Jordan Witzel is best known as an on-air weather broadcaster with wacky costumes. While he’s still a weather consultant, Witzel is now working towards becoming a doctor to further help his community.
Driven by his fascination with other people’s stories, and his ability to put a smile on people’s faces, Witzel began his broadcasting career in radio. Then his career took off in a different direction with when he signed on with Global News Winnipeg. Being in front of a camera, however, brought its own challenges.
Radio to TV personality
“To jump to TV, where I had yet to have any formal guidance, coaching, training, anything, but sort of just lean into being falsely confident for a moment in time. It was the true, ‘fake it until you make it.’ Fake it until something works out or it fails,” said Witzel.
After spending eight years at Global News Winnipeg, Witzel moved to Global News Calgary where he finally began to feel like he could be himself on air. This included many memorable costumes that he wore to deliver updates about the weather. His favourite costume? One that his parents had brought down for his son’s Star Wars-themed birthday.
“And I, on a whim, grabbed the Princess Leia outfit that morning and wore it. And it seemed like it, you know, created a connection with people, but it made people smile. So that really spun it into a continuous thing,” said Witzel.
Leslie Wells, the edit supervisor at Global News Calgary, an old co-worker and current friend, says Witzel is more than his on camera persona.
“His character was beyond just what people saw on television. His moral compass was in the right direction and he was very believable and thoughtful and considerate,” said Wells.
Wells also noted how Witzel uses his fame to better help the community.
“I worked with a lot of really great groups in our city, but I was always a cheerleader, and I wanted to be a person on the ground, helping folks out, impacting them one-on-one in their lives.”
Jordan Witzel
“He does what he can with his popularity, his efficiencies, and makes something and shines light on things that most people don’t see,” said Wells.
As his on-air career went on, Witzel found he became a part of viewers’ lives.
“You started to realize that the information was very much secondary to those connections that a lot of people were craving and got from those of us that were on their TV,” said Witzel.
Weatherman to weather specialist
From his experience as a broadcaster, Witzel then started working as a weather consultant advising private companies, film productions, and anybody taking a workforce into western Alberta climates of the weather forecast.
Having been on films such as Interstellar and Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Witzel found himself in some unique situations including his involvement with an Oscar-winning director on The Revenant.
“They stepped out of Oscar parties to have a meeting about the next film they’re working on and they’re talking to me,” said Witzel.
While Witzel continues to work as a weather consultant, he has decided he wants to be more hands-on with how he helps his community.
“I worked with a lot of really great groups in our city, but I was always a cheerleader, and I wanted to be a person on the ground, helping folks out, impacting them one-on-one in their lives,” said Witzel.
Leaping into medical school
That is why he is attending medical school at The University of Calgary. The transition from broadcasting to learning to be a physician has not