Andy is one of Chicago’s most respected meteorologists who has covered it all - snowstorms, tornadoes, floods, winds, heat waves and droughts. According to the Chicago Tribune, he is the “favorite weatherman,” and his work on radio and television has undoubtedly won him a tremendous reputation and fame.NBC 5 announced on Monday that weekday morning meteorologist Andy Avalos is set to retire at the end of August. Jerry Taft was one of the seven Silver Circle recipients elected into the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2009. They currently live in an opulent mansion in Chicago. The couple sold their long-time five-bedroom home for $627K in 2013, which they had purchased in 1994. Taft and his wife paid $1.6 million for this home in 2005. He sold his Lemont home for $1.495 million in August 2017. His annual compensation as a meteorologist for ABC station was reported $300,000 per year. He had been making a good living as a journalist. Jerry Taft had a net worth of $1.5 million at the time of his death in 2020, according to Celebrity Net Worth. She is also a weather reporter for CBS 2, a CBS-owned station in Los Angeles, where she is the morning drive weather reporter.

He was a family man who loved hanging out with his kids and spending time with his family, in addition to being a successful weather presenter.Įvelyn Taft, Jerry Taft’s niece, was also a notable figure in his life. In Naples, Florida, after retiring as a meteorologist, he played golf and worked part-time as an Uber driver. The family resided in the city of Chicago. They have four children together: Skylar, Storm, Danna, and Jay. Shana is said to be his high school sweetheart, with whom he exchanged vows when he was 19 years old, circa 1962/63. Jerry Taft was a married man who had been married to his wife Shana Taft for almost 50 years. His wife Shana and children Skylar, Storm, Danna, and Jay survive him. Jerry’s death had no immediate reason, but he had been suffering from congestive heart failure for some years, according to reports. DeathĪccording to ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7, Taft died quietly in his home in Illinois, Chicago, on July 23, 2020, at the age of 77. He was regarded as one of Chicago’s top meteorologists, with a no-nonsense demeanor that endeared him to many during his tenure. He retired in 2018 after more than 40 years on Chicago television, 33 of those at ABC. Jerry Taft worked as a chief meteorologist for WLS-TV in Chicago for numerous years after joining the station in 1984. His radio work includes providing weather reports for both WMAQ-AM and WLS-AM. Jerry Taft is well noted for his considerable radio work, in addition to his work on television. Following that, in August of 1984, he was asked to join ABC 7. Jerry Taft began his career in the 1970s when he joined KMOL-TV, a local NBC affiliate in San Antonio, Texas. He studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison while still in the Air Force and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in meteorology. Taft briefly studied architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology before joining the United States Air Force. From the 1970s through 2018, he was actively involved in the journalism industry. He was of white ethnicity and was a citizen of the United States. Jerry Taft was born in Chappaqua, New York, on March 14, 1943. From 1984 to 2018, he worked at WLS-TV (ABC 7) in Chicago. Taft worked as a weather forecaster for most of his career in journalism, which spanned over four decades. For several years, he was the network’s chief meteorologist. Late Jerry Taft was a well-known American meteorologist who worked for WLS-TV (Chicago).

Andy avalos meteorologist