Spencer Christian (born July 23, 1947) is an American television broadcaster, best known as the former weather forecaster for ABC's '' Good Morning America'' from 1986 to 1998. He currently is the weather forecaster for ABC-owned

KGO-TV KGO-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's ABC network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, KGO-TV ma ...

in San Francisco. Christian is also the author of several children's books.

Biography

Christian was born in Newport News, Virginia in 1947. He began his broadcasting career at WWBT in Richmond, Virginia as a news reporter, covering state and local politics, the public school system, and landmark cases in the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals. His first stint as a weatherman came in 1975, in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, when he was hired by news director

Ron Kershaw Ron Kershaw (August 19, 1943 – July 3, 1988) was an American television news reporter. Kershaw was the news director in several U.S. markets, including New York City, Chicago and Baltimore. Early life Kershaw grew up in Hendersonville, North Caro ...

WBAL-TV WBAL-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship property of Hearst Television, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to the company's sole r ...

to join the station's '' Action News'' team which included

Sue Simmons Sue Simmons (born May 27, 1942) is an American retired news anchor who was best known for being the lead female anchor at WNBC in New York City from 1980 to 2012. Her contract with WNBC expired in June 2012 and WNBC announced that it would not ren ...

, Mike Hambrick, Ron Smith,

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and

Joe Krebs Joe Krebs (March 22, 1943 – April 6, 2021) was an American television news reporter who worked for stations in North Carolina, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., the most recent being WRC-TV. He has been awarded numerous Emmy Awards for his work in ...

. From there, Christian moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

WABC-TV WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neig ...

, where he served as a general assignment reporter, weatherman and sportscaster for '' Eyewitness News'' from 1977 to 1986. In August 1986, Christian joined ''Good Morning America'' as their weather forecaster. In addition, he occasionally traveled throughout the United States and abroad, reporting on a wide range of topics from current events to human interest stories. From 1992 to 1993, Christian was also seen on the

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

cable network as the host of the music game show ''Triple Threat''. For decades, Christian had a serious gambling addiction. He describes his addiction and his recovery in his 2018 book, ''You Bet Your Life: How I Survived Jim Crow Racism, Hurricane Chasing, and Gambling''. Christian left ''Good Morning America'' at the end of 1998 and began doing weather forecasts at

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

in January 1999, a position he holds to this day. He was host of HGTV's ''Spencer Christian's Wine Cellar'' from 1995 to 1999. Christian has also hosted the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

train series ''

Tracks Ahead ''Tracks Ahead'' is a television series about railroading, produced by Milwaukee PBS, originally solely for their station WMVS, then syndicated to public television stations, starting in 1990. In general, the series examines all aspects of rail ...

'' since 1997. In 2006, he began hosting the popular afternoon show in San Francisco, ''The View from the Bay''. In June, 2014, Christian temporarily returned to the set of '' Good Morning America'' as a substitute weather forecaster while

Ginger Zee Ginger Renee Colonomos (née Zuidgeest; born January 13, 1981), known by her pseudonym Ginger Zee, is an American television personality. She is the chief meteorologist for ABC News, after having been the network's weekend meteorologist. Early ...

was having her wedding. He also returned on November 19, 2015, to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of ''Good Morning America''. He is a member of the Beta chapter of Iota Phi Theta fraternity.

Bibliography

Spencer Christian co-authored the following books with Antonia Felix: * ''Can it Really Rain Frogs: The World's Strangest Weather Events'', 1997, * ''Is There a Dinosaur in Your Backyard: The World's Most Fascinating Fossils, Rocks, and Minerals'', 1998, * ''Shake, Rattle, and Roll: The World's Most Amazing Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Other Forces'', 1997, * ''What Makes the Grand Canyon Grand? The World's Most Awe-Inspiring Natural Wonders'', 1997, With co-author Tom Biracree, he wrote: * ''Electing Our Government: Everything You Need to Know to Make Your Vote Really Count'', 1996, He also wrote: * ''Spencer Christian's Geography Book'', 1995, * ''Spencer Christian's You Bet Your Life: How I Survived Jim Crow Racism, Hurricane Chasing, and Gambling'', 2018,

References

External links

Spencer Christian's biography
from

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Spencer 1947 births Living people African-American game show hosts African-American television personalities American game show hosts Hampton University alumni Television meteorologists in New York City People from Charles City County, Virginia Television anchors from San Francisco United States Army soldiers American television reporters and correspondents Television anchors from Baltimore ABC News personalities People from Newport News, Virginia Scientists from Virginia 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people