Robert Perillo. Source: https://acadianaprofile.com/face-of-the-forecast/
School period
College/University
Gallery of Rob Perillo (Robert Perillo)
State University of New York at Oswego. Photo: LoganTheHammer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_York_-_Sheldon_Hall_-_20240227141145.jpg)
State University of New York at Oswego. Photo: LoganTheHammer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_York_-_Sheldon_Hall_-_20240227141145.jpg)
Robert Perillo is an American meteorologist and broadcast meteorologist known for his long career forecasting severe weather and hurricanes in southern Louisiana. He has served as chief meteorologist at Klfy-TV and Katc-TV in Lafayette, reported on major Gulf Coast storms, and received numerous broadcasting honors.
Background
Robert Perillo was born on December 23, 1960, in the Bronx, New York, to Daniel Joseph Perillo and Barbara Joy (Pollaro) Perillo. His family later moved from the Bronx to suburban downstate New York, where childhood experiences with thunderstorms and snow helped kindle his interest in weather.
Perillo has described becoming interested in meteorology during elementary school and developing an early curiosity about wind, storms, and forecasting. His later career kept him connected to both the scientific study of weather and the public communication of hazardous conditions.
Education
Perillo earned a Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology from the State University of New York at Oswego in 1983; institutional biographies also identify minors in mathematics and physics. SUNY Oswego is a public university whose atmospheric-science and meteorology programs use the distinctive weather of the eastern Great Lakes as an important educational setting.
His education prepared him for work in operational forecasting, emergency planning, industrial and marine meteorology, aviation forecasting, and television broadcasting. His early professional appointments at and around Oswego connected academic meteorology with applied forecasting for public safety and industry.
Perillo began his professional career in New York after completing his meteorology degree. From 1984 to 1985, he served as a research project manager and adjunct meteorological instructor at the State University of New York at Oswego, while also working as an emergency planning meteorologist at the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in Lycoming, New York. Emergency-planning meteorology placed weather analysis within the safety procedures of a nuclear-power facility.
From 1985 to 1986, Perillo worked in Houston as an industrial and marine meteorologist for Wilken's Weather Technologies. He then served as an aviation and marketing meteorologist for Air Routing International from 1986 to 1988, applying forecasting to aviation operations and commercial clients.
Perillo entered television broadcasting in 1988 as a staff meteorologist at Klfy-TV in Lafayette, Louisiana. He became the station's chief meteorologist in 1993 and remained in that position until moving to competitor Katc-TV in early 2004. Klfy-TV and Katc-TV are Lafayette television stations serving Acadiana, a region whose exposure to Gulf weather makes hurricane and severe-weather forecasting a central public-service function.
Since 2004, Perillo has been chief meteorologist at Katc-TV's Acadiana News Channel. His work has included forecasting and reporting on major tropical systems and severe-weather events affecting Louisiana, including Andrew, Lili, Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike, Laura, Delta, and Ida. He also provided national live coverage connected with the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and has appeared in weather programming and interviews for national media outlets.
Perillo has additionally worked as a radio consultant meteorologist for stations serving the Lafayette area and as a forensic meteorology consultant. His broadcasting career has combined operational forecasting, public-safety communication, climate and tropical-weather discussion, and continuing participation in professional meteorological conferences.
Achievements
Perillo has provided decades of broadcast forecasting for Acadiana and has tracked hundreds of tropical storms and hurricanes affecting Louisiana and the Gulf Coast.
He provided live coverage connected with the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster for national audiences through CBS and CNN.
His weather coverage has received more than 25 Associated Press awards, including honors in Best Weathercast, Breaking Weather, and Best Meteorologist categories.
He received Emmy nominations for coverage of the 2016 Louisiana flood and for hurricane coverage in 2020.
Views
Perillo's professional outlook emphasizes the public-service role of weather communication. His work and public comments center on translating complex atmospheric information into timely guidance about hurricanes, severe storms, flooding, and climate-related risks.
Membership
Perillo is a member of the American Meteorological Society, the principal professional society for atmospheric and related sciences in the United States. He served as president of the society's Southwest Louisiana chapter from 1993 and received the society's Seal of Approval for television weathercasting in 1992.
Served as president of the Southwest Louisiana chapter from 1993; received the Television Seal of Approval in 1992.
American Meteorological Society
,
United States
Personality
Perillo has described himself as initially anxious about speaking before an audience despite confidence in his forecasting abilities. He has also emphasized presenting the same genuine personality on television and in public, rather than treating broadcasting as a separate character.
Quotes from others about the person
Perillo has said that early experiences with thunderstorms and snow shaped his interest in meteorology and that his work during hurricane season combines professional responsibility with an enduring fascination with severe weather.
Interests
Perillo has expressed interests in computers, exercise, cycling, swimming, space-related subjects, and weather and climate conferences.
Sport & Clubs
Racquetball and softball are documented avocations of Perillo.
Music & Bands
Music is a documented avocation of Perillo.
Connections
Perillo married Noemí Gándara on October 20, 1990. They have two children, Olivia Luz Perillo and Joe Perillo, and the family has made Lafayette, Louisiana, its home. His parents were Daniel Joseph Perillo and Barbara Joy (Pollaro) Perillo.
Father:
Daniel Joseph Perillo
Mother:
Barbara Joy (Pollaro) Perillo
child:
Joe Perillo
Daughter:
Olivia Luz Perillo
Wife:
Noemí Gándara
References
Acadiana News First: Rob Perillo biography
Documents Perillo's position as chief meteorologist at KATC-TV, his meteorological career, Associated Press awards, national coverage, Emmy nominations, John Coleman Broadcast Award, and American Meteorological Society Seal of Approval.
Discover Lafayette: Rob Perillo interview
Documents Perillo's early interest in weather, move from KLFY-TV to KATC-TV, family life in Lafayette, and continuing career as a broadcast meteorologist.
2024
Acadiana Profile: Face of the Forecast
Describes Perillo's early career, forecasting background, transition to television, and approach to broadcast meteorology.
Associated Press award received by Perillo in 1996 for excellence in television weathercasting.
Associated Press award received by Perillo in 1996 for excellence in television weathercasting.
John Coleman Broadcast Award,
United States
Perillo was honored as Broadcaster of the Year by the National Tropical Weather Conference for his work in broadcast meteorology and public communication of tropical weather.
Perillo was honored as Broadcaster of the Year by the National Tropical Weather Conference for his work in broadcast meteorology and public communication of tropical weather.
