{"id":32786,"date":"2024-03-12T12:42:55","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T16:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=32786"},"modified":"2024-03-12T13:47:11","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T17:47:11","slug":"toohey-morales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/toohey-morales\/","title":{"rendered":"Hurricane Forecaster Has Blown Away Barriers in Broadcast TV\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Floridian John Toohey-Morales \u201984 is a meteorology star\u2014in both English and Spanish<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Joe Wilensky<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Puerto Rico native John Toohey-Morales \u201984 was a teenager in fall 1979, when Hurricane David struck the Caribbean as a category 5 storm\u2014causing some 2,000 fatalities in the Dominican Republic and more than $1.5 billion in overall damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt just missed Puerto Rico by 70 miles or so,\u201d he recalls. \u201cBut it was such a powerful hurricane that it gave us a good shellacking from a sideswipe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experience helped cement Toohey-Morales\u2019s interest in meteorology\u2014and four decades later, the Florida-based TV weathercaster and environmental scientist is one of the nation\u2019s most respected hurricane forecasters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toohey-Morales is best known as the longtime chief meteorologist<\/a> for Miami\u2019s NBC station, WTVJ Channel 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"John
Interviewing Cornell President David Skorton during a Sesquicentennial event in 2015. (Provided)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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But he also has a large following on social media in Spanish and English; is a passionate voice on climate change; and has served as a mentor and inspiration to countless Latino weather aficionados.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when Toohey-Morales first began broadcasting, he was a pioneer in his field: the first weather forecaster on Spanish-language TV news in the U.S. to have an academic degree in meteorology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTV stations had typically looked for certain characteristics\u2014but knowledge of weather was not necessarily one of them,\u201d he explains. \u201cYou had weather presenters, but they were just reading what the National Weather Service gave them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Toohey-Morales\u2019s value as a trusted expert became especially apparent in 1992, when Hurricane Andrew<\/a> struck Florida, Louisiana, and the Bahamas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he recalls: \u201cThe Spanish-speaking audience realized, \u2018Oh, this<\/em> is why you have to have a degree: you need to have the knowledge to carry us through an emergency, to give guidance.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>

\"John
At his Commencement. (Provided)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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An atmospheric sciences major in CALS, Toohey-Morales worked for the National Weather Service as a forecaster in San Juan after graduation, followed by similar positions in Lake Charles, LA, and Washington, DC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His on-camera meteorology career began in 1991 in Miami, where he appeared on Univision, Telemundo, and finally NBC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As his profile rose, it prompted other U.S. stations serving Latino audiences to recruit their own Spanish-speaking, degreed meteorologists\u2014broadening the job market and inspiring the next generation to follow in his footsteps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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