Meteorologist Jackie Layer joined DC News Now in May 2022.
She came to D.C. from WHDH-TV (IND) in Boston, MA where she was the weekend morning meteorologist. She has experience forecasting nor’easters and bitter cold wind chills in the winter to severe weather and tropical storms in the summer.
Aside from her daily weather duties, she would travel to local schools to promote fun ways to learn about weather with a strong focus on being prepared when severe weather strikes. When schools turned virtual during the pandemic, she started a daily weather lesson/experiment series that helped families struggling to find ways to teach science outside of the classroom–an initiative she still hears positive feedback to this day.
Prior to WHDH, she was the weekend morning meteorologist at WBTS-TV (NBC) and NECN in Boston. She started her career at WBND-TV (ABC) in South Bend, Indiana where she tracked lake effect snow off Lake Michigan and windchills that dipped 40-below zero in the winter followed by heatwaves and tornado outbreaks in the summer.
Originally from southern New Jersey, Jackie majored in meteorology at Penn State University and recently received her Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) designation from the American Meteorological Society (AMS).
She credits the Blizzard of ’96 which brought over 30′′of snow to parts of the northeast for kickstarting her interest in the weather at a young age. She also credits a family trip to Florida when Hurricane Charley hit in 2004.
In her spare time, Jackie loves to travel, spend time outdoors, and capture a nice sunrise or sunset photo (be sure to share your weather photos with her on social media).She grew up playing field hockey and softball, so she has a competitive side and enjoys watching baseball, football (especially her Nittany Lions), and hockey.
