Kevin Lighty is a Chief Meteorologist at WCIA-TV with over 17 years of experience as a television Meteorologist. He has held all positions including; weekend, morning, and chief at various stations throughout the midwest. He was a part of the Vortex2 mission and intercepted the Wyoming tornado which turned out to be the only intercept of the entire Vortex2 mission. He covered the 2011 Joplin tornado.

Kevin Lighty has been nominated for 2 Emmy's and won dozens of 1st place awards in the Missouri Broadcasters Association. He is also a part 107 FAA drone pilot and have over 100 hours of flight time.^[1]

Growing up in Veedersburg, Indiana, Kevin grew up watching WCIA. As a kid, Kevin shot weather videos with his parents’ camcorder as storms approached and pretended to be a weatherman on Television. There was no doubt Kevin would have his dream of becoming a real meteorologist come true soon. He was even a weather watcher for Judy Fraser when he was just a teenager.

As Kevin got older, he became a storm spotter for the National Weather Service in Indianapolis and got his first start in broadcasting in Danville, Illinois at 94.9 K-Rock and D-102 as a radio DJ at the age of 17. He got his first crack at TV weather broadcasting while attending Vincennes University where he was a weather anchor for the PBS station WVUT. Kevin received his Associate of Arts degree in Radio/TV Broadcasting from Vincennes University. ^[2][1]

He also got his Bachelor of Science in Physical Geography with a minor in Climatology and emphasis in Meteorology from Indiana State University.

Kevin Lighty got his first “real” job on television at the CBS station WTHI-TV Channel 10 in Terre Haute, Indiana. He spent more than three years there as the weather anchor. While working at WTHI, Kevin also attended Indiana State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science.

His next job was at WKYT-TV in Lexington, Kentucky where he was the morning meteorologist and storm chaser for 2 years, followed by a short stint doing fill-in weather for WRTV in Indianapolis. Kevin then went to Springfield, MO in July of 2007 to become the Chief Meteorologist at KSPR. He was there for 10 years and accomplished many things during his tenure. He covered the Joplin, MO EF-5 tornado, storm chased with the Vortex 2 research team, and received an award for best weather cast in Missouri and had 2 Emmy nominations. Kevin was also part of the team that won a national Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast the night of the Branson Leap Day tornadoes in 2012. He then later join WCIA-TV as a Chief Meteorology in August, 2017.^[3][1]

Kevin also holds the seal of approval from both the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association.

Storm chasing is one of Kevin’s favorite things to do when he has the chance.

He has seen numerous tornadoes while chasing in the Plains over the last decade.

Kevin enjoys playing or watching nearly any sport at his spare time.

He is a huge Cubs fan and most recently enjoyed watching game 7 of the World Series in Wrigleyville. 

He’s also a fan of the Chicago Bears & Blackhawks, but being from Indiana, he would choose the Indiana Pacers as his favorite basketball team.

Kevin has many unique hobbies including being a DJ at weddings and parties.

He also is a certified FAA commercial drone pilot.

Kevin has shot many drone weather-related videos that have made it onto national news outlets over the past year. Kevin is also a ham radio operator, call sign WX9KSL.

Kevin leverage on the power of social media to share his weather-related news on Facebook and Twitter. He also have a YouTube channel where he shares weather-related video for easy access.