Ginger Zee
Just two years after she was working the weekend weather beat at WMAQ-Channel 5, Ginger Zee has been named chief meteorologist for the top-rated morning show in the country. Even those who still think of her as “Chicago’s sweetheart” couldn’t have forecast a sunnier scenario in such a short time.
With the resignation of Sam Champion after seven years on ABC’s “Good Morning America” to join the Weather Channel, Zee was promoted Monday to the show’s No. 1 weather job. She’d been weekend weather anchor and weekday weather correspondent for “GMA” since November 2011.
In announcing the moves to the staff, ABC News president Ben Sherwood wrote: “While there is no replacing Sam, we are in excellent hands with his storm chasing partner of the last few years, meteorologist Ginger Zee, who will take over his weather responsibilities at ‘GMA’ and across ABC News. As you know, Ginger always rushes straight toward the eye of any storm and weaves cutting-edge science with human emotion to elevate our coverage.”
Tweeted Zee: “Honored & humbled for my new opportunity at @GMA!”
It’s a phenomenal promotion for the 32-year-old former farm girl and high school homecoming queen who developed a fascination for severe weather “on the stormy shores of Lake Michigan.” Born Ginger Renee Zuidgeest in Orange, Calif., and raised in western Michigan, she graduated from Valparaiso University and worked at WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids before joining NBC 5 as weekend meteorologist in 2006.
For the man who orchestrated it all, her remarkable rise was in the charts. Calling Zee “an accomplished meteorologist with the rare skill set of combining fearless storm chasing with genuine personality and credibility,” agent Rick Ramage said: “She's a Midwestern girl who grew up in Michigan and gained a lot of experience covering severe weather in Chicago. Her success is a tribute to her great talent and incredible work ethic.”
Among her professional role models, Zee counts Tom Skilling, the undisputed king of Chicago weather, for whom she worked as an intern early in her career.
“Meteorologists don’t use a script, and most create their own graphics and certainly put together their own forecasts,” she once told me. “Most of us went to school to become scientists — at least I did — and studied thermodynamics, physics, and tons of calculus to take this young science to the next level. Our accuracy is amazing and will only continue to improve. Before you badmouth your local meteorologists for ‘always being wrong,’ count the times they are always right. I guarantee you will be happily surprised.”
And the name Ginger? That comes from the character on “Gilligan’s Island,” which was one of her father’s favorites.
I asked Zee how many episodes of the '60s sitcom she’s watched. “Dozens,” she said. “Although I am totally more of a Mary Ann, I love the glamour that Ginger brings to the island.”