Keith Monday, wsoctv.com
Meteorologist
Keith Monday proudly joined the WSOC Severe Weather Team in January 2008 and was very excited to make Charlotte his new home. He is the Eyewitness News Daybreak starting at 4:30 a.m., Eyewitness News This Morning on TV 64, Weekdays from 7-9 a.m, as well as the Eyewitness News Midday at Noon meteorologist. Keith, an AMS certified broadcast meteorologist (CBM), has worked in many parts of the country with various types of challenging weather -- now he gladly brings all those experiences to the Queen City.
Monday was awarded an Emmy award in Nashville, TN in January 2011 for best Weathercast.
Originally from the St Louis area, he is not ashamed to say his weather career began at very young age by trying to get over his fear of thunderstorms. His fear turned into interest as he learned more about weather and how it works. Keith went on to attend the University of Missouri and earned his degree in Atmospheric Science. Although still a very loyal Mizzou Tigers fan, he can't wait to get into the frenzy of ACC basketball.
His first on air job was in college at KOMU, the NBC station owned by the university. After graduation he moved to the dusty and windy plains of West Texas. Forecasting severe storms for KLBK in Lubbock was where Keith got his first taste of covering extremely severe weather. While working in Lubbock, Keith was also a storm chaser for the station, actually searching out large hail and tornadoes. Although he only saw a few smaller tornadoes at a distance, he came across more hail than he had ever seen -- sometimes the size of grapefruit!
After three years of severe weather forecasting experience he was promoted to Chief Meteorologist at KAMR in Amarillo, TX. Keith spent the next three years covering some of the most active weather in the country. One night he was on the air for 8 hours straight covering dozens of tornado warnings. When it was all said and done 26 tornadoes had been reported in the area!
From Texas, Keith made his way east to West Virginia where entirely new types of weather hazards were waiting. This time it was flooding rains and heavy mountain snows. He spent more than three years as the morning Meteorologist for WOWK in Charleston/Huntington. During his first month in the Mountain State Keith dealt with the remnants of two hurricanes that made their way up the east coast, Ivan and Frances. In a span of ten days, heavy rains caused dramatic flooding across the Appalachians.
In 2001 Keith received the prestigious Seal of Approval from the American Meteorological Society. He's also received a number of awards including the Texas Associated Press for Best Weathercast.
Keith loves all kinds of music and recently took up the guitar. He's still a novice but has great fun trying. He also loves traveling and doing just about anything outdoors -- especially taking weather pictures. Keith met his wife Laurabree at their first television jobs in Texas. So he's gained much more than just weather knowledge from his television career! You can see Keith's forecasts weekday mornings starting at 4:30 a.m. and at noon.