Kevin Lighty

Dreams do come true, and Kevin is living his right now. Growing up in Veedersburg, IN, just an hour from Champaign, Kevin grew up watching WCIA. He was even a weather watcher for Judy Fraser when he was just a teenager.

As a kid, Kevin shot weather videos with his parents’ camcorder as storms approached and pretended to be a weatherman on TV. There was no doubt Kevin would have his dream of becoming a real meteorologist come true soon.

As Kevin got older, he became a storm spotter for the National Weather Service in Indianapolis and got his first start in broadcasting in Danville, IL at 94.9 K-Rock and D-102 as a radio DJ at the age of 17.

Kevin got his first crack at TV weather broadcasting while attending Vincennes University where he was a weather anchor for the PBS station WVUT. Kevin received his Associate of Arts degree in Radio/TV Broadcasting from Vincennes.

Kevin got his first “real” job on television at the CBS station WTHI Channel 10 in Terre Haute, IN. He spent more than three years there as the weather anchor. While working at WTHI, Kevin also attended Indiana State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Physical Geography with a minor in Climatology and emphasis in Meteorology.

His next job was at WKYT in Lexington, Kentucky where he was the morning meteorologist and storm chaser for 2 years, followed by a short stint doing fill-in weather for WRTV in Indianapolis. Kevin then went to Springfield, MO in July of 2007 to become the Chief Meteorologist at KSPR. He was there for 10 years and accomplished many things during his tenure. He covered the Joplin, MO EF-5 tornado, storm chased with the Vortex 2 research team, and received an award for best weathercast in Missouri 7 out of his 10 years and had 2 Emmy nominations. Kevin was also part of the team that won a national Edward R. Murrow award for Best Newscast the night of the Branson Leap Day tornadoes in 2012.

Kevin also holds the seal of approval from both the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association.

Storm chasing is one of Kevin’s favorite things to do when he has the chance. He has seen numerous tornadoes while chasing in the Plains over the last decade.

In his spare time, Kevin enjoys playing or watching nearly any sport. He is a HUGE Cubs fan and most recently enjoyed watching game 7 of the World Series in Wrigleyville.  Wrigley just so happens to be the name of his adopted 12-year-old beagle. He’s also a fan of the Chicago Bears & Blackhawks, but being from Indiana, he would choose the Indiana Pacers as his favorite basketball team.

Kevin has many unique hobbies including being a DJ at weddings and parties. He also is a certified FAA commercial drone pilot. Kevin has shot many drone weather-related videos that have made it onto national news outlets over the past year. Kevin is also a ham radio operator, call sign WX9KSL.