TROY DUNGAN

Weather in Texas can often be literally a matter of life and death. For more than a quarter of a century, north Texans have overwhelmingly trusted one man to bring them timely and accurate weather information, without sensationalism and hype.

Troy Dungan is the dean of Dallas-Fort Worth weathercasters. After graduating from Baylor, the Hillsboro native began his career in Texas at Waco’s KWTX and worked in markets including Orlando, Detroit and Houston before returning to the Dallas area more than 25 years ago. Today Dungan remains the market’s most-watched and respected weathercaster. His intimate knowledge of the small towns, back roads and the weather nuances of the region have made him north Texas’ most trusted source of weather information for years. He has also helped guide the careers of many young meteorologists starting out in broadcasting, including several protégés whom he now competes against in his own market.

Dungan pioneered many of the weather technologies in universal use today, including animated weather maps, color satellite depictions, computer weather graphics, and chroma-key – all techniques now used to produce almost every television weathercast seen anywhere in the world. Dungan also led the
development of WFAA’s “Doppler Net,” the station’s advanced, one-of-a-kind combination of C-band and S-band radar systems strategically located north and south of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.

Troy’s commitment to the community goes well beyond his on-air duties. He has long been involved in a variety of charitable causes including the Gladney Center for Adoption, the nation’s oldest adoption agency, located in Fort Worth.

But Troy is probably best known for Santa’s Helpers, WFAA’s annual toy drive that began 34 years ago, and now routinely collects nearly $1-million worth of toys every holiday season for distribution to underprivileged kids. Truckloads of new bikes, dolls and other toys of every description arrive at the station each year, all donated in the name of Dungan and Santa’s Helpers.

Too often a friendly personality viewers see on their television may not always measure up to the real person behind the screen. But with Troy Dungan, who you see is who you get: a warm and caring man, dedicated to his profession of meteorology, and, equally importantly, dedicated to the residents of north Texas he so faithfully serves.