Tom Messner Announces Retirement as NBC5 Chief Meteorologist

Tom Messner announced today that he plans to retire as NBC5 Chief Meteorologist, putting a capstone on a 31 year career as a broadcast meteorologist serving Vermont and Northern New York. Messner’s last weathercast will be at the end of November.

“It is nearly impossible to measure the impact Tom Messner has had on our communities,” says NBC5 President and General Manager Ryan Rothstein. “He’s been a constant, welcome face on television screens in homes across our region for more than three decades, providing reassurance and comfort during countless severe weather events, flashing his signature smile that lit up every newscast and every community event that he was a part of.”

“I’m  grateful to my friends and colleagues at NBC5 and Hearst Television, and to the viewers who have so graciously welcomed me into their lives,” says Messner. “I’m honored to have served my neighbors and our communities, and to have had the privilege to personally meet so many of our viewers throughout my 31 years at NBC5. Your amazing support and trust have allowed my family to build a home and life in a place that we truly love. I’m forever thankful.”

“Tom Messner truly is one-of-a-kind,” said Michael LaFlesh, NBC5 News Director. “Tom will always be a part of the NBC5 family, and even though we won’t see him on TV every day, he’ll still be stopping by to visit, especially for special occasions so viewers can still expect to see him from time to time.”

Messner joined NBC5 in July, 1990. He has been a respected and well-loved chief meteorologist on the early evening, 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts. In 2016, he was inducted into the Vermont Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, and was the winner in a readers poll by Vermont’s Seven Days newspaper as the region’s “Best Meteorologist” every year in the category’s existence.

Tom was also passionate in many community-driven initiatives, most notably creating a close partnership with Feeding Chittenden, Chittenden County’s food shelf. This relationship created a number of iconic live on-air memories of Tom “bowling” with frozen turkeys at the food shelf’s annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drive. He also loved visiting local schools, making memories for countless area students with weather and television presentations.

Messner’s broadcast career began on the radio in Ashland, Ohio, where he was a DJ at WNCO F.M. He began his television career in his hometown of Rochester, NY at WROC-TV, before coming to NBC5 in 1990.