Upbringing and Education

Vanessa was born and raised on Long Island, New York and spent most of her childhood and youth in the small town of Center Moriches. The town had streets named after her grandparents. In the year 2000, she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from the University of Rochester in the year 2000.

After graduation, she worked for a corporate company for three years. She was interested in Metrology and her only aim was to become a meteorologist ever since her childhood days. After her stint at the University of Rochester, Vanessa decided to continue her higher education. She went to study at Penn State University. She completed her masters in Meteorology from Penn State in 2005. She would achieve her dream of becoming a meteorologist soon after finishing her education.

Career Start

Vanessa has been working in Virginia as a Broadcast Meteorologist ever since she completed her masters. She gained certification as “Certified Broadcast Meteorologist” from the American Meteorologist Society. She is also a member of the National Weather Association.

Vanessa worked for 2 years for FOX and ABC where she was an evening weather anchor in the city of Charlottesville. On November of 2006, she moved from Charlottesville to join the Vipir Weather team for the morning meteorologist position... Vanessa worked as a weekend meteorologist for CBS News Channel 3 for five years in Norfolk, a stint that started in in June 2007. While working for CBS, she forecasted the weather for the Mid-Atlantic coastline region.

Return Home

When she joined WCBS in New York, it was well covered in the news. She had gained experience in other nearby states but she was finally returning home as a seasoned veteran. She often spent time in the city with her family and cherished those memories. Vanessa explained to reporters how happy she was to join a New York station, “I am thrilled to be coming home and joining the CBS team. Not only will I be closer to family and old friends, but I get to work in the Big Apple amongst the most talented broadcasters in the world. It’s an opportunity for which I am incredibly grateful. I look forward to meeting our viewers, sharing their stories, and providing them with the most accurate forecast in town”

Power of Irene

She considered coming home as a weather report to be a rewarding experience for herself. She played a very important role in broadcasting Hurricane Irene. She mentioned that she always get emotional when she thinks about that hurricane because she knew of a mother lost her baby during the hurricane. Although there was tragedy involved, she felt it was a great experience when she experienced how powerful nature could be. During the hurricane, there was a house with got struck by a big tree and a child was trapped. Vanessa described the experience, "We were only in the early hours of dealing with Irene when we received word that a tree had fallen on a home and a child was unaccounted for. The mother escaped with only minor cuts and bruises, her son was killed. When I think of Irene I will always remember this story and my heart will ache for the mother who lost her son."