Rockford, Illinois residents have been used to starting their mornings with WTVO/WQRF Joey Marino’s weather forecasts in recent years. But he’s going to be absent from the newscasts for a while. No, Joey Marino is not leaving WTVO/WQRF. And the station’s regular viewers would know that Joey Marino and his wife are on baby watch. So, the meteorologist is taking some well-deserved time off to focus on his growing family. Read on for more details.
Joey Marino Goes on Paternity Leave
Joey Marino comes from Effort in Pennsylvania. He grew up idolizing Jim Cantore on The Weather Channel and saw a tornado during a vacation. So, he took that as a sign to pursue meteorology.
Consequently, he earned a BS in Meteorology at the Millersville University of Pennsylvania. He was also the lead forecaster at the Millersville weather center for two years before graduating in 2017.
In 2018, Marino moved to Rockford, Illinois, and has been part of the Eyewitness News Team on WTVO/WQRF since then. He started with weekend forecasts but is currently the weekday morning meteorologist.
In August 2020, Marino married his longtime partner, Gina Drapelo, in Pennsylvania. And earlier this week, the couple kicked off “Baby Week” at WTVO/WQRF. It was like an on-air baby shower where Marino’s colleagues gave them gifts for his soon-to-be-born baby girl.
Now Baby Week is over, and Joey Marino has gone on paternity leave. His last day on the air before his leave was on Monday, April 24.
However, the meteorologist won’t be away for too long. Marino will be back to doing the regular morning weathercasts in early June. Until then, his early mornings and the rest of the day will be occupied with the new lady in his life.
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While Marino is away, Savanna Brito will keep the weekday morning forecasts going as usual. Brito joined WTVO/WQRF in 2022 and was doing the forecasts on weekends alongside Tom Lewis.
The duo did their last newscast this weekend before Brito moved to her temporary morning time slot. She will be back on weekends in June after Marino’s return.
Update: Hailey Ryan Marino, Joey and Gina Marino’s daughter, was born on April 25, 2023, the first day of his paternity leave. This month, Joey and Hailey dropped by the studio to surprise his colleagues Whitney Martin and David Greenberg.
