty is a reality star turned weather girl, captivating hearts around the country as a contestant on Nuestra Belleza Latina at the start of the 2010’s. A Univision deal would result in her fanbase quadrupling overnight. This has led to other opportunities to grow her brand, including being a part of promotions for Premios Juventud VIP tours, as well as the Latin GRAMMY Street Parties. You go, girl!
Carolina Ramirez
Lauren Sanchez
Born in New Mexico, it didn’t take Lauren Sanchez long to realise that if she was going to achieve her dreams, she would need to move to Los Angeles. Right after graduation she hopped on the bus, degree in communication in tow. Her first gig was as a desk assistant for KCOP-TV in Los Angeles, eventually landing a gig as anchor for Phoenix’s KTVK-TV. More notably she has been part of the Extra team, also taking up short-term gigs with The View, Fox Sports Net and KTTV Fox-11.
Lauren Sanchez
Vera Jimenez
Vera didn’t have long to spend in the country of her birth, moving from Mexico to California when she was just three years old. With two degrees in two, including a meteorology qualification from Mississippi State, the 50-something beauty has a resume that spans multiple gigs. Her most notable jobs include working for KNX-AM, KTLA 5 News and News at 10 in LA. From traffic to weather and general broadcasting, Vera has won a series of awards for her work too, including two daytime Emmys. We spot a legend, don’t you?
Vera Jimenez
Lissette Gonzalez
It can be hard for beauty queens to transition from the stage to the screen, but Lissette Gonzalez made it look all too easy. This former Miss Florida and Miss Miami earned her chops by graduating from Mississippi State with a qualification in meteorology. This gave her a platform to be seen by the public, capitalising on her fame to boost a career as an off-Broadway actor and TV host. Now reporting for CBS in Miami, Lissette is very active in her local community, often visiting schools and speaking out about why children need to stay in school.
Lissette Gonzalez
Janice Villagran
This Mexican-American broadcaster and weather girl studied communications and got her big break on a show called En Vivo USA. In 2017, she began working for a new channel, on a modern news show called I Testigo TV. Her life is more than just her career, and she often talks about how she enjoys playing chess and reading in her spare time. With some engagements under her belt, her private life hasn’t been as simple to reference, although she’s open about enjoying her single status.
Janice Villagran
Elita Loresca
Elita Loresca is a renowned Filiphino-American journalist, currently anchoring a show for KTRK-TV in Texas. Starting as a news associate from humble beginnings, she served as a weather anchor (and sometimes assignment editor) in Bakersfield, before landing a gigi in Fresno. Loresca is well known as someone who isn’t afraid to weather the storms, covering a few of the biggest hurricanes in history, including the likes of Katrina, Wilma and Frances. We love someone who is willing to step out into the frontlines during a time of crisis!
Elita Loresca
Jackie Guerrido
Jackie Guerrida was born in Puerto Rico, growing up in a quiet community with little prospects for a career in broadcasting. A move to Miami and a job offer from WRMA would catapult her into fame, eventually even being offered her own music show on a local radio station. It didn’t take long for Univision to snap her up, offering her work as a meteorologist on Despierta America and Primer Impacto for a worthwhile timeframe. Currently, she is active as a co-anchor on the latter.
Jackie Guerrido
Leticia Castro
Born to Mexican parents living in California, Leticia was actually raised in Vegas, gaining popularity as a beauty pageant competitor locally and abroad in Mexico. Starring in a reality show would change the course of her life, and even though she came in fourth place of Nuestra Belleza Latina, she had some hosting opportunities pop up as a result of the exposure. Leticia has an active following on YouTube, where she creates her own content, on top of her weather anchor stints for ABC, Telemundo and others. Way to keep busy!
Leticia Castro
Evelyn Taft
Evelyn Taft is well known as one of the beautifies of television, known particularly for her polyglot status. The San Francisco native speaks four languages, opening up a sea of doors to her when she first started looking for work in broadcasting. Weather became her calling shortly after landing her first gig at KCAL-TV channel 9 in August of 2010. These days, she works as an anchor, news editor, journalist and director for KCAL, showcasing that she is far more than her gorgeous looks. Talk about someone to look up to.
Evelyn Taft
Sonya Hill
Sonya Hill hails out of Texas, although initially she didn’t have ambitions to be a weather girl. She competed with over seventy other women from all over the world at an international swimming competition, where she placed in the Top 10, and set her sights on a career in the water. Different waters would be awaiting her, and life would take her career in another direction. Currently employed by KZTV in Texas, Sonya has stayed close to her roots and now loves working as an anchor and reporter for KRIS Communications.
