Fox 5′s weekend meteorologist Ryan Beesley left Fox 5 (WAGA-TV) last week after six-plus years at the station, opting for a career outside meteorology and broadcast news.
Beesley, in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, said Fox 5 management allowed him to leave his contract early. He said he’s starting a new job on Monday focused on fundraising but declined to say where.
After 12 years in the business, he said he felt like the 24/7 nature of his job “didn’t blend well with my family situation. I lost my dad to cancer when I was 18. I don’t have a choice he’s not here. But I have a choice to be there for my kids.”
He has three children, ages 2, 4 and 6.
Following the weather, Beesley said, “has been my passion since I was six years old. I’m never going to lose that passion. I don’t want it to be my career anymore. ... The nature of the business is getting more intense and more time consuming. I felt like a career change was right.”
A Roswell native who graduated Roswell High School in 2008, he worked as a weekend meteorologist in Biloxi, Mississippi; Albany, Georgia; and Knoxville, Tennessee, before coming to Fox 5 in 2017. His new job will be the first time he has had a normal weekday job.
He said he has been thinking about this change awhile, that it was a “year-long conversation with my wife and my family.” He wanted to stay in Atlanta and he wasn’t sure if a chief meteorologist position was going to open up in this market for him any time soon.
Beesley thanked Fox 5 for bringing him back to Atlanta in 2017 with his wife, who is also from the area: “I’m forever grateful I was given this opportunity to fulfill my dream of working in this market. I checked every box except chief meteorologist. I slept well last night because I know I’ve made the right decision. I’m at peace leaving the industry.”
He also had chronic back issues that caused serious pain. He finally had fusion surgery in June and took a few weeks off over the summer. The good news: “I feel like a new man. I think it was 100% successful.”
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