Rusty McCranie, WFTV.com

Coming to Eyewitness News is coming back home for me. I’m a Florida native, originally from Crystal River. I know what Florida weather can bring, having experienced several hurricanes and being flooded out of our home during the “No Name Storm of 1993.” My last job was at KOCO in Oklahoma City, the severe weather capital of the world. I helped viewers through EF5 tornadoes, large hail storms, blizzards and floods. I look forward to bringing that invaluable experience to central Florida. I previously worked for stations in Missouri, Alabama, New York, Mississippi and West Virginia. I graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Telecommunication News and from Mississippi State’s Broadcast Meteorology program. I am a member of the American Meteorological Society and hold their Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) Seal. You can’t be a Florida native and not love the water. I think I’m close to catching every type of offshore fish Florida waters have to offer. I play on the WFTV “Niners” softball team . Look for me in left field and hopefully not throwing my shoulder out. I’ve also taken an interest in all things Italy. I’m currently learning Italian and hope to put my language skills to use one day when I travel there. I’m married and my wife and I have two sons who like to keep daddy up past his bedtime. You catch me weekdays on WRDQ from 7-9 a.m., and occasionally on Eyewitness News Daybreak.