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Wade Hampton is widely known in SWLA as a steady presence in the face of severe weather as chief meteorologist for local TV station KPLC. After all, he will have been forecasting the weather here for 20 years come August. A native of Arcadia, Florida, Hampton holds a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University in meteorology. Thrive spoke with him on his passion for meteorology and advice for the 2025 hurricane season.
What sparked your love for meteorology? I grew up in a rural area of Florida where there are more orange trees and cows than people. My dad was a mechanic and worked on farms. I was exposed to the weather by working with him. But my bigger inspiration was our hunting camp in the Everglades in south Florida where I was outside and in the weather. I’ve known since the fourth grade that I wanted to forecast weather. I grew up watching our local station, WTVT. The chief meteorologist, Roy Leep, had been on television for about 30 years then. My parents watched the station, so I grew up watching it. Later I would intern there.
How did you settle on being a TV meteorologist? Desoto County is very similar to Beauregard Parish in size and population. Everyone goes to the same school. The guidance counselors knew my interests and there were a limited number of schools I could go to in the area and not every university offered a meteorology program. The counselors advised me to go to the local community college and then transfer later to Florida State University since they’d seen kids go to the big city and fail because of culture shock. The first summer I was there, I contacted WTVT in Tampa. Their weekend meteorologist said they offer internships for college credit, so I became an intern. When I transferred to Florida State, I interned there once again. That decided it for me—that I would work in TV. I like the idea that if somebody is watching, wherever they are, they understand what the forecast is going to be based on what I’m saying. I don’t like having to cover severe weather, but an app can’t tell you a tornado is going to hit on a certain road. The most rewarding part of the job is warning people about imminent danger and hoping they heed said warning.
by Kerri Cooke
WADE HAMPTON Chief Meteorologist, KPLC-TV
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Thrive Magazine for Better Living • June 2025