Juan Acuña re-joined the KRIS 6 News team as the Sunrise and noon meteorologist in November 2020, one of the few good things to happen in 2020.
Juan, a Coastal Bend native who grew up in Orange Grove and is a proud 2003 graduate of Orange Grove High School, is happy to be back on the right end of Interstate 37 after spending the better part of a year at USAA in San Antonio.
His love for weather began at an early age, but it was in 1999 when category 4 Hurricane Bret hit just north of Corpus Christi that he solidified his future career aspirations.
After high school, Acuña went on to attend The University of the Incarnate Word where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology. After that, he continued his education and attended graduate school at Mississippi State University and received his Master of Science degree in Geosciences with a concentration in Applied Meteorology.
Driven by his desire to learn as much about weather and the hazards associated with them, Acuña continued his graduate work and attended American Military University and received a Graduate Certificate in Emergency and Disaster Management in late 2018.
Juan has loved every minute of his broadcasting career, but considers his time with the Texas A&M Forest Service in College Station, TX as a highlight; a position that he held for a little over a year. He was the first ever meteorologist hired by the state agency in their 100-year history and had the daunting task of forecasting for the entire state of Texas identifying areas susceptible to increased fire weather potential. He correlated daily forecasts with local, state and national officials with the National Weather Service, the U.S. Forest Service, TxDOT, the Texas Parks and Wildlife agency and the Texas Military Department.
Now forecasting Texas weather for over a decade, he strives to produce forecasts relevant to the communities he serves. He wants to be certain that when severe weather threatens the Coastal Bend, he has all the latest information KRIS 6 News viewers need to stay safe.
