Meteorologist Alan Shoemaker leaves KRGV Channel 5 News in Rio Grande Valley after 17 years.
Meteorologist Alan Shoemaker from the Rio Grande Valley will be temporarily filling in for ABC13’s Rachel Briers as she heads out for maternity leave in January.
MediaProduction/Getty ImagesIf you tuned into ABC13 Houston’s afternoon broadcast on Tuesday, you may have noticed a new member on the news team. Meteorologist Alan Shoemaker is joining the ABC 13 weather department, temporarily filling in for Rachel Briers as she heads on maternity leave in early January.
Briers made the announcement on Facebook Tuesday morning, writing: “Alan has been doing the weather in Texas for 17 years so you’ll be in good hands! He loves being outdoors so if you see him walking through Memorial park, tell him hi!” Alan shared Briers’ post, adding, “First day at the new station…and the cold air is coming.”
After working at KRGV Channel 5 News in the Rio Grande Valley for 17 years, Shoemaker bid a tearful on-air farewell to viewers on Dec. 13 as he shared his final forecast. Wiping away tears, Shoemaker announced that he will be in Houston for “kind of a temporary job.”
It’s not Shoemaker’s first time in the Bayou City. The meteorologist previously received cancer treatment at Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center while battling with acute myeloid leukemia. Photos posted by KRGV show Shoemaker ringing a bell in the newsroom to celebrate his final chemotherapy session in August 2018.
Best news of the day?
Our Alan Shoemaker had his final chemotherapy session!
After months of battling leukemia, Alan rang the bell in the newsroom.
He’s on his way to being well and we couldn’t be happier!#rgv #krgv pic.twitter.com/uGMPZgEpy0
— KRGV Sports (@KRGVSports) August 25, 2018
A Mississippi State University graduate, Shoemaker received a master’s degree in public relations from Ball State University in 2017. He got his start in television news as a part-time meteorologist at WTVA 9 News Tupelo, where he reportedly earned $5 an hour and had a 70-mile commute each way. Before joining KRGV in August 2005, Shoemaker worked as a weather forecaster for WKOW 27 News Madison, WI and NBC Montana Missoula, MT.