Chesley McNeil joined 11Alive in 2009 as meteorologist for the morning and noon news and instantly became one of Atlanta’s most popular on-air personalities. You can watch him weekdays on 11Alive Morning News.
Chesley’s career began at WBOC in Salisbury, Maryland. After a short while, he moved on to WRIC-TV in Richmond, Virginia where he produced two weekly shows: a teen show called “Richtalk” and a public affairs show called “This Week in Richmond.“
But his interest and training in Meteorology soon won him the weekend weather anchor job, reporting on weather, local events, environmental and human interest stories. After nine years at WRIC, Chesley left his job anchoring the weather on Good Morning Richmond and the 8 News at Noon newscasts, and moved to Buffalo, New York where he joined the staff of WGRZ as morning Meteorologist for the Daybreak Morning show and Noon newscasts.
He holds a BA in Mass Communications from Wesley College in Delaware, and a BS and MS in Geosciences from Mississippi State University. In addition to his career in television, Chesley has taught both undergraduate and graduate level Meteorology and Earth Sciences courses at several colleges and universities, currently teaching at Kennesaw University. He has been awarded the prestigious American Meteorological Society Seal of Approval, is a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and is the recipient of broadcasting Emmy Awards along with numerous professional awards and honors.
He is a member of the American Meteorology Society, the National Weather Association and the National Association of Black Journalists. He's also a proud member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. In 2013, he was named by the Governor of Georgia to the Severe Weather Task Force.
Chesley and his wife Ramona are the proud and involved parents of three boys. In his free time, he enjoys church, sports, especially tennis or basketball, and making documentaries.