John Morales

John Morales is the Chief Meteorologist for NBC 6.

Updated 10:44 AM EST, Wed, Jul 29, 2009

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Award-winning meteorologist, John Morales, joined NBC 6 as Chief Meteorologist on May 18, 2009.

Widely known and trusted by South Florida viewers, Morales has been a familiar face and reassuring presence in the South Florida market for nearly 20 years. His accurate weather predictions aided viewers during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and throughout the unprecedented eight hurricane strikes in the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. In 2005, Morales was honored with the second of his two Emmy Awards for his coverage of Hurricane Wilma. In what could be considered his most important scientific recognition, Morales earned the 2007 American Meteorological Society Outstanding Contribution to the Advance of Applied Meteorology Award.

Born in Schenectady, New York of an Irish-American father and a Puerto Rican mother, John was raised in Puerto Rico and later returned to his roots in New York to attend the meteorology program at prestigious Cornell University.

After graduation in 1984, he was hired by the U.S. National Weather Service to work in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Lake Charles, Louisiana and Washington, D.C. During his government career, John became a Lead Forecaster before accepting a position as Chief of the South American Desk at the National Center for Environmental Prodictions.

From 1991 through 2002, Morales served as Chief Meteorologist for the Univision Network and its Miami Affiliate station, WLTV. From 2003 through 2008, he served as Chief Meteorologist for the local Telemundo station, WSCV-Telemundo 51, the sister station of NBC 6. While there, he became the first Hispanic to substitute as meteorologist on NBC’s weekend edition of the Today show and did so multiple times.

Among his many credentials, John Morales holds the National Weather Association and the American Meteorological Society Seal of Approval for Radio and TV weathercasting, and has won the Broadcaster of the Year Award from both organizations. In addition, he is accredited by the American Meteorological Association as a Certified Consulting Meteorologist and a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist.

In 1997, Morales participated in Vice President Al Gore’s White House conference on global warming and climate changes. He is the author of "Hurricanes: Know Your Enemy," an everyday reference book on hurricanes. In 1993, he received an Emmy Award for "48 Hours Before the Storm," an informational program detailing life-saving measures and precautions to take in preparation for a hurricane.

Morales, his wife Carmen and their family reside in Miami. In his free time, he enjoys piloting his Cessna 210.

Email John: John.Morales@nbcuni.com