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Jesse Hawila is a meteorologist at WFAA Channel 8 in Dallas, Texas. He’s been with the station since November 2016. He covers weather forecasting and reporting for both television and digital platforms across the Dallas and Fort Worth area.
He was born on December 4, 1977, in Texas. He grew up in the same state where he now works. He attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and graduated with a degree in Meteorology. He holds the American Meteorological Society’s Certified Broadcast Meteorologist designation. It’s the highest professional credential available to broadcast meteorologists in the United States.
Before joining WFAA, he worked at three television stations across Indiana and Kansas City over roughly five years. He started his broadcast career around 2011. And he spent time at stations in Lafayette, Fort Wayne, and Kansas City before landing in Dallas. WFAA hired him in late 2016 to fill a weekend meteorologist role. He’s since expanded to a full-time schedule covering weekday shifts as well.
He’s Texas-born, and he’s said publicly that returning to his home state was personally important to him. His official station bio puts it simply. “WFAA is like my home.” He’s also an avid storm chaser who has tracked tornadoes, large hail, and destructive winds across the country. That hands-on field experience informs how he presents weather on air.
In recent years, Hawila has become one of the more recognized names on the WFAA weather team. He’s a regular on Dallas-area media platforms and has appeared as a guest on multiple podcasts covering DFW life and culture. But his weather work remains the core of what he does. He’s spent the better part of 15 years building a career in broadcast meteorology, and he shows no signs of slowing down.
| Full Name | Jesse Hawila |
| Date of Birth | December 4, 1977 |
| Place of Birth | Texas, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Broadcast Meteorologist, Weather Forecaster |
| Employer | WFAA Channel 8, Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas (ABC affiliate, TEGNA) |
| Education | Bachelor of Science in Meteorology, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana |
| Certification | AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) — American Meteorological Society |
| Career Start | WLFI-TV, Lafayette, Indiana (~2011) |
| Current Role | Meteorologist — WFAA Channel 8, Dallas–Fort Worth (November 2016–Present) |
| Previous Stations | WLFI-TV Lafayette IN | WANE-TV Fort Wayne IN | KCTV5 Kansas City MO |
| Notable Work | WFAA North Texas Weather Forecasts; NTX Now: North Texas Summer Heat Wave (2026); Storm Chasing Coverage across the United States |
| Weight Loss | 130 pounds lost over two years (confirmed September 2026) |
| Marital Status | Married to Elisabeth Rentschler Hawila (since 2016) |
| Children | Two – Sloane Rylee (born January 2021); Finn (born 2024) |
| Pets | Two boxer/bulldog mix dogs |
| Estimated Net Worth | ~$1 million (estimated) |
| Salary | Estimated $80,000–$200,000 annually (not officially confirmed) |
| Residence | Dallas, Texas, United States |
Who is Jesse Hawila?
Jesse Hawila is an American broadcast meteorologist at WFAA Channel 8 in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas. Born on December 4, 1977, in Texas, he holds the American Meteorological Society’ Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) designation and has worked in television weather since 2011.
Jesse Hawila Age, Early Life and Education
Jesse Hawila was born and raised in Texas, where a childhood spent watching extreme weather build across the plains turned into a career that has lasted more than 15 years.
Childhood and Family Background
Jesse Hawila was born on December 4, 1977, in Texas. He’s 48 years old. He grew up in the same state where he now works, and that matters to him. He’s said publicly that returning to Texas for his current role felt like coming home.
His interest in weather started when he was five years old. It wasn’t a passing phase. He grew up watching storms roll in and became genuinely absorbed by how weather shapes everyday life. And that curiosity never left him. By the time he reached college, meteorology was the only career he had ever seriously considered.
He was raised in Texas by his parents, Ali Hawila and the late Karen Lee Hawila. He has one stepbrother through his mother. His background is American, and he’s spent most of his life between Texas and the Midwest.
Educational Journey
Jesse Hawila attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology. The university has a strong track record in atmospheric sciences and has sent graduates into broadcast weather rooms across the country.
But a degree alone wasn’t the finish line for him. After graduating, he pursued the American Meteorological Society’s Certified Broadcast Meteorologist designation. It’s known in the industry as the CBM. And it’s the highest professional credential a broadcast meteorologist can hold in the United States.
The CBM requires passing a rigorous examination that tests scientific accuracy, on-air communication standards, and professional ethics. It’s a signal the industry uses to distinguish qualified meteorologists from general weather presenters. Hawila earned it. And he carries it as a core part of his professional identity, listed prominently on his station biography to this day.
His path from a Texas kid watching thunderstorms to a credentialed broadcast meteorologist at one of the country’s top-market stations followed a straight line. The curiosity came first. The credential came later. But both pointed in the same direction from the very beginning.
Jesse Hawila’s Career as a Meteorologist
Jesse Hawila works as a meteorologist at WFAA Channel 8 in Dallas, Texas. He joined the station in November 2016. He’s spent the better part of 15 years working in broadcast meteorology across four different television markets.
