Veronica Johnson

As a child, at the age of 12, Johnson became interested in the weather,{{Cite news |date=February 1999 |title=Character Education |language=en |page=A16 |publisher=Baltimore Afro-American |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eJslAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22veronica+johnson%22+meteorology&pg=PA9&article_id=3802,1281046}} an interest that grew while she was in Air Force ROTC training in high school.{{Cite news |last=Gray |first=Jacqueline |date=1998-04-26 |title=Weather Mom |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112186401/weather-mom/],[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112186401/weather-mom/],[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112186468/],[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112186897/] |work=The Baltimore Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112186401/weather-mom/ |access-date=2022-10-29}} Johnson earned her undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.{{Cite web |title=Veronica Johnson {{!}} Eye of the Storm - January 18, 2018 {{!}} National Association of Broadcasters |url=https://www.nab.org/eyeOfTheStorm/veronicaJohnson.asp |access-date=2022-10-20 |website=www.nab.org}} While in college she specialized in atmospheric sciences,{{Cite web |title=Author: Veronica Johnson |url=https://wtop.com/author/veronica-johnson/ |access-date=2022-10-20 |website=WTOP News}} and worked at the National Climactic Data Center. She started her career at The Weather Channel, and then moved to Baltimore where she worked at WBFF, also known as Fox Channel 45.{{Cite news |last=Hill |first=Michael |date=1991-04-24 |title=Fox Channel 45 introduces its news team |pages=34 |work=The Evening Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112151558/fox-channel-45-introduces-its-news-team/ |access-date=2022-10-28}} She then moved to WABC-TV in New York, and WMAR in Baltimore.{{Cite news |last=Kaltenbach |first=Christ |date=1996-07-21 |title=New face on Channel 2 should be a familiar one |pages=128 |work=The Baltimore Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112151575/new-face-on-channel-2-should-be-a/ |access-date=2022-10-28}}{{Cite news |last=Shapiro |first=Stephanie |date=1999-02-04 |title=At sunrise, she'll be smart and stylish |pages=53 |work=The Baltimore Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112151671/at-sunrise-shell-be-smart-and-stylish/ |access-date=2022-10-28}} Johnson left WMAR in 1999,{{Cite news |last=Kaltenbach |first=Christ |date=1999-08-27 |title=WMAR tries to boost sagging news shows |pages=56 |work=The Baltimore Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112151643/wmar-tries-to-boost-sagging-news-shows/ |access-date=2022-10-28}} partially because she was unable to accept the magnitude of the pay cut offered at the time.{{Cite news |last=Kaltenbach |first=Chris |date=1999-08-25 |title=Prell will be sleeping later |pages=58 |work=The Baltimore Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112187004/prell-will-be-sleeping-later/ |access-date=2022-10-29}} She joined News4 in 2000, and was appointed to the board of the American Meteorological Society in 2005.

When her colleague, chief meteorologist Doug Hill, announced that he was retiring in 2016, Johnson attempted to take the lead.{{Cite web |date=2017-10-26 |title=Women are being passed over for 'chief meteorologist' jobs at an alarming rate |url=https://medium.com/the-lily/women-are-being-passed-over-for-chief-meteorologist-jobs-at-an-alarming-rate-30d2823daba6 |access-date=2022-10-20 |website=The Lily |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=Fall 2017 |title=Reporting While Female: What It's Really Like |pages=1–3 |work=Media Report to Women; Coltons Point |via=ProQuest}} However, the network did not appoint her, despite her considerable expertise and experience.{{Cite news |last=Fritz |first=Angela |date=October 26, 2017 |title=Analysis {{!}} Women are being passed over for 'chief meteorologist' jobs at an alarming rate |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/10/26/women-are-being-passed-over-for-chief-meteorologist-jobs-at-an-alarming-rate/ |access-date=2022-10-20 |issn=0190-8286}} She moved to WJLA-TV in 2016,{{Cite news |last=Fritz |first=Angela |date=June 1, 2016 |title=Veronica Johnson moves to ABC7 as Jacqui Jeras signs off — for now |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/06/01/veronica-johnson-moves-to-abc7-as-jacqui-jeras-signs-off-for-now/ |access-date=2022-10-20 |issn=0190-8286}} and was named chief meteorologist there in December 2022.{{Cite news |last=Ajasa |first=Amudalat |date=2023-02-03 |title=These Black women are changing TV weather, a field long dominated by White men |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/02/03/black-women-meteorologists-tv-weather/ |access-date=2023-02-06 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en}}

Johnson also does outreach events introducing K-12 students to careers in STEM,{{Cite book |last1=Abdelrahman |first1=Nahed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WC4PEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22veronica+johnson%22+meteorology&pg=PA46 |title=Girls and Women of Color In STEM: Their Journeys in Higher Education |last2=Irby |first2=Beverly |last3=Ballenger |first3=Julia |last4=Polnick |first4=Barbara |date=2020-10-01 |publisher=IAP |isbn=978-1-64802-093-3 |pages=46 |language=en}} participated in a news story about public opinion of weather forecasters,{{Cite news |last=Lester |first=Will |date=2005-06-15 |title=Many people think weather forecasters are all wet, poll says |pages=8 |work=The Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111745158/many-people-think-weather-forecasters/ |access-date=2022-10-25}} and brought Conan O'Brien onto her weathercast in 2009.{{Cite book |last=Henson |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5W0_AAAAQBAJ |title=Weather on the Air: A History of Broadcast Meteorology |date=2013-01-22 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-935704-00-3 |pages=27 |language=en}}

In 2011, she was elected a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society.{{Cite web |title=Author: Veronica Johnson |url=https://wtop.com/author/veronica-johnson/ |access-date=2022-10-20 |website=WTOP News |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=List of Fellows |url=https://www.ametsoc.org/index.cfm/ams/about-ams/ams-organization-and-administration/list-of-fellows/ |access-date=2022-10-20 |website=American Meteorological Society}} In 2021, she was inducted in the Silver Circle of the National Capital Emmys for her contributions to meteorology.{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Capital Emmys |date=2022-02-16 |title=2021 Gold & Silver Circles Announced! |url=https://www.capitalemmys.tv/post/gold-silver-circle |access-date=2022-10-20 |website=Capitalemmys}}

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.

• {{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Veronica |date=April 2003 |title=The Weather Channel: The Improbable Rise of a Media Phenomenon |journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society; Boston |volume=84 |issue=4 |pages=493–494}}

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Category:Living people

Category:American meteorologists

Category:University of North Carolina at Asheville alumni

Category:Fellows of the American Meteorological Society

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)