Rich Apuzzo

Rich Apuzzo is an American meteorologist and broadcaster, currently the Chief Meteorologist and Chief Operating Officer at Skyeye Weather LLC, a national weather entertainment, education and consulting firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Rich Apuzzo received a bachelor's degree in geology and meteorology from Valparaiso University in 1984. Following his graduation, Rich worked as a meteorologist in four different cities starting in Fort Wayne, Indiana at WKJG-TV (now known as WISE-TV) in 1986. In April 1987, Rich and his wife Ruthie were married. In 1988 they moved to Austin, Texas and Rich worked for KXAN-TV as a meteorologist until 1990. In early 1990 he began doing weather consulting at Central Weather Service in Wheeling, Illinois. Desiring to return to broadcasting, in January 1991 Rich moved to a FOX start-up (WWCP) in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. In August 1993 he was hired as the first Chief Meteorologist at WXIX-TV as part of a team that started FOX news in Cincinnati where he was the Chief Meteorologist for 13 years prior to being fired. Rich has provided weather forecasts for other radio stations in Ohio. Currently, Rich provides forecasts for snowplow operations in the City of Cincinnati and surrounding townships. He is a consulting meteorologist for the Southwest Ohio Regional Ozone Coalition, providing forecasts and data during smog season. Those efforts have earned him two awards for dedicated service in the past two years. During his career, Rich has earned three local AP/UPI awards for Best Television Weathercast. His expertise includes long-range weather forecasts; and he is the onlyFact|date=May 2008 forecaster in the Ohio Valley creating monthly and seasonal weather outlooks for clients.

In a move beyond broadcasting, Rich's wife Ruthie started Skyeye Weather LLC in 2003 to devote a local web page to weather education, consulting and career development. After Rich's departure from television in 2006, he helped to build Skyeye Weather into a much broader consulting, entertainment and education company. Skyeye Weather started an Internet-only, nightly, live weathercast called the "Weather Rush" in February of 2007. Shortly thereafter, Rich and Skyeye Weather started providing video weathercasts for business and community websites; and today the forecasts can be seen on websites across the Cincinnati Tri-State area. Rich has been a member of the National Weather Association since 1988. He was awarded the Seal of Approval in 1990. In 1998, Rich joined an evaluation panel for the NWA Seal and evaluated hundreds of videotapes from Seal candidates. In 2001, Rich accepted the position of NWA Broadcast Committee Chairman. He was awarded the NWA “Member of the Year” Award in 2005. During his term as Broadcast Committee Chair, Rich wrote articles on broadcasting trends, forecasting skills and tips for younger broadcasters. He works with the local National Weather Service office in Wilmington, Ohio to train severe weather storm spotters, and has provided additional training to members of the local WARN (Weather Amateur Radio Network) organization.

Rich lives in the Cincinnati area with his wife, Ruthie, and their three sons.

ources

*National Weather Association "Broadcaster of the Year Award" [http://www.nwas.org/award.html]
*National Weather Association "Weathercaster Seals of Approval" [http://www.nwas.org/seal-holders.html]
*Clermont County, OH Government Web Portal "Free Weather Spotter Training" [http://www.co.clermont.oh.us/news.aspx?name=wesptr&Title=Free+Weather+Spotter+Training]
*Valparaiso University "News Releases" [http://www.valpo.edu/news/index.php?action=display&newsid=1397&sy=2003]

External links

* [http://www.skyeyeweather.com Skyeye Weather home page]