Kurtis Gertz Named KCCI Chief Meteorologist

Hearst-owned CBS affiliate KCCI Des Moines, Iowa (DMA 69), today appointed Kurtis Gertz chief meteorologist. In his new role, Gertz will lead KCCI’s weather team while anchoring Storm Team 8 forecasts weeknights at 5, 6, 9 and 10 p.m.

Gertz has been a meteorologist at KCCI for more than 21 years. He joined the team from 1994 until 1998 and after a brief stint away, returned to KCCI in 2000. For the past 16 years he has been a leading voice on KCCI Storm Team 8, anchoring the station’s 5 p.m., noon, and most recently, weekday morning weathercasts.

According to KCCI, “this leadership allowed him to immediately step in for more than a year for John McLaughlin during McLaughlin’s medical leave.”

Gertz has field experience as well, including covering the destructive Woodward tornado of 2005 from the KCCI Storm Chaser. He broadcast the funnel cloud live from his dash cam and was the first journalist on the scene to show the damage.

Gertz graduated magna cum laude from Florida State University. He worked in TV stations in Dubuque, Iowa, and the Quad Cities before starting at KCCI in 1994. Kurtis has attained a Certified Broadcast Meteorology certificate from the American Meteorological Association, as well as the National Weather Association Seal of Approval.