Juliana Mejia joined the WINK News team as a Bilingual Meteorologist in June of 2022. She grew up in the Chicagoland area and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology from the University of Oklahoma.

While still in college, during the summer leading into her senior year, she worked part-time as an on-air meteorologist for KCCI Des Moines, IA.

For her senior capstone research project, she and her collaborators studied the psychological attunement and understanding of extreme weather of the Hispanic/Latinx communities in the United States. They successfully expanded the scope of their research beyond the class project, obtaining two significant research grants to conduct paid surveys of over 1000 Spanish speakers nationwide. This research is her passion project as it is the crossroads of her personal and professional goals of improving weather communication for one of the fastest-growing populations in the country.

Their research was accepted for presentation at the American Meteorological Society (AMS) 49th Conference on Broadcast Meteorology/Sixth Conference on Weather Warnings and Communication in June of 2022.

Being one of the few minority students in her class in the School of Meteorology, Juliana hopes to inspire young students and see more minorities in STEM and meteorology in the future.

Her other interests include staying active by working out, spending time outdoors, rock-climbing, singing, playing ukulele or piano, reading, watercolor painting, and traveling!

Near-record heat Sunday

  After a mild morning, high temperatures Sunday afternoon will soar into the mid-to-upper 80s across Southwest Florida. The record high temperature for this date was set back in 1949 at 87 degrees. Today Fort Myers will likely land just below, or potentially tie, that record. Although wave heights are settling down, boaters can still […]

Cool, cloudy Monday

Southwest Florida is slowly warming up, but afternoon temperatures remain cool for Monday, with only a handful of areas reaching the 60s around 3 p.m. Gulf waters are cold with temperatures in the 50s and boaters can expect moderate chop in the bays. Additionally, there’s a chance for some areas, mainly south, to see a […]

Chilly Christmas afternoon with a few showers

Merry Christmas Southwest Florida! Conditions will remain cold and cloudy for most of the day. Thanks to the combination of heavy cloud cover, a few showers and northerly winds, temperatures will struggle to climb out of the 40s and only briefly reach the lower 50s for some by the mid-to-late afternoon. A Wind Chill Advisory […]

Chilly Christmas Eve afternoon

A Wind Chill Advisory is active for all SWFL counties until 10am due to breezy conditions accompanying temperatures in the 40s for most of the morning. Highs will briefly climb into the lower-to-mid 50s in the mid-afternoon before cooling down to the 40s once again by the dinnertime hours. Areas like the far southern portions […]

Areas of rain ahead of Friday cold front

High temperatures will stretch into the 70s and 80s under mostly cloudy skies. A cold front will push through Southwest Florida in the late morning and afternoon. This will make our “feels like” temperatures briefly dip into the 20s and 30s Saturday morning. Wind chill advisories are currently in effect until 10 a.m. Saturday morning for […]

Mostly cloudy skies after isolated Wednesday morning showers

High temperatures will reach the upper 70s and low 80s under mostly cloudy skies. Boaters will encounter better water conditions than Tuesday: 1- to 2-foot Gulf wave heights and a light chop in our bays are expected. Isolated rain is expected in the morning. Those showers will clear out in the afternoon and leave us […]

Expect rainy, stormy end to Tuesday

High temperatures will climb into the upper 70s and low 80s under increasing cloud cover. Dew points will return to the 60s, allowing enough fuel for rain after lunchtime. Boaters will face bad weather on the water: Isolated storms, moderate chop in our bays and 1- to 2-foot Gulf wave heights are in Tuesday’s forecast. […]

Dry, pleasant forecast for Monday

High temperatures will reach the upper 70s under increasing clouds. These clouds will primarily be in the high levels of the atmosphere. At the surface, it will feel pleasant and relatively dry. Boaters will encounter unpleasant conditions on the water. Two to five-foot Gulf wave heights and choppy conditions are expected within our bays. We […]

Friday ends workweek with highs in the 70s, isolated rain

High temperatures will reach the low to mid-70s under mostly cloudy skies. It will feel noticeably drier. Boaters will have bad conditions on the water: Choppy bays and 2- to 5-foot Gulf wave heights are expected. A spot shower or two will be possible Friday morning. These rain chances will increase after lunchtime, with isolated […]

Strong storms move across Southwest Florida

High temperatures will reach the low to mid-80s under increasing cloud cover. Winds will be out of the southwest at 10  to 20 mph. This will make for a warm, muggy afternoon ahead of an approaching cold front. This front will bring rain and storms to Southwest Florida beginning Thursday afternoon. It will approach our […]