WHO 13 meteorologist Amber Alexander leaves Des Moines TV station citing mental health reasons
After more than six years as a WHO 13 meteorologist and digital content producer, Amber Alexander left the Des Moines station, citing mental health reasons.
Alexander joined the Channel 13 weather team in December 2015, according to a bio on the TV station's website.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in meteorology/climatology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2014 and previously worked as a meteorologist and reporter at KNOP in North Platte, Nebraska.
"Being hired as a full-time meteorologist at a top 100 market (there are 210 TV markets in the U.S. and I started in market 209) was a dream come true. I truly lived my dream for almost 5 years," Alexander wrote in a Facebook post last week announcing her departure.
Alexander has been open about her ongoing battle with diagnosed anxiety including obsessive-compulsive disorder-tendencies since 2019, when she publicly shared her struggle to bring awareness about mental health issues.
In her most recent post, she said her health took a serious hit this spring.
"The past 2 years have been the hardest of my life mentally and physically, and in recent months my body has shown me it can’t take much more of what I’m currently putting it through," she wrote. "My health has to come first."
Alexander said she started experiencing chest pain during the March 5 tornadoes that hit Winterset, which she quickly learned was linked to her anxiety.
"Doing multiple hours of severe weather coverage is both mentally and physically draining, but when people die and houses/businesses are destroyed, we as meteorologists are heartbroken, in a way that is hard to process," she said.
She took the next morning off but returned that afternoon to update a story on the EF-4 tornado rating. On the same day, she covered the deadly shooting near East High School in Des Moines.
"That only brought more anxiety, more stress, and more heartbreak," Alexander said.
She continued to experience chest pains and developed an eye twitch when she took a second job in April to help her family meet their financial goals. She also said she was exhausted, even when she got eight to 10 hours of sleep.
Thankfully, she wrote, blood and heart tests ruled out any serious underlying conditions.
Alexander, who grew up in Council Bluffs, said her passion for meteorology began in the sixth grade. During her time in college, she caught a tornado in Solomon, Kansas, on her first storm chase trip with fellow students in April 2012.
More: KCCI goes all in on weather with 5 meteorologists on air, hiring 2 newcomers
Alexander said she is grateful for the opportunities afforded to her at WHO and to the viewers who trusted her to report factual and up-to-date weather and news coverage, which largely focused on science and sustainability.
But she also pointed to the health challenges she faced working in a demanding field, adding that hobbies like yoga, meditation, reading and volleyball help her decompress from "the difficult days life brings."
In her 2019 post, Alexander said the transparency about her challenges is meant to bring awareness of the importance of mental health — and to let people know they aren't alone.
"We as humans shouldn't feel ashamed to have a mental illness," she wrote. "Contrary to what we sometimes believe, it's not something we can control."
More: WHO anchor Dan Winters departs Des Moines station after 18 years on air to focus on family
Alexander, who lives in central Iowa with her husband and two corgis, says she will be remaining in the area. Her last day was on Wednesday.
Virginia Barreda is a trending and general assignment reporter for the Des Moines Register. She can be reached at vbarreda@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Meteorologist Amber Alexander leaves WHO 13, citing mental health
