Alexandra Cranford has departed her meteorology role at WWL-TV New Orleans as of January 2026, concluding a 13-year tenure at the station.
Cranford posted that she is leaving to stay at home with her baby:
"It's been an honor to share New Orleans weather with you for 13 years. Thank you for watching and listening to my forecasts - it has meant so much.
I'm grateful for all the positive and professional people I've worked with, and for the joy this job has given me.
Most of all, I thank God for the gift of my family, for guiding me to this new phase of life, and for life itself. O God, almighty Father, all glory and honor is yours, forever and ever.
I'll also be off social media soon, so maybe I'll see you in the grocery store aisle sometime."
Cranford joined WWL-TV in 2012 after serving as a morning forecaster at KTBS 3 in Shreveport, Louisiana. She began her television career as a news anchor and weather forecaster at KNOE 8 in Monroe, Louisiana.
In addition to her on-air work, Cranford is a published researcher. Her study, “Women Weathercasters: Their Education, Positions and Presence in Local TV,” appeared in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society in February 2018 and is the largest known biographical study of television weathercasters in the United States.
Her work has earned multiple honors, including Best Weathercast in Louisiana from the Associated Press and Best Weathercast in New Orleans from the Press Club of New Orleans. She has also received awards from the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters and Women in Media.
Outside of local TV news, Cranford worked as a NASA Science and Engineering Apprentice in the Naval Research Laboratory’s Office of Oceanography.
A New Orleans native, Cranford holds a Master of Science in Applied Meteorology from Mississippi State University and graduated summa cum laude from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Communication. It was while working at LSU’s campus news station that she first became interested in meteorology.
