Meteorologist Rick Sluben has left WGGB-TV ABC/FOX 40/WSHM-LD CBS 3 in Springfield, MA, New England One has learned.
According to sources, when contract negotiations between the station and Rick broke down, he decided to pursue a private industry position as a meteorologist and take a break from television news.
Rick joined WGGB in 2011 as a weekend and fill-in meteorologist, and most recently was the weekday evening meteorologist.
Before joining WGGB, and before a brief hiatus from broadcasting working in sales at a Honda dealership, Rick was a meteorologist at WWLP-TV NBC 22 in Springfield. He joined WWLP in 2002 as the weekend meteorologist before becoming the stations weekday morning and noon meteorologist. While at WWLP, Rick was part of the Storm Team that won an Associated Press award for Best Weathercast in New England.
Prior to that, Rick spent 11 years working at Weather Services International (WSI) in Andover, MA. There he was a regular broadcaster for networks such as Fox News Channel, MSNBC and Bloomberg Television where he was the go to on-camera meteorologist during severe weather, flooding and hurricanes. Some of his memorable national broadcasts were covering the Jarrell, TX, Salt Lake City, Nashville, Birmingham and Oklahoma City tornadoes as well as hurricanes Georges, Floyd, and Dennis, among others. While at WSI he was also the fill-in weathercaster for three years at WFXT-TV FOX 25 in Boston.
A Connecticut native, Rick is a 1989 graduate of Plymouth State University in New Hampshire where he received his Bachelor's degree in meteorology. He is also a 1991 graduate of Florida State University in Tallahassee where he received his Master's degree in meteorology.
Rick Sluben forecast - 2012/WGGB
