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KTHV Welcomes Back Meteorologist Sarah Fortner

2 min read

Sarah Fortner, who spent four early-career years as a meteorologist and weather anchor at KTHV, Channel 11, is returning to the Little Rock CBS affiliate after several years in the Carolinas.

Fortner was on the THV11 weather team from 2012 to 2016 before joining KTHV’s Tegna-owned sister station, WCNC, in Charlotte. Later, she held posts at WYFF in Greenville, South Carolina, and as an environmental specialist with Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

“Sarah’s a very gifted meteorologist,” KTHV News Director Dave Parker said in a statement. “She’s a true forecaster who cares deeply about communicating weather information to the community.”

A 2011 graduate of Florida State University, Fortner said her time on the East Coast had honed her understanding of severe weather. Her work included coverage of Hurricane Matthew’s historic inland flooding in 2016 and the landfall of Hurricane Florence last year, according to a Channel 11 news release. In her previous stint at KTHV, she covered 2014’s deadly tornado in Vilonia and Mayflower.

“I can’t wait to be back with some of my forever friends in Little Rock,” Fortner said in a July 31 Twitter post, adding that her husband, former University of South Carolina football player Ryan Broadhead, had taken a job in Arkansas. The station said Fortner would start her new job “in the coming weeks.”

Fortner said one of the couple’s dogs — Knox Doppler, as in weather radar — was teaching their other dog, Major, to call the Hogs.

Fortner’s return comes in the wake of meteorologist Mariel Ruiz’s announcement that she was leaving KTHV to take a job in Austin, the capital of her home state of Texas.

Ruiz will start work next month at sister station KVUE, Austin’s ABC affiliate. She is looking forward to being closer to family, but said, “My husband and I will miss Arkansas, and I know it will always be a part of us.”

Ruiz joined Channel 11 as weekend meteorologist in summer 2016 and was later promoted to morning meteorologist, joining co-anchors Laura Monteverdi, Rob Evans and Amanda Jaeger.

“This is a good opportunity for her,” Parker said, calling Ruiz “dedicated, committed and a lot of fun to be around.” She’s also bilingual.

Ruiz’s last day at the Little Rock station will be Sept. 6.

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