WKRC-TV viewers will see a female meteorologist on "Good Morning Cincinnati" next month, but she's not who you might expect.
Channel 12 hired morning meteorologist Tera Blake from Cleveland's WEWS-TV Monday to do mornings newscasts with John Lomax, Bob Herzog and Sheila Gray. Evening meteorologist Erica Collura had been seen on "Good Morning Cincinnati" in late October.
Long-time morning man John Gumm, the station's most experienced meteorologist, will move to nights – but apparently without the title of chief meteorologist. Channel 12 has been without a chief meteorologist since popular Tim Hedrick died from complications with cancer in April. WKRC-TV posted the chief meteorologist job June 7.
The term "chief meteorologist" did not appear in the announcement Monday by the Sinclair Broadcast Group station. For more than 50 years, the local TV stations' late-night forecasters have been designated the station's chief meteorologist, overseeing the weather department and severe weather reporting.
Gumm, a Clermont County native, had worked nights with the main anchor team for two weeks in late October. Collura, the 4 and 10 p.m. meteorologist, had been filling in with the main anchor team at 6 and 11 p.m. since Hedrick left the airwaves in February.
Blake, an Illinois native and Northern Illinois University graduate, starts here on Dec. 19. The new weather team assignments are:
JOHN GUMM: 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts.
ERICA COLLURA: 4 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. (on WSTR-TV).
SCOTT DIMMICHand BRANDON ORR: Weekend meteorologists.
“We decided that taking a team approach to weather was a good strategy for us," said News Director Tim Geraghty in the announcement. "Our plan allows other members of the meteorologist team to handle other news day parts while still maintaining our core mission, which is to serve our viewers and users with the highest quality and most accurate forecast in the market."
Blake has been morning meteorologist for two years at Cleveland's WEWS-TV, a sister Scripps station to WCPO-TV (Channel (9). Before that she spent six years as morning meteorologist for WCCB-TV in Charlotte, NC. She started in TV as an intern at Chicago's WGN-TV, and at WTVO-TV in Rockford, Ill., while finishing her degree at Northern Illinois.
“We interviewed a number of great candidates over the last few months and the reality is that we felt Tera’s qualifications combined with how she fit with our No. 1 Weather Authority team was a fantastic opportunity. We’re incredibly excited to have found Tera and feel she’s going to be a great addition to an already market dominant weather team,” says Jon Lawhead, Local 12 general manager and Sinclair Broadcast Group Manager for Cincinnati and Dayton.
On herWEWS-TV biography, Blake says: "I love mornings! No caffeine required. Definitely helps when you are working a morning show. Before you head out the door, I look forward to greeting you with a smile and helping you to prepare for your day! I like to give personal forecasts, too...if you have a local event that needs a forecast, send it to me and I will post it to the web & social media to help get the word out & prepare your guests."
She listed her favorite sports teams as the Carolina Panthers and Northern Illinois Huskies.
Her @TeraBlake Twitter profilesays she's "Meteorologist for New Channel 5 in Cleveland PLUS a Mom, Wife, Lhasa Apso lover, Optimist, Workerouter, Weather Admirer and Realty TV Junkie."
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