KBTX anounces a major change in the people providing the station’s weather coverage.
Chief meteorologist Shel Winkley has announced he is leaving to pursue a new opportunity.
Taking over as only the third chief meteorologist in the nearly 70 year history of the station is Max Crawford, who has been at KBTX since 2008.
Shel’s tenure at KBTX began as an intern in 2006. He joined the station fulltime in 2009 and was in his 11th year leading the weather team.
News release from KBTX:
Thursday, April 18, 2024, KBTX announced two major changes coming to the PinPoint Forecast Team.
First, Chief Meteorologist Shel Winkley let viewers know he will be leaving the station on April 25 to pursue new opportunities. Winkley first joined the station as an intern in 2006 and became a full-time member of the meteorology team in 2009. He’s served as chief meteorologist since 2013.
During his time at KBTX, Shel also taught broadcast meteorology at Texas A&M University, served as chair for American Meteorological Society’s Board of Broadcast Meteorology, and was routinely recognized as a leader in his field by peers and trade organizations. KBTX thanks Shel for nearly 15 years of dedicated service to the Brazos Valley and wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.
“I cannot say thank you enough for allowing me to earn your trust to cover the storms, hurricanes, historic temperatures, impacts of a changing climate, and just the day-to-day weather of Central and Southeast Texas,” said Winkley. “But also thank you for the conversations, the questions, and most importantly the support and friendships you have gifted me over this decade and a half.”
Concurrently, KBTX announced longtime morning meteorologist Max Crawford would now lead the station’s team of meteorologists. KBTX maintains the region’s only team of degreed meteorologists dedicated to the Brazos Valley, including a unique meteorology fellowship for students of Texas A&M University that’s helped launch Aggie into talent to television markets across the country.
Max Crawford joined the KBTX weather team in 2008 after working at KWES-TV in Midland-Odessa, learning and working under legendary broadcaster Tom Tefertiller. Crawford got his degree in Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University, where he was part of Winkley’s first broadcast meteorology class and worked as an intern at KBTX in 2013. Since 2015, Max has been a pillar of KBTX’s PinPoint Forecast Team and a regular face for viewers on Brazos Valley This Morning.
Crawford is an active board member of the United Way of the Brazos Valley and remains actively involved at Texas A&M, where he was honored as a Fish Camp namesake in 2016.
At KBTX, Crawford will be just the third person to hold the title Chief Meteorologist, and one of only around half a dozen people to formally lead the station’s weather department over its nearly 70-year history. He looks forward to continuing the station’s legacy of innovating and leading the market in weather coverage, and to leading a team of Aggie meteorologists dedicated to serving the Brazos Valley.
For nearly 70 years, KBTX-TV has been the Brazos Valley’s only fully-staffed, full-power local television station. Broadcasting more than 40 hours of news each week over the air, KBTX is always available for free on channel 3.1, online at KBTX.com, and in the KBTX app on your phone or preferred streaming device.