Sacramento Bee’s first-ever meteorologist eager to dig into El Niño, drought & more
An award-winning meteorologist who’s reported on high-impact events such as tornadoes, blizzards, and drought will enter the “City of Trees” in a new weather-science and personality-driven role.
Sean Macaday enters The Sacramento Bee as the news organization’s first-ever meteorologist-journalist, explaining the science behind weather conditions and delivering that information in a variety of ways, including traditional stories and video.
Though based at The Bee, Macaday also will serve McClatchy Media news organizations throughout the Central Valley and Central Coast. He will report on how California’s weather impacts the environment, water supply and tourist destinations like Lake Tahoe, Yosemite and other national parks.
Macaday lands in Sacramento from Minnesota, where he worked as a meteorologist and environmental reporter at broadcast TV stations KIMT in Rochester and KMSP in the Twin Cities. During his time at KIMT, he received an Upper Midwest Emmy Award for “Minnesota’s historic December tornado outbreak.”
Macaday also covered the impacts of Minnesota’s warmest winter on record and growing rural water quality concerns in Southeastern Minnesota and Northern Iowa amid rising cancer rates and increasing nitrate levels in drinking water.
“I am thrilled to be joining a pillar of the Sacramento and Central Valley community that values the importance of the outdoors in our lives,” he said. “The Central Valley is one of the country’s premier agricultural breadbaskets, and I am excited to bring our readers the meteorological information that can help us navigate drought, wildfires, and the upcoming El Niño together.” Macaday is pursuing a master’s degree in environmental science and policy at John Hopkins University, and holds a bachelor’s degree in meteorology and marine science from the University of Miami.
For fun, Macaday, his fiancée, and their dog Louie go on hikes in national parks, and he is excited to explore the Sierra Nevada and Pacific Coast mountain ranges.
His first day at The Bee is June 15.