Early Career - Building a Foundation in Smaller Markets
Three stations came before WFAA. All of them were in smaller markets. And all of them were in the Midwest.
His first role was at WLFI-TV in Lafayette, Indiana. He started there around 2011. Severe weather comes through that part of Indiana regularly. He covered tornadoes, ice storms, and snowstorms. None of it was simulated.
Around 2013 he took a job at WANE-TV in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He stayed two years. The work was similar — severe weather coverage in a mid-size Midwest market. He was getting better at the job with each season.
In March 2015 he joined KCTV5 in Kansas City, Missouri. It’s a CBS affiliate and was the biggest market he had worked in up to that point. He covered Midwest severe weather and grew his profile on air. Kansas City is also where he met Elisabeth Rentschler, who was a reporter at the same station. She later became his wife.
Current Role at WFAA Dallas
Jesse Hawila came to WFAA Channel 8 in November 2016 and hasn’t left. The station is an ABC affiliate under TEGNA. It covers one of the five biggest television markets in the country.
He forecasts and reports weather for both the television broadcast and WFAA’s digital platforms. He’s back in his home state of Texas, and he’s been direct about what that means to him. His station biography says it plainly. “WFAA is like my home.”
The Dallas area gives him more to work with than most markets do. Tornadoes come through. Hail events hit hard. Summer heat pushes into record territory. Hawila had chased weather across the country for years before arriving. North Texas put all of that experience to use.
In a September 2026 interview he laid out the numbers from a punishing DFW summer. It was the ninth time on record that Dallas logged no measurable rain in August. The city ran a 47-day dry streak without rain. There were 37 days of triple-digit temperatures. And the summer ranked sixth hottest on record overall. He presented those figures with the precision of someone who had spent weeks living inside the data.
He has also built a presence beyond the WFAA weather desk. He appears regularly on Dallas-area media platforms and podcasts as a guest voice on North Texas weather. But broadcast meteorology at WFAA remains the center of his professional life.
Major Achievements and Recognitions
Jesse Hawila holds the CBM designation from the American Meteorological Society. The full title is Certified Broadcast Meteorologist. It’s the top professional credential in broadcast meteorology.
The exam covers scientific accuracy, communication under pressure, and professional ethics. Experience alone doesn’t earn it. You pass or you don’t. Hawila has kept the designation active across his entire time at WFAA. It’s the first credential listed on his station page.
By September 2026 he had appeared on one Dallas-based podcast seven times. The hosts made a point of saying it on air. No Emmy nominations or AP awards have been publicly tied to his name. What he has is a decade at a top-five market station, a professional credential, and a track record that hasn’t had any public gaps.
Jesse Hawila Weight Loss Journey
Jesse Hawila has lost 130 pounds over roughly two years. He’s talked about it publicly and on the record. And it’s become one of the most searched topics connected to his name, driven largely by viewers who noticed the change on screen and wanted to understand it.
The Story Behind the Transformation
On September 2, 2026, Jesse Hawila appeared on a Dallas-based podcast and confirmed the full picture himself. He’d lost 130 pounds. He said it directly. “I’m not ashamed. I’m down 130 pounds.”
He was clear about where it started. The weight gain wasn’t a lifestyle choice. His words were specific on that point. “The weight gain was not a luxurious decision. It was some medically involved stuff.” He got through that period and then made a decision to change course. He started the process about two years before that September 2026 conversation.
He didn’t treat it as one large target. He broke the goal into smaller sections. “I broke up my long-term goal into fourths, so every 25 felt like a huge victory.” That framing came from him. It reflects how he approached the whole thing practically rather than emotionally.
By the time of that podcast appearance he hadn’t reached his end goal. But he was close enough to say he could see it. The hosts acknowledged the visible difference on air. He took it in stride. He described the public reaction as a mix of genuine support and awkward compliments, and he handled both with the same dry humor he brings to his weather segments.
Viewer response to his transformation generated real public conversation. Some comments were warm. Others were blunt in ways that weren’t entirely kind. Hawila spoke about that reaction openly and without frustration. It added a layer of honesty to a topic that public figures often avoid entirely.
His approach to this period of his life has extended beyond the physical. He addressed mental health directly in a separate WFAA Facebook Live video, speaking to an audience that clearly connected with what he was going through. That conversation made clear that the journey was never just about one thing. It was a broader shift, and he was willing to talk about it in public because he thought it mattered.
Jesse Hawila Salary and Net Worth
Jesse Hawila’s exact salary is not publicly disclosed. No figure has been released by WFAA or by Jesse himself. But his tenure, market, and role put his earnings in a range that industry data supports clearly.
These figures are estimates based on publicly available industry data and should not be treated as confirmed amounts.
Jesse Hawila Salary
No official salary figure for Jesse Hawila has been made public. WFAA doesn’t publish staff compensation and Jesse hasn’t discussed it on record.
