Falicia Woody leaves KDKA
Meteorologist’s tenure at Channel 2 abruptly ends
The news bombs just keep dropping in late February.
First, it was Shelby Cassesse announcing her imminent departure from both KDKA Radio and 93.7 The Fan. A few hours later, KDKA-TV weekend morning meteorologist Falicia Woody posted on social media that, “as of last week, I am no longer working for Paramount-CBS.”
KDKA Radio is owned by Audacy, while KDKA-TV is a division of CBS News, which itself is owned by Paramount Global.
While neither of Monday’s exits were expected, Woody’s was slightly more surprising given that her actual last day of work was Wednesday, Feb. 21. Noting she couldn’t say much about the circumstances surrounding the abrupt end of her Channel 2 tenure, she was more than happy to chat about plenty regarding her now-former workplace.
“I don’t regret a single minute of anything I have ever done at KDKA,” Woody said. “I met the greatest people, on and off camera, because of this experience. I am forever grateful that I got to achieve my dream of making it to a big city and being a meteorologist.”
An Atlanta native, Woody’s first 18 months in Pittsburgh was spent commuting to Youngstown, Ohio, for a job at WKBN- TV while her husband worked a data analytics job in the Steel City. She officially landed at KDKA in March 2022 as a fill-in meteorologist.
In May 2023, Channel 2 promoted her to weekend mornings alongside a revolving desk of anchors that included former KDKA anchor Briana Smith, current “Primetime News on KDKA+” host Jessica Guay and recently hired Channel 2 weekend morning anchor Megan Shinn. Woody forged strong bonds with all three weekend morning anchors and had begun to regard Shinn, who is also part Asian, as “a fellow AAPI sister.”
She had nothing but glowing reviews for KDKA’s meteorology team, comprising Ray Petelin, Mary Ours, Ron Smiley and Kristin Emery. They were
“really a great group of mets,” and Woody will never forget learning TikTok dances with Ours and making vending machine-based weather bets with Petelin over what temperature this region would hit on any given day.
“We bonded, laughed and had so much fun,” she said. “It’s sad those memories are over.”
She still isn’t totally clear about what brought her time at KDKA to a sudden conclusion, and whether or not she wasone of the approximately 800 employees that Paramount Global announced it would be laying off earlier this month.
For now, Woody and her husband plan to stay in the Pittsburgh area, though the main tether is her husband’s job, as they don’t have family in the region.
“We’re always up for a new adventure if one comes knocking,” she said.
There were no shortage of adventures during Woody’s KDKA stint.
She recalled the terror of being in Washington, Pa., during a May 2022 tornado warning, the thrill of getting caught in a classic Pittsburgh flash storm during Picklesburgh 2022, and the pride she felt after correctly predicting the thunderstorms that caused two lengthy weather delays during a December 2023 Steelers game against the Arizona Cardinals at Acrisure Stadium.
In addition to weather reports, Woody also helped set up KDKA’s mobile weather lab and update the station’s weather and traffic graphics. She grew emotional recounting the occasions on which she spoke at local elementary schools. The kids in attendance would sometimes tell her they now wanted to be meteorologists and give her hand-drawn pictures that she’ll never throw away.
This wasn’t how Woody wanted to end her time as KDKA’s weekend morning meteorologist, but there are some silver linings.
“I’m looking forward to actually sleeping eight hours a night and not waking up at 2, 3 in the morning,” she said. “I already deleted the alarms off my phone and felt a huge sense of relief.”
At this point, Woody is “exploring opportunities in and out of TV” and doesn’t “know if this is the end of journalism for me.”
Regardless of what comes next, she hopes Western Pennsylvania news consumers have enjoyed her corny jokes, promotion of mental health awareness and constant efforts to “show that weather can be fun, informative and simple.”
She mentioned the advice that KDKA anchor Kym Gable gave her on a day when she was in desperate need a pick-me-up: “Don’t make an impression, make an imprint.”
“That’s what I hope I did for the city of Pittsburgh,” Woody said. “They have left a lasting imprint on me.”