Some new voices will be joining the WTOP airwaves in the coming workweek due to a partnership that was just formed between WTOP and 7News.
Starting Monday, WTOP listeners will hear 7News meteorologists delivering the forecast every 10 minutes during the WTOP segment “traffic and weather on the 8s.”
“There’s been a lot of excitement here,” said Veronica Johnson, chief meteorologist with 7News.
But it’s not the first time the two stations have worked together.
They previously had a similar weather partnership that ran for more than 10 years.
“Here we go, back to collaborating again to deliver the finest product in this area,” Johnson said. “We are all set up and ready to go.”
Johnson has been delivering weather forecasts in the D.C. region for more than 30 years, and she said her team members have similar backgrounds with extensive experience.
Other meteorologists with the station include Eileen Whelan, Brian van de Graaff, Steve Rudin, Jordan Evans and Mark Pena.
“When you look at the years of experience that each one of us has, we are truly the weather experts,” Johnson said.
Johnson said WTOP’s format of constantly delivering news every day gives weather experts a unique platform they can use to deliver information immediately to listeners, whether they are out and about or driving in their car.
That is especially important when the region gets hit with severe weather.
“We need to keep listeners prepared to stay safe,” Johnson said. “We are able to come together with WTOP and deliver that information around the clock.”
Julia Ziegler, WTOP’s director of news and programming, said the partnership would “bring unprecedented live weather coverage to the D.C. region.”
Joel Oxley, WTOP’s general manager, added that “together our promise will be to deliver the most impactful and helpful weather reports every day to listeners.”
7News’ Alison Starling chatted with WTOP’s Hillary Howard about this new partnership, too. Watch the discussion:
