GeneralLast Updated on 1 week by General
Tony Petrarca is the Chief Meteorologist at WPRI-TV with 34 years of experience forecasting New England weather. As a native Rhode Islander, he grew up watching WPRI 12 and fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming a meteorologist. Tony is a graduate of Toll Gate High School in Warwick and Lyndon State College in Lyndonville, Vermont, where he earned a B.S. Degree in Meteorology.
He is a member of the American Meteorological Society and holds the “A.M.S. Broadcast Seal Of Approval” award, the society’s highest standards for a television meteorologist. In 2012, he was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Silver Circle for his 30 years as a meteorologist.
Throughout his career, Tony has received several accolades, including being nominated six times for the New England Emmy Award. He has been voted “Most Accurate Meteorologist” 10 times by Rhode Island Monthly Magazine’s annual readers poll and has won Associated Press Awards for “Best Weathercast.” Tony’s career also includes a highlight of spending a winter weekend atop Mount Washington, which resulted in an Emmy-nominated weather documentary called “On Top Of New England.”
Over the years, Tony has forecasted a wide range of weather events in New England, including blizzards, Nor’easters, floods, hurricanes, severe thunderstorms, and tornado threats.
In addition to his meteorological work, Tony is committed to giving back to his community. He has visited over 600 elementary schools in the last 27 years, educating children about weather and inspiring some to pursue meteorology. He has also dedicated his time to various charitable organizations, including the “Tomorrow Fund,” “Meeting Street School,” “East Bay Coalition For The Homeless,” “Crossroads Homeless Shelter,” “The Fogarty Center,” “Hasbro Children’s Hospital,” and the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Tony is a father of three children and is actively involved in his local church as a Eucharistic minister.