John Morales becomes first Puerto Rican to be named honorary member of prestigious meteorological group

For years, John Morales has been the meteorologist many in South Florida trust to be the calm during the storm.

And on Wednesday, the NBC6 hurricane specialist received a rare national honor -- he was named an honorary member of the American Meteorological Association (AMS).

The AMS is the main scientific and professional organization in the United States that promotes and disseminates information on atmospheric and oceanic sciences.

In its 104-year history, only 138 people have been elected as honorary members and Morales is the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into this prestigious group.

"What makes me most proud is knowing that I have been able to represent the Latino community so worthily and open paths for new generations of scientists and communicators in our field," said Morales. "Just as I have been able to reach this level, I am confident that many more colleagues in the future will follow suit."

It is estimated that the AMS has approximately 12,000 active members but only two Latin Americans have been elected Honorary Members before 2024: the Argentine Eugenia Kalnay and the Mexican Mario Molina.

On Wednesday, Celeste Saulo of Argentina, the first female secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and Morales were recognized in a ceremony in Baltimore, Maryland.

According to the AMS constitution, "honorary members shall be persons of recognized pre-eminence in the atmospheric sciences, either through their own contributions to the sciences, their application, or by furthering the advancement of those sciences in some other way."

Prominent and historical figures in the field of meteorology are also honorary members.

Among them are Ted Fujita, who developed the Fujita scale to estimate the wind speed of tornadoes, Joanne Simpson, the first woman in the U.S. to receive a doctorate in meteorology, her husband Robert Simpson, who co-developed the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, and Edward Lorenz, who laid the foundations of chaos theory in meteorological modeling and the “butterfly effect.”

From a very young age, Morales identified his passion for meteorology, and after graduating from high school in San Juan, he continued his undergraduate studies and obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Atmospheric Sciences from Cornell University and later received his graduate degree in environmental science policy from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.

After working for some time at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service, Morales later moved into news broadcasting and became the first Spanish-speaking meteorologist in the U.S.

In fact, he was the first Latino meteorologist to appear on the “Today Show."

Today, Morales is a trailblazing and widely respected atmospheric and environmental scientist with a long career as a meteorologist in various media.

Morales broke barriers in meteorology and has always been a strong advocate for diversity, launching an effort to recruit young Latin American students in meteorology and funding a minority scholarship at the AMS.

With a solid career and proven eminence as a scientist and communicator, Morales was elected an honorary member of the AMS, its highest distinction, and was also inducted into the Silver Circle of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his excellence in broadcasting.

In 1991, he founded the ClimaData Corporation, a boutique firm specializing in forensic meteorology and meteorological consulting, of which he is the main certified consulting meteorologist, with a wide range of clients and companies with whom he collaborates.

His professional career of excellence has earned him four Emmy Awards in 1993, 2005, 2010 and 2018.

In 2009, Morales served as NBC6's chief meteorologist and still serves as the station's first hurricane specialist.

Previously, he was also head of meteorology for Telemundo 51 and Univision 23 in Miami.

Morales may be a huge presence in broadcast television, but he is also extremely influential on social media.

He has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media and is also a climate change columnist for the long-running publication Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

In 2023, he was elected to the Board of Trustees of Cornell University, where he also previously received the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Outstanding Alumni Award.

Morales serves on the board of the CLEO Institute in Florida, which empowers communities to implement and demand solutions to the climate crisis, and is also on the board of directors of the Open Door Health Center in Homestead, which is a free medical clinic for people in need.

This distinguished Puerto Rican is the fourth Boricua to serve as a trustee of Cornell University since the university's founding in 1865.

"I am immensely proud and grateful to be part of Cornell's leadership at a time of growing challenges
and tremendous opportunities to do the most good," Morales said.

As a result, he travels frequently to the university to give lectures and participate in conferences on topics of meteorology and climate change.