Who Is Your Favorite Pittsburgh TV Meteorologist?

PITTSBURGH, PA - It’s easy to predict what day of the year is a meteorologist’s favorite: It’s National Weatherperson’s Day, which is celebrated every Feb. 5 and honors everyone in the meteorological field, including volunteer storm spotters and observers.

The day commemorates the birthday of John Jeffries who was born on Feb. 5, 1744. Jeffries, a scientist and a surgeon, is considered to be one of America’s first weather observers, keeping climatological records from 1774 to 1816.

Pittsburgh’s history of quality TV meteorologists doesn’t go back quite that far, but it is a long one. Undoubtedly the most popular of all-time is Joe DeNardo, 87, the retired forecaster who spent more than 40 years WTAE-TV.

But who is the favorite Pittsburgh meteorologist today? Let’s find out via a Pittsburgh Patch poll. Listed below are the three stations that produce daily newscasts chief meteorologists - Stephen Cropper at WPXI, Mike Harvey at WTAE And Jeff Verszyla at KDKA - and their nine backups. Which one do you like the best? Let us know by clicking on the link and taking this completely unscientific survey.

• Mike Harvey, WTAE

Harvey has won an Emmy award for weathercasting excellence and captured a best newscast Emmy for "Eye
on the storm" during severe weather coverage. He has been chosen as weathercaster of the year by the Associated Press. He's a member of the National Weather Association and the American Meteorological Society and has received the CBM designation from the American Meteorological Society, the highest
certification given by the organization.

• Jeff Verszyla, KDKA

Verszyla has been delivering forecasts on KDKA since 1996. He's a member of the American Meteorological Society, the National Weather Association and the International Association of Broadcast Meteorologists. In February 2008, he was inducted into the National Meteorologist Hall of Fame. He also is a trained weather spotter for the Pittsburgh office of the National Weather Service.

• Stephen Cropper, WPXI

Cropper has been delivering forecasts in the Pittsburgh area for nearly two decades. He has been awarded the American Meteorological Society Seal of Approval for Television Weathercasting. Cropper also is a graduate of the Duquesnee University School of Law and is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania as well as the U.S. District Court of Pennsylvania.

• Kevin Benson, WPXI

Benson joined WPXI in 1987 as a part-time weekend forecaster. He has a certificate in broadcast meteorology from Mississippi State University and is a member of the National Weather Association and the American Meteorological Society. Benson also holds the Certified Broadcast Meteorologist designation from the American Meteorological Society.

• Jon Burnett, KDKA

Burnett delivers the weekend forecasts at KDKA. He joined the station in 1982 as co-host of “Evening Magazine.” He has been nominated three times for Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards for his work as a
weathercaster and feature reporter.

• Ashley Dougherty, WTAE

The Lawrence County native earned her broadcast meteorology degree from Mississippi State University.
In 2008, she began her career as a meteorologist at WTRF in Wheeling and joined WTAE in 2012.

• Kristin Emery, KDKA

Emery, who joined the station in 2012, holds a journalism degree from West Virginia University. She started her weather career at WTOV-TV in Steubenville, Ohio, before moving on to forecast weather and report and anchor news at stations in Florida, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and Ohio. She was nominated for an Emmy for her work covering a deadly tornado outbreak in Alabama in 2011.

• Scott Harbaugh, WPXI

Harbaugh joined WPXI in 2005. He has a journalism degree from Ohio University and has a certificate in broadcast meteorology from Mississippi State University. He has worked in Zanesville, Ohio; Bluefield, West Virginia; Augusta, Georgia and Rockford, Illinois.

• Ray Petelin, WTAE

Petelin holds seals of approval from both the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association.

• Ron Smiley, KDKA

Smiley is a member of the American Meteorological Society and has an AMS seal. He's been with KDKA since 2015.

• Valerie Smock, WPXI

A graduate of Kent State University, Smock majored in broadcast journalism and then continued her education at Mississippi State University, where she obtained her operational meteorology certificate
in 2011. She also has an associate's degree in public affairs from the Community College of the Air Force. She joined WPXI in 2013.

• Cam Tran, WTAE

Before coming to WTAE, she worked as an evening meteorologist at AccuWeather, based in State College, where she forecasted nationally on the AccuWeather Network and contributed weather reports to ABC News
and FOX Business News. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas and has a broadcast meteorology certificate from Mississippi State University.

Feature graphic via National Weather Service; Cropper photo via WPXI; Harvey photo via WTAE and Verszyla photo via KDKA.