Veronica Johnson is an American meteorologist who is the chief meteorologist at

WJLA-TV WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (alongside dual Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF hannel 45in Baltimore), and is also sister to ...

. She was named a Fellow of the

American Meteorological Society The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is the premier scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the Atmospheric sciences, atmospheric, Oceanography, oceanic, and Hydrology, hydr ...

since 2011.

Biography

As a child, at the age of 12, Johnson became interested in the weather, an interest that grew while she was in Air Force ROTC training in high school. Johnson earned her undergraduate degree at the

University of North Carolina at Asheville The University of North Carolina Asheville (UNC Asheville, UNCA, or simply Asheville) is a public liberal arts university in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. UNC Asheville is the designated liberal arts institution in the University of N ...

. While in college she specialized in atmospheric sciences, and worked at the National Climactic Data Center. She started her career at

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather forecas ...

, and then moved to Baltimore where she worked at WBFF, also known as Fox Channel 45. She then moved to WABC-TV in New York, and WMAR in Baltimore. Johnson left WMAR in 1999, partially because she was unable to accept the magnitude of the pay cut offered at the time. She joined News4 in 2000, and was appointed to the board of the

in 2005. When her colleague, chief meteorologist Doug Hill, announced that he was retiring in 2016, Johnson attempted to take the lead. However, the network did not appoint her, despite her considerable expertise and experience. She moved to

in 2016, and was named chief meteorologist there in December 2022. Johnson also does outreach events introducing K-12 students to careers in

STEM Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

, participated in a news story about public opinion of weather forecasters, and brought

Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' (19 ...

onto her weathercast in 2009.

Awards and honors

In 2011, she was elected a Fellow of the

. In 2021, she was inducted in the Silver Circle of the National Capital Emmys for her contributions to meteorology.

Personal life

Johnson is married to Dwight Weems. They have three children, and in 1999 she talked about how she adapted her clothing for on-air appearances while she was pregnant with her son.

Selected publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Veronica Living people American meteorologists University of North Carolina at Asheville alumni Fellows of the American Meteorological Society Year of birth missing (living people)