Most people know Pete Giddings from his 29 years of daily forecasts on the San Francisco Bay Area’s KGO-TV. Whether he was working with local charities to help under-privileged children, or forecasting a storm for contractors looking to pour concrete, Pete’s six Emmy Awards are proof positive that he developed a relationship with millions of people. Pete's weather career began with his service as a Combat Weather Operative in the U.S Air Force from 1959 to 1963. During a period impacted by the tension of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Pete received an award from President John F. Kennedy, recognizing him for outstanding work in the field of meteorology. Pete’s first television job was at WTVT-TV in Tampa, Florida where he worked for five years. After a stop in Nashville, Pete moved to KGO.
Pete joined Reno’s KOLO-TV in January 1999, taking on the challenge of mountain snow storms. For two years, Pete worked with Reno’s #1 station to bring record ratings, and more community outreach efforts. In 2001, Pete returned to predicting coastal storms in California. For four years, the many agricultural professionals of the Monterey and Salinas depended on Pete’s informative forecasting. Many of Pete's fans also connected with him through their love of winter sports. Pete began delivering one of the first regional broadcast ski reports in the 1960s. Since then, Pete's coverage of winter sports and conditions throughout Northern California and Nevada gained him a wide-spread following as "Your Snowman. "You can still get Pete's Ski Report by subscribing to his email list below. Soon, you'll recieve forecasts, condition reports, and timely weather info right in your email inbox.
While most of Pete’s fans welcome his warm smile and applaud his work within his community, he’s also built up the largest list of weather credentials for any TV meteorologist in the country: Fellow, American Meteorological Society (AMS)AMS Certified Consulting Meteorologist (CCM)Member, AMS Board of Directors of Radio and Television Member, AMS Board of School and Popular Meteorological Education Fellow, Royal Meteorological Society (United Kingdom) Lecturer, UC Berkeley, Stanford University, Dominican University, and Desert Research Institute In 1990, the AMS honored Pete with the Award for Outstanding Service by a broadcast meteorologist in recognition of his efforts to combat scientific illiteracy among our nation's youth. In 1996, Pete was one of 50 meteorologists from around the world to be invited by the Clinton administration to participate in a summit on Climate Change. A constant throughout Pete’s career has been his passion for educating children about the science of weather - meteorology. Pete has visited thousands of school classrooms and talked to tens of thousands of students about the importance of science. Pete won a national Emmy Award in 1977 for his work producing an educational program titled, What Makes the Wind Blow. As technology progressed, Pete has carried his science education efforts forward as well.
In 1990, the California State Legislature and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi honored Pete with an official resolution for Weather Fun with Pete Giddings a 20 lesson basic meteorology course for fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. The program ran in more than 200 California schools, where students and teachers alike praised Weather Fun for its format. In April of 2006, the National Foundation for Education released its Report Card for America, and the results are driving Pete to get involved in education once again. Pete is now working with professionals from the technology and education industries to develop a new basic science course for today’s kids. As Global Warming and The Greenhouse Effect become more important environmental and political issues, today’s children will need to understand the science behind them. Pete is committed to keeping young California students competitive in the age of Global Warming. Pete's latest educational project, Green Grades for Kids will be released soon. Through it, Pete will continue his passionate fight against scientific illiteracy in our nation's youth. Originally from New York City, Pete attended the University of Maryland. Pete and his wife of 29 years now live in San Jose where he enjoys playing as much golf as the weather will allow. They have one son.