Derek Sibley

Derek Sibley is a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist who joined the WDSU First Warning weather team as the weekend morning meteorologist in January of 2024. Prior to joining the team, Derek was the weekday morning meteorologist for WKBT News 8 in La Crosse, Wisconsin. During his time in the Badger State, he spent 2 and a half years covering winter storms, extreme cold and wind chill, severe weather, and storm chased. Before his time in La Crosse, he was the weekday morning and noon meteorologist at KMID ABC Big 2/FOX 24 News in Odessa, Texas. During his time in the Lone Star State, he spent 2 years covering severe weather, extreme heat, dust storms, winter storms, and storm chasing. His first job in meteorology was at WeatherWorks in Hackettstown, New Jersey. His time in the Garden State was short lived, but this is where he learned how to be a professional meteorologist. While with WeatherWorks, he issued many forecasts for the East and the Northeast U.S., as well as parts of the Midwestern United States for subscribed clients. Another big part of his job was to also archive snow and ice totals for clients in different parts of the U.S. His passion for meteorology dates back to when he was a child. Growing up in South Florida, Derek experienced many active weather conditions including thunderstorms and tropical weather. His passion for weather grew larger as he learned more and got older. In addition, he experienced a handful of hurricanes in Florida during the active hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005. Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma are 2 memorable storms that come to mind for him because they both directly hit his childhood home causing extensive damage and power outages. It was after these 2 years that he developed a strong passion to study hurricanes. A passion so strong that he has chased some of nature's most powerful storms, including hurricanes Michael, Irma, and Matthew. While in high school, Derek interned at the National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center in Miami. Here, he gained incredible knowledge of what it takes to be a meteorologist. He then went off to college to attend the University of South Alabama, where he graduated in 2018 with his Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology and a minor in Mathematics. During his spare time, you can expect Derek to be either storm chasing, playing video games, trying new places to eat, and of course, rooting for the Miami Dolphins during football season (although he's now a Saints fan too!) You can catch Derek weekend mornings, Monday-Wednesday at noon, or occasionally weather reporting, all on WDSU. Feel free to reach out to him directly at Derek.Sibley@hearst.com. Stories by Derek Sibley