Sonya Hill
Gabriela Grechi
This Italian news anchor is renowned for voicing her opinion and lighting up any screen she is on. With a start as an actress in minor television roles back in the 90’s, Gabriela soon got work in television for a magazine-style show called Orario Continuato. This would lead to her first job as a weather reporter, following which she used the momentum and landed herself televisions sports, stints on sports programs and even hosting a couple of talk shows. Her beauty and talent are unwavering in growing her brand internationally, and today she is a household name.
Gabriela Grechi
Araksya Karaptyan
The Kardashians are not the only well known Armenian exports in the world. Araksya Karapetyan may have roots in Armenia, but her home is Los Angeles, where she presents Good Day L.A.Growing up in California and graduating from Syracuse University with a degree in international relations and broadcast journalism, Araksya’s career has blossomed right from the very start. Interning at a TV and a radio station simultaneously, she showed the kind of work ethic required to break into the industry back then, while still upholding those standards today.
Araksya Karaptyan
Naile Lopez
Naile Lopez had aspirations to be a model as soon as she graduated high school, taking headshots and doing her best to grab the attention of casting agents in Mexico City and Miami. In 2012, she had her eye on a career change, taking up a role as the weather anchor for Las Noticias Televisa Monterrey. She still holds this job all these years later, connecting with viewers on a daily basis. Some time spent in front of the camera has even encouraged her to give acting a go, landing a few local studio jobs in the process. The sky’s the limit, Naile!
Naile Lopez
Julia Durda
This Sacramento girl is known for spreading sunshine even on the gloomiest of days. Born in Sacramento in California, Julie graduated from Mississippi State, working in the area for KXTV, as well as branching out for roles on teams in Phoenix, Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Julia’s career has even gone national, considering her appearances on ABC’s World News and the popular daytime series Good Morning America. In 2012, she left the industry quaking in their boots, when she left WSVN for WPLG even before her contract was up.
Julia Durda
Sabrina Fein
Raised in San Diego but a California girl at heart, Sabrina Fine majored in Meteorology and Climatology from the University of Miami. Hurricane Andrew coverage from 1992 would plant the seed for a career in weather prediction and forecasting, and right after she graduated she set her sights on landing a gig in order to start contributing right away. In her long career, Sabrina has had jobs in Missouri and Texas, before coming home to San Diego 6 News, where she now serves as the long-standing evening meteorologist.
Sabrina Fein
Maria Timmer
The current PhD student at Central Michigan University had a long career as a meteorologist for Fox News before deciding to further her studies. Born in Nicaragua, Maria calls South Florida home, citing the experience of surviving hurricanes multiple times as part of the inspiration to get her into the industry in the first place. At the beginning of her career, she put in time with AccuWeather in Pennsylvania, showcasing her bilingual skills and presenting in both Spanish and English.
Maria Timmer
Sheena Parveen
This thirty two year old beauty was born in India, and has had a long career as a television personality. Also acquiring a degree from Florida State, like a couple of people on this list, Parveen has worked as a reporter for NBC 10 and WCTV in Tallahassee and Tampa. The former would be considered her big break, giving her the chance to be both meteorologist and weather forecaster. She stayed in the role for two years, before switching things up and heading for Washington D.C, where she took up a post at NBC 4.
Sheena Parveen
Megan Glaros
Megan Glaros is a name you’ll be all-too-familiar with if you’re a TV fan in Chicago. This reporter and meteorologist completed a degree in atmospheric sciences and journalism from Indiana University before packing her bags and moving to South Florida to be part of Local 10 morning news. The move would be career altering, as it exposed her to some of the biggest natural disasters in the history of the region, including covering Katrina, Rita, Wilma and more. With previous jobs in New York, Maryland and West Virginia, Megan can also be seen on Good Morning America from time to time.
Megan Glaros
Bri Winkler
Bri Winkler is a special addition to this list, considering she is one of the youngest people to make the cut. Born in 1988, her career started back in Amarillo, Texas, where she co-hosted Today in Amarillo. Her big break would come in 2011 when she was asked to join ABC’s Eyewitness News, but it would be a health scare that would change the course of her life. Surviving a stroke at just 24, her complete recovery made national headlines. 2017 came around and with this new perspective, she decided that it was time to leave EWN, in order to further her studies. An inspiration to us all!
Bri Winkler
Indra Petersons
Indra Petersons first burst onto the scene as the fiery Latvian for CNN’s New Day and CNN Newsroom. A self-professed overachiever, she completed a degree in Atmospheric Physics in 2002, with minors in math, physics and business. She was scooped up by KVIA in El Paso, as well as KEYT in Santa Barbara before being picked up by CNN, where she wowed audiences and was well known for asking all the right kind of questions.
Indra Petersons
Alex Wilson
Now in her mid-thirties, Alex Wilson has been a part of The Weather Channel for over seven years. Viewers love to see her reporting during the afternoon news, alongside Dave Shwartz. With a Syracuse University qualification in Broadcast Journalism and Marketing under her belt, she decided that education was important enough to further her studies after, gaining a second qualification in meteorology at Penn State shortly after. A few odd jobs on air in West Virginia and South Carolina would eventually lead her to The Weather Channel, and the rest is history.
