Kara joined the Weather Authority in March 2012.  She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but has has lived in many places around the country.  She credits growing up in Indiana as a child with starting her love of weather.  The April 27, 1994 tornado in her hometown of West Lafayette was the spark that led her to want to learn as much about weather, especially thunderstorms and tornados, as possible.

While in high school in Duluth, Georgia, Kara continued to develop her love of weather, which led her to pursue a degree in meteorology from the University of Oklahoma.  She graduated cum laude in 2009 with her Bachelors of Science in Meteorology and minor in Broadcast Journalism.  While at Oklahoma, Kara did research on radar meteorology and had plenty of opportunities to stormchase.  She saw many tornados in Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle during her chase endeavors.

Kara's graduate studies led her to Mississippi State University, where she graduated in 2012 with her Masters of Science in Geosciences with a concentration in Broadcast Meteorology.  She placed second in the nation in the graduate division of WxChallenge, a national forecasting competition, in two cities—Richmond, Virginia, and Hilo, Hawaii.  Kara was able to stormchase while at MSU as well, and chased the Scooba, Mississippi and Cuba, Alabama tornados on April 15, 2011.  Kara very much enjoyed her time at MSU and the opportunities presented to her while there.

Kara is very excited to continue to call Mississippi her home.  When she's not working or looking at weather models, Kara enjoys swimming, reading, shopping, and spending time with her mini poodle Truffles.

Keep up with Kara on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/WTVAkara.