Rob Shackelford

Rob Shackelford is a digital meteorologist at weather.com. Based out of Atlanta, he joined the team in 2025.

Hometown

I am from Atlanta, but for those of you who are from Atlanta, I am from Johns Creek. Specifically, Johns Creek before Johns Creek was officially Johns Creek.

Educational background

I went to Wesleyan School for lower, middle and high school. And no, not the girls' college. I did NOT in fact go to a girls' college from the ages of 5 to 18. I get asked that a lot more than you would expect. For college, I went to the University of Georgia in Athens and studied meteorology as well as Environmental Economics, also managing to squeeze in a minor in Spanish. I followed this up with doing my master's at UGA, experimenting with alternative forecasting tools for hurricanes (nerdy, sorry).

What I do

I am a digital meteorologist, which means that I will be involved in pitching nerdy yet interesting weather stories for your everyday life. Everything from rainfall to heat and what to expect when you leave the house. Also climate angles, hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, snow and anything else weather you can think of! You will then see my name on articles that I write, diving into the weeds of said stories and also on the bit-sized nuggets of these articles in social media form. I will also be using the amazing MAX for my graphics to give you all the visual representation of what I am talking about. Any ongoing weather events you may also see me in action giving ongoing coverage for anything from night storms to powerful snow bands to landfalling hurricanes.

How I got to The Weather Company

I got to The Weather Company after working at CNN since 2018, honing my skills with graphics and digital content. We covered some of the most destructive weather across the US and the globe. Working in weather means you have to be ready to pivot; weather can happen anywhere at any time, which requires the ability to change focus real quick.

What I love about working for The Weather Company

I love the opportunity to challenge myself and take steps into discussing weather in easy-to-digest versions for people in all walks of life. I also like being able to nerd out with like-minded people who also have been passionate about working in weather.

Favorite weather areas

As a child, something always drew me to weather. Saturday mornings, I found myself watching the Local on the 8ths instead of cartoons. My parents were perplexed by this but figured I'd grow out of it. Decades later, I am still here, and it all makes so much sense now. It is hard to give a specific weather area, but I did start with hurricanes. As I studied meteorology, I grew to like everything from generational flood events, record dry spells, blanketing snowfall and powerful severe storm outbreaks.

Favorite core weather memory

I remember experiencing severe storms as a child that always got me super excited. One I remember blew over a gas station canopy on my way to school, which was terrifying to see. Working at CNN, we covered numerous major hurricanes, including the recent storms Helene and Miton in 2024 and Idalia in 2023.

Favorite weather condition

Sunny and 80 or that period right before it rains and you can just tell its about to let loose!

Favorite book

Lord of the Rings for obvious reasons.

Favorite movie

Inception since I like to leave a movie more confused than when I entered the theatre.

C​ontact me

Youtube Channel is Rob Shack! I play retro video games since modern video games are ROUGH