Alex Wilson
Dylan Dreyer
Dylan Dreyer is well known as one of the hardest working meteorologists in the business. Known for her stint on NBC News, she now works for MSNBC, The Today Show for NBC as well as NBC Nightly News. Her diverse range of projects have exposed her to a multitude of audiences. Starting from the bottom and working her way up, small-town gigs in Pennsylvania and Boston would eventually lead to her big break, but not before she paid her dues. Kudos to her for an incredible work ethic that inspires others.
Dylan Dreyer
Raegan Medgie
Raegan Medgie first felt inspired by the thought of a possible broadcasting career as a part of Temple University’s Temple Update TV station. The student run station would lead her to gigs in Pennsylvania and New York. New York City would prove to be her big break, when she moved from The Weather Channel to WCBS, landing up at FOX5 shortly after. Her story continues, built out of a passion for broadcasting that dates back to her student days.
Raegan Medgie
Jennifer Delgado
Jennifer Delgado got her start in the industry in Richmond Virginia, where she served as meteorologist for WTVR-TV for twenty four months. Better opportunities came knocking soon, with a move towards CNN International not long after. The channel gave her the opportunity to diversify a little more, where she could talk about international natural disasters and comment on tornado season, Hurricane Sandy and more. Since then, she has moved to The Weather Channel, a gig that would be compromised in 2016, after she made headlines for insensitive statements about Haitian children. Yikes.
Jennifer Delgado
Erin Nicole
This Michigan native graduated from Mercy High School, ken to pursue a career in broadcasting and entertainment right out of high school. A trip to New York would kickstart the process, and in 2002 she was offered a job as a reporter for UPN and CBS in the Detroit region. In 2004, she served as hostess for the Detroit Pistons home games as well as appearing on their shows weekly. On the personal front, Erin had her first child Lillian Marie in 2013, and now focuses a lot on her family life.
Erin Nicole
Robin Meade
This former Miss Ohio has had a long career as a news anchor and country music artist. Growing up in Ohio would prepare her for her beauty pageant roles, but she would need to gain a qualification at Ashland University to learn more about radio and broadcasting. She even minored in political science, just to expand her world view a bit! With multiple gigs in Chicago, Columbus, Cleveland and Miami, she is a force in the industry, currently hosting CNN”s HLN.
Robin Meade
Domenica Davis
This Boston University graduate has come a long way since her roots in Italy. A Broadcast Meteorology major, she has held down multiple high-profile weather forecasting jobs for NBC and Fox News. For the past ten years, she has been based out of New York. Now a mother of two children, Domenica likes to keep her private life out of the papers. Even her marital status, or relationship status, is very much under wraps to the day.
Domenica Davis
Shay Ryan
This Florida girl has roots in Fort Lauderdale, graduating from the University of Florida with a degree in Telecommunications. Taking her career to Mississippi State, she completed a masters degree in Geoscience, which would eventually lead her to cover all sorts of storms, heatwaves, floods and hurricanes all over the country. Shay currently has a position in Tampa and St. Petersburg, acting as lead meteorologist for WFTS-TV.
Shay Ryan
Kait Parker
Kait Parker has grown quite a following on weather.com and other platforms as a meteorologist who isn’t shy to speak up about environmental issues. Going as far as to creating a documentary series called Toxic Lake: The Untold Story of Lake Okeechobee in 2016, she has been shining a spotlight on Florida’s water management issues and related problems. Her career had an early start in Alabama and across Florida, before she settled with The Weather Channel. More recently she has left her post there, now focusing her efforts on environmental activism full-time.
Kait Parker
Ximena Cordoba
Ximena Cordoba not only has a name that rolls of the tongue so wonderfully but also has a CV that is equally wonderful. The Colombian beauty got her start in acting, starring on the reality show Protagonistas de Novela. This has led to a lot of telenovela gigs, giving her national fame and recognition and making her a popular feature in the local culture. More serious opportunities would follow, showcasing her diversity, working for TNT, Fox Sport, and Fox Deportes. Her wonderful personality is well known for brightening the day, regardless of the weather conditions.
Ximena Cordoba
Susana Almeida
Susana is one of a couple of Mexican beauties on our list. The beloved television presenter holds down a news program in Guadalajara in Mexico. The one blip in a seemingly flawless career so far is a wardrobe malfunction on air back in 2016. This happened live, leading to a lot of unwanted attention. Not one to be bogged down by the bad press, Almeida picked herself back up and carried on doing what she does best. Kudos to her for not letting a setback like that phase her too much. Perhaps that is why she is one of the best broadcasters out there today.
Susana Almeida