Former KDKA-TV chief meteorologist Jeff Verszyla has been hired on staff at WTAE-TV as weekend evening meteorologist beginning Oct. 1.

Verszyla, who was let go by KDKA in December 2018 after 23 years at the station, has been a fill-in, freelance forecaster for Channel 4 over the summer. The Sewickley native joins WTAE’s weather team that includes chief meteorologist Mike Harvey and meteorologists Ashley Dougherty and Cam Tran.

Verszyla effectively takes the spot of Alex Alecci, who departed Channel 4 in June for a job at WTAE sister-station WESH-TV in Orlando, Fla.

After his departure from KDKA, Verszyla said he never planned to leave Pittsburgh.

“My family is here, my wife’s family is here, [leaving] would have been a worst case scenario if there were no other options left available,” Verszyla said Wednesday morning. “I was going to figure out a way to make something work.”

He explored jobs outside of broadcasting – PR, marketing, media relations – and then he started WhiteBoard Weather, offering forecasts on his social media channels.

“When I started Whiteboard Weather, it did much better than I ever imagined,” Verszyla said. “I didn’t expect the support I received from it and the interaction and the eyeballs that found it and continue to find it even to this day. As it evolved there was an opportunity to monetize it with sponsorships so I was able to make some money off of it.”

With his hiring at WTAE, Verszyla will cease using the WhiteBoard Weather name after the end of October when his current agreements with sponsors expire. He’ll switch over to using WTAE branding in his online interactions.

In addition to working weekend evenings, Verszyla will fill in throughout the week as needed.

“It could still change but I may be doing the noon a few days a week,” Verszyla said.

His path to WTAE began when he reached out to Channel 4 news director Jim Parsons in the spring to throw his name out for potential summer fill-in work.

“It just evolved from there,” Verszyla said, who acknowledged after two decades of working weekdays, the move to weekends will require some adjustment. “I will be honest, I’ve gotten used to spending a lot of time with my family, which has been awesome. … But moving forward it’s the best for me and it hopefully will be equally as good for WTAE.”

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