Rich Segal is in his 39th year of delivering weather. The majority of his time as a meteorologist has been in Texas. He has worked in Wichita Falls, Denison, and for the last 22 years, Austin.
His interest in weather started when he lived in Margate, NJ. In 1958 Margate, a city on the Atlantic coast, was flooded when Hurricane Donna came ashore. His curiosity was such that he went to the encyclopedia to learn about how hurricane formed and their impacts on the local weather. Then came the desire to learn about the seasons and why it rains on some days but not on others.
He attended the University of Missouri intent on being a weather journalist. While at Mizzou he met an atmospheric sciences major who taught him a thing or two about the weather and how to broadcast it. He would get a job with KOMU-TV upon graduating. He did the noon and weekend weather for 2.5 years.
He moved to KAUZ-TV. Wichita Falls, in 1978. One month after he began broadcasting there a massive tornado struck his city. There was a certain helplessness when that tornado hit because the station got knocked off the air as the twister was touching down.
He stayed in Wichita Falls until January 1990 when he moved to Denison. He did that weather there for three years. There, Rich got a taste of news management as he also served as news director.
His time with KXAN started in 1994 and 1995 around the time when KNVA started. He did weekend evening weather and filled in during the week.
After a brief break he would return to television weathercasting at the 24-hour news service. He spent 18 years there. He returned to KXAN to fill in from October 2018 until December 31, 2020. He is back at KXAN working with the #1 team in Central Texas.
When he’s not doing weather he can be found being a public address announcer for the University of Texas soccer and softball teams. He also served as the p-a announcer for Westlake High School volleyball and women’s basktball.
His passion for weather and his love for Central Texas allow him to have the best of both worlds.
