Bryan Norcross

College background

Norcross has a Bachelor of Science degree in math and physics and a Master of Science degree in Communications and Meteorology from Florida State University. In addition Bryan received an Honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from Florida International University.

Job experience

Norcross' first broadcasting job was as a disc jockey on WTAI, an AM station in Melbourne, Florida working there part-time in 1968 and 1969. During college in Tallahassee, Florida he worked on the air at WTAL-AM and WFSU-FM.

Norcross started in television as an engineer at WFSU-TV in Tallahassee, Florida while in college, moving to WXIA-TV (then WQXI-TV) in Atlanta as a maintenance engineer/technical director after graduation in 1972. At that station he was promoted to acting Production Manager in 1974 before being transferred to KUSA-TV (then KBTV) in Denver in 1975 as the evening director of the station's newscasts. In 1976 Norcross was assigned to produce (and for over a year direct as well) the 10:00 pm news which became the market's highest rated news program. In 1977, Norcross was promoted and transferred to WLKY-TV in Louisville as News Director. His first day on the job a massive snow storm hit the city. He was the only one able to get to the television station and went on the air with the help of two overnight engineers, providing the city the only TV coverage of the storm. In 1979 he returned to Florida State University for a masters program.

Upon receiving a Master's Degree in 1980, Norcross became the first weekend weathercaster on CNN when it signed on in June of that year. Later that year he moved to KGO-TV in San Francisco to do the weekend weather and science reports during the week. In 1981 he returned to Atlanta as Executive Producer for Documentaries and Magazines at WTBS, handling many of Ted Turner's pet projects. At the same time he was the weekend meteorologist on WXIA-TV. In 1983, Norcross moved to Miami as weekend meteorologist for WPLG the ABC affiliate. In 1984 he moved to the 5:30 news where he created a concept called Neighborhood Weather where the weather was done as part of a live feature every day. In 1990, he moved to WTVJ, the NBC-owned station, as Chief Meteorologist where he became known for his coverage of Hurricane Andrew. As Andrew passed just south of Miami in the early morning hours of Monday, August 24, 1992, Norcross's 23-hour marathon broadcast became many viewers' (and radio listeners') only link to the outside world. His television station was the station able to broadcast through the entire hurricane event. During the worst part of the storm, some people called into the station to ask for life-saving advice. Throughout the entire ordeal, Norcross remained calm, steady, and knowledgeable. He joined WFOR as Director of Meteorology in 1996. In 2006, he gave up day-to-day weathercasting responsibilities to concentrate on hurricanes and emergency communications issues.

Norcross now works for the Weather Channel as a Hurricane Specialist where he has been since 2010.

Accolades

Bryan was named Expert Advisor to the Academic Task Force on Hurricane Catastrophe Insurance by Florida State Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner Bill Nelson, and a member of the Governor's Committee to evaluate state response and recommend changes to the state emergency system by Governor Lawton Chiles.

In appreciation for his work before, during and after Hurricane Andrew, Bryan received the 1993 David Brinkley Award for Excellence in Communication. He was also publicly recognized with designations of Bryan Norcross Days in Miami, Miami Beach, and Ft. Lauderdale, among other cities. In addition, he's the recipient of an Emmy Award from the Suncoast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and lead the team that won DuPont and Peabody awards, the highest awards given in broadcasting.

Bryan was named Honorary Chairman of the Board of the South Florida Hurricane Warning museum project in Deerfield Beach. In addition he has recently served on the Board of Directors of the Wolfsonian Museum on Miami Beach, operated by Florida International University.

Charity work and donations

After speaking to the Rutgers University chapter of the American Meteorological Society in April 2003 concerning the Emergency Communications System in the United States, he toured their WeatherWatcher facility, which supplies media training for students within their meteorology program. He ultimately donated his speaker's fee to the WeatherWatcher program. His father attended the university previously in the 1950s.

Books

Norcross is the author of Hurricane Almanac 2006 - The Essential Guide to Storms Past, Present, and Future and the follow-up edition published in 2007 named Hurricane Almanac with 80 pages of updates and additional material. The book covers hurricane history, science, and includes a large section on hurricane preparedness called "Living Successfully in the Hurricane Zone". In addition, a section called "How I'd Do It Better" is made up of Bryan's comments on and ideas for improving many aspects of the government's system for dealing with the hurricane threat.

In July 2006, a companion website was built, HurricaneAlmanac.com, with Bryan's updates to the book, bonus material, a shopping section for hurricane supplies, and the ability for users to suggest their own updates.

In May 2017, Norcross self-published his memoir on Hurricane Andrew, titled "My Hurricane Andrew Story."