Covering Weather and Traffic in St Johns County

​When you watch CBS47 and FOX30 Action News Jax in the morning, you quickly notice a difference between their morning news and everyone else’s.  “What you get is a lot more local news instead of fluff,” says morning anchor Phil Amato, who migrated over to Action News Jax from First Coast News a few years ago.  Added long time co-anchor Dawn Lopez, “We understand that mornings are hectic and people want to be informed before they head out the door.  We really focus on local coverage so we don’t waste anyone’s time.”  It’s a faster paced newscast, with reporters spread out all over the area.  “We have more local reporters in the morning because our viewing area is so spread out,” said morning anchor Letisha Bereola.  “Having more reporters gives us an opportunity to cover more stories, especially in St Johns County.”

A large ingredient of that local coverage in the morning is weather and traffic.  In fact, from 4:30am to 9am, it’s every ten minutes.  Action News Jax First Alert Meteorologist Arielle Nixon has been forecasting local weather in the Jacksonville area for over 5 years.  “What makes St Johns County unique is the fact that it’s surrounded by water with the Atlantic Ocean to the East and the St Johns River to the West,” said Arielle Nixon.  “With so much water interacting with land, you have the perfect combination for storms.”

  Being in the “traffic” business for over 14 years clearly gives Derrick Odom an advantage.  Not to mention that he also works part-time for the Florida Department of Transportation.  “I’ve been doing this in one form or another for a long time and nothing is more important than getting you the right information quickly,” he says.
You can catch Arielle, Derrick and the rest of the morning team, weekday mornings from 4:30am to 9am, on CBS47 and FOX30 Action News Jax.