Matt Zaffino
KGW Chief Meteorologist
Chief Meteorologist Matt Zaffino can be seen weekdays on KGW NewsChannel 8 @ 5, 6, 6:30, 10, and 11.
Matt joined NewsChannel 8 in 1996 after nine years at KATU-TV (ABC).
Matt began his television career in Salt Lake City as a Weather Producer for KTVX-TV (ABC). In 1984 he moved to Traverse City, Michigan to forecast weather at WGTU/WGTQ-TV (ABC) and then to Battle Creek, Michigan where he anchored the morning and evening weathercasts. He then moved to Medford, Oregon in 1985 to anchor weather at KDRV-TV (ABC).
Zaffino graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Meteorology. He also did a year of graduate work in meteorology at Utah and is close to a masters degree in Geography with an emphasis on natural resource management from Portland State University.
Matt received the American Meteorological Society's Seal of Approval for television weathercasting in 1985 and the Oregon Associated Press named him Best Weathercaster in 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2002. In 2000 Matt won an Emmy Award for outstanding individual achievement in weathercasting.
He's the only person that's ever done a live television broadcast from the top of Mt Hood. Matt also reported for KGW from the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia in 2000 and the Winter Olympics in Utah in 2002. In the summer of 2004, Matt traveled to the Greenland Ice Sheet to report on climate change research.
He credits part of his interest in weather to his high school German teacher who drew chalkboard weather maps to discuss their chances of having a snow day. The other part he credits to his love of the outdoors. Zaffino views the sky as one of the last great wildernesses and loves being out in the weather as much as he does forecasting it. Zaffino is passionate about the outdoors and is an avid back-country skier and mountaineer. He is a former member of the Mt. Hood Nordic Ski Patrol. Matt has run 16 marathons and loves golf. He also enjoys cycling and sea-kayaking. His other passion is music, especially listening to live music. Matt currently sings with the Portland Flash Choir.
Matt is a member of the American Meteorological Society and has served as Vice-President of the Oregon Chapter. He also serves as a Vice-President on the Board of Trustees for the Oregon Chapter of the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society and helps out with charitable events for several organizations, including Guide Dogs For The Blind, The Columbia Land Trust and Medical Teams International.
