Jim Van Fleet, who has been with Orlando’s WOFL for 10 years, is changing markets in Florida — he will join Tampa’s WTSP as chief meteorologist in December.
Van Fleet replaces Tammie Souza, who left in January, at the Tampa CBS affiliate. “After a roller coaster ride over the last 10 years at Fox 35, I feel like WOFL has become my home and the staff have become my family,” Van Fleet told The Orlando Sentinel in a statement. “So clearly this has been a very difficult decision for me.”
WTSP news director Peter Roghaar told The Tampa Tribune that Van Fleet’s hiring is the first of a few employment announcements the station has coming up in the next few weeks. The station has two openings on the weather team — Chris Suchan and Sherry Ray Hughes are both leaving in September, The Tribune reports.
Van Fleet said WOFL made him a “generous” offer to stay, but he declined it. “Quite simply, this opportunity with WTSP is something meteorologists spend their entire lives working towards, and to have this door open up for me right now is a dream come true and one I would be foolish to pass up,” he said.