What is public is the market he works in. Dallas and Fort Worth sit inside one of the five largest television markets in the United States. Stations operating in that tier pay experienced on-air talent at a different level than mid-size or regional markets. Entry-level broadcast meteorologists in smaller markets typically earn between $35,000 and $60,000 a year. Experienced meteorologists working full-time at major network affiliates in top-five markets earn significantly more. Industry data places that upper range between $80,000 and $200,000 annually depending on seniority and role.
Hawila joined WFAA in November 2016. He’s been there for nearly a decade. He holds the AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist credential and covers both television and digital platforms. That combination of tenure, credential, and market size puts him firmly in the experienced tier of that range.
Jesse Hawila Net Worth
Jesse Hawila’s net worth is estimated at around $1 million. That figure reflects a career in broadcast meteorology that stretches back to around 2011 across four television markets.
His income has come from consistent salaried work at WLFI-TV, WANE-TV, KCTV5, and WFAA over roughly 15 years. He has also appeared as a guest on Dallas-area podcasts and media platforms, which adds to his public profile and professional reach. His wife Elisabeth works as a real estate agent in the Dallas market, which contributes to the household’s overall financial picture.
His actual financial position is private. The $1 million estimate is based on available public information and career context. It’s not a celebrity-level number. It’s the kind of figure a working broadcast professional builds steadily over a long career in a major market.
Personal Life — Is Jesse Hawila Still Married?
Jesse Hawila is still married to Elisabeth Rentschler Hawila. They tied the knot in 2016 and live in Dallas, Texas, with their two children.
Wife - Elisabeth Rentschler Hawila
Jesse Hawila’s wife is Elisabeth Rentschler Hawila, a former broadcast journalist who now works in real estate in the Dallas area. The two met in Kansas City while working at the same television station. She was a reporter at KCTV5. He was the meteorologist. They married in 2016 and moved to Dallas together when Jesse joined WFAA later that year.
Elisabeth started her journalism career at WLFI in Lafayette, Indiana. She then moved to KCTV5 in Kansas City. She has a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority while she studied there. When she and Jesse moved to Dallas she left broadcasting and shifted into real estate. She works as an agent in the Dallas market.
Jesse has spoken about her warmly in public appearances without making a show of it. In a September 2026 podcast he mentioned that she attended an Electric Cowboy concert with him at Southside Ballroom in Dallas. It was the first time she had seen him mosh. She grew up in Chicago and still roots for the Chicago Bears. He’s a Kansas City Chiefs fan. They make it work.
Children and Family Life
Jesse Hawila and Elisabeth have two children. Their daughter Sloane Rylee was born in January 2021. Their son Finn arrived in 2024 and Jesse announced the birth on social media. Both kids have come up regularly in his public interviews and podcast appearances over the past two years.
In a September 2026 podcast he talked about his daughter starting kindergarten. He called it unexpectedly moving. “I am not an emotional human being. I’m just not,” he said on the podcast. But he described watching her sit down in the classroom on the first day through the glass and feeling it more than he expected. It was the kind of honest moment that doesn’t get planned.
He’s also reflected on how having kids has changed how he approaches storm chasing. He still does it. But children have a way of shifting the calculation. And he’s been open about that on air without making it dramatic.
The family also has two boxer and bulldog mix dogs. His WFAA station biography describes him and Elisabeth as taking care of the dogs like spoiled children. That line was written before Sloane and Finn arrived. It still fits the picture he presents publicly of a household that takes both the pets and the parenting seriously.
FAQ: Everything You Need to Know About Jesse Hawila
Key questions answered about the WFAA meteorologist and his public life
He was born and raised in Texas and still lives and works in the same state today. He joined WFAA Channel 8 in Dallas in November 2016 and has been with the station ever since.
He described the weight gain as medically connected rather than a lifestyle choice. He split his overall goal into four smaller targets to keep progress feeling achievable. As of September 2026 he was still working toward his final goal and said he could see it within reach.
The two met while both working at KCTV5 in Kansas City, Missouri. Elisabeth was a television reporter at the station at the time. They relocated together to Dallas when Jesse joined WFAA in late 2016.
Elisabeth worked at WLFI in Lafayette, Indiana, and KCTV5 in Kansas City before transitioning into real estate. She holds a bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia and was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. She grew up in Chicago and roots for the Chicago Bears.
Sloane Rylee was born in January 2021. Finn arrived in 2024 and Jesse announced the birth on social media. In a September 2026 podcast he spoke about his daughter starting kindergarten, describing the moment as unexpectedly emotional for someone who considers himself not an emotional person.
He works at one of the top five television markets in the United States. Experienced meteorologists at major-market network affiliates in that tier typically earn between $80,000 and $200,000 annually. His nearly decade-long tenure at WFAA puts him in the higher end of that range by industry standards.
That figure reflects close to 15 years of steady work in broadcast meteorology across four television stations — WLFI, WANE-TV, KCTV5, and WFAA. It has not been officially confirmed by Jesse Hawila himself.
He joined the station in November 2016 and covers weather forecasting and reporting for both television and digital platforms. Dallas–Fort Worth is one of the five largest television markets in the United States. He has been a full-time member of the WFAA weather team for nearly a decade.
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