Yeomans Moments: Reflecting on David’s 12 years at KXAN

AUSTIN (KXAN) — As Austin says goodbye to Chief Meteorologist David Yeomans, KXAN is reflecting on some of his memorable on-air moments, achievements and weather coverage.

We announced that David would be leaving KXAN on Monday after 12 years. When the time is right, he’ll announce where he’s going next. Temporarily, former chief Jim Spencer will fill in on the evening newscasts.

On Tuesday, David joined KXAN Live’s Will DuPree to talk about his departure and discuss some Central Texas weather events that shaped his career so far.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson declares Feb. 28 as ‘David Yeomans Day’

“There are so many big severe weather events that have been momentous for people’s lives here and for our weather team, from the 2013 Onion Creek Halloween floods to the 2015 Blanco River floods in Wimberley,” David said on Tuesday.

Both of those weather events were deadly for Central Texas along with hundreds upon hundreds of homes destroyed.

“The weather kills people in Central Texas almost every single year. So this is a really important place to work,” David added.

David is no stranger to seeing firsthand damage from natural disasters. He’s traveled across the state and country to cover storms, including Hurricane Harvey in 2017, Tropical Storm Olivia in Hawaii in 2018, Hurricane Laura in 2020 and Hurricane Ida in 2021, among others.

In addition to covering natural disasters on-site, David also launched a few investigative reports last year into the LCRA’s water plan and illegal dams in the Hill Country.

“I’ve really enjoyed just being with our community for 12 years. I mean, meeting viewers in public, serving them during dangerous weather, bearing through the awful summers with them, which are only getting worse it seems like, and I’m going to miss it all,” David said on Tuesday.

In honor of his last day on air, we wanted to highlight just a fraction of some of our favorite “Yeomans Moments.”

Puppy David Yeomans

In August 2022, David met his match — a puppy. Austin Pets Alive! named one of its adoptable dogs after the meteorologist and brought him into the KXAN studio where they met face-to-face.

The shelter said at the time that Puppy David Yeomans was a survivor of parvo. The organization later posted on its social media that the puppy had been adopted.

2022 tornado outbreak

David got in a helicopter in March 2022 to survey the damage caused by a tornado outbreak across Central Texas. Areas like Round Rock and Elgin were impacted.

This came after a KXAN weather camera captured one of the tornados live on the air passing over Interstate 35.

GQ enlists David Yeomans’ help

In March 2021, GQ featured David as part of its web series “The Breakdown” where he got to debunk weather scenes from major films and popular TV shows and discuss if they could happen in real life.

When we spoke with David about this opportunity, he mentioned “Twister” was the movie that helped inspire him to pursue meteorology.

GQ Magazine: David Yeomans explains what movies get right, wrong about weather — including ‘Twister’

First Warning Weather University

A few years ago, David along with KXAN’s Eric Henrikson created a weather series geared toward educating kids and parents about weather phenomena in a fun, simple way.

The series, which features eye-catching graphics, went on to win a Lone Star Emmy Award in 2019 and 2020.

Riding out Hurricane Harvey

In August 2017, David and three other KXAN employees traveled to Rockport, Texas, to cover Hurricane Harvey.

There, the group hunkered down in a hotel rated to sustain a Category 5 hurricane when the winds from Harvey’s eyewall tore the walls from the building.

Started from the bottom

We all have to start somewhere, but it just so happens David’s start included KXAN.

David is a longtime Austinite who attended Westlake High School and went on to study meteorology at the University of Miami. He returned to Austin for a summer to be a weather intern under former Chief Meteorologist Jim Spencer.

“I told him, I think, within the first few days that he interned with me, ‘If you want to do this job, you have what it takes to do it,'” Jim said of David in 2021.

David eventually took over the chief meteorologist role after Jim announced his “semi-retirement” three years ago.

We are wishing David the best of luck in his next step!

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.