Chris Suchan, Meteorologist

Chris Suchan came to Tampa Bay to join 10 Connects in late August of 2008, approaching the peak of hurricane season! He'll always remember his first two weeks in Florida, tracking and forecasting Gustav, Hanna, Ike and Josephine.

As Chris will tell you, "That was the royal red carpet to tropical meteorology forecasting in Florida!" Chris spent more than 8 years as a meteorologist for WBTV, the CBS affiliate in Charlotte, NC. Prior to working in Charlotte, Chris worked nearly 3 years in Harrisonburg, VA for WHSV. Over the course of his career, he has covered major snow storms, a historic ice storm (over 1 million without power), and numerous tropical systems with flooding and tornado outbreaks to crippling droughts. Former TV markets all featured a wide range of challenging weather with the Appalachian Mountains on one side to the Atlantic Ocean to the other side.

Chris grew up in Virginia and graduated from Radford University in southwest Virginia with a degree in earth and space science along with a minor in geology. In addition to his background in science from Radford, he has also studied meteorology at Mississippi State University. For a brief time, Chris had a goal of becoming a geologist rather than a meteorologist as he fell in love with the mountains which offer incredible geologic history but ultimately came back to his childhood passion of forecasting the weather. Chris holds the AMS and NWA seals of approval for his forecasts and is a proud member of both organizations.

Chris is married to Kara Edwards-Suchan and has no children just yet, but declares he and his wife are parents in training with their dog Mason and two cats Xen and Storm. His wife is a professional voice actor after spending time in radio. You might know her from a popular cartoon called Dragon Ball Z. You can hear more of her work at www.karaedwardsvo.com. As for personal hobbies, Chris enjoys golfing, fishing, landscaping and weightlifting. He also loves to travel with his wife on weekend trips to see new places. If you have any suggestions, Chris would love for you to email him some ideas!

Outside of work, Chris loves to visit schools around the area and give weather talks. "There's no greater satisfaction than inspiring just one student from each class visit to pursue meteorology." In addition to speaking about weather, Chris supports the fight against cancer with area Relay for Life events.

Stories from Chris Suchan