Hello! My name is Conner Prince, and I am a Weekend Meteorologist/MMJ here at Your Hometown Stations!
I am a west-central Ohio native. I was raised in Urbana down in Champaign County. I graduated from Urbana High School in 2017 (Go Climbers!). Following my graduation from Urbana High School, I attended The Ohio State University (Go Buckeyes!) in Columbus where I pursued a major in Atmospheric Sciences and a minor in Spanish. At Ohio State, I was a forecaster with subsequent roles as Lead Forecaster and Social Media Manager for the Scarlet and Gray Campus Weather Forecasting Team. Additionally, I was inducted into the honor society for Atmospheric Sciences, Chi Epsilon Pi, and was an involved member with the Meteorology Club. In May 2021, I graduated Magna Cum Laude honors from Ohio State with a Bachelor's of Science in Atmospheric Sciences while minoring in Spanish.
Following my graduation from Ohio State, I pursued several opportunities. From August through October 2021, I pursued a volunteership with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Wilmington, OH. At NWS Wilmington, I received extensive training on forecast operations of the NWS, NWS relationships with the public and broadcast/emergency partners, meteorological training in areas of synoptic meteorology/mesoscale meteorology/severe weather/hydrology/winter weather/tropical weather/fire weather/mountain meteorology/aviation, and over 100 hours of specialized training. Additionally, I created and operated my own forecasting page, Prince Weather Center, through Facebook from April 2019 through May 2022. Through Prince Weather Center, I provided regular forecasts for western and central Ohio as well as providing continuous high-impact weather coverage when significant events threatened. Furthermore, I also hosted several education/outreach programs for weather preparedness throughout the community in association with my Prince Weather Center page.
Some of you might have followed me from Prince Weather Center, and I am thrilled to now be on your television sets! I am truly excited to begin my broadcast meteorology career here in Lima! The weather in west-central Ohio inspired me to become a meteorologist as this region experiences a wide variety of weather phenomena. Growing up, I lived through the historic December 2004 winter storm that dumped feet of snow across west-central Ohio, the 2008 Hurricane Ike Windstorm that brought hurricane-force winds to the area, the June 2012 Derecho that caused widespread wind damage across the state, and so much more! Not only I wanted to learn more about these weather events, I wanted to learn why the weather behaves a certain way and how I can better protect life and property from these hazardous weather events. It is my utmost honor and privilege to share my passion with the Lima community and protect the region from dangerous weather events as well as to cover local news stories through community engagement.
While I am not doing the weather nor reporting, I love to visit family! Also, I was once a competitive bowler, so bowling is one of my big hobbies. Furthermore, I am a huge baker and love baking desserts! I even have my own homemade jumbo cinnamon roll recipe that I make for gatherings and events! I also love to go to local events and try new restaurants.
If you see me out in the community, please run up to me and say hello as I would love to meet as many people as I can!
You can follow me on my Facebook page, Meteorologist Conner Prince, or email me at Cprince@wlio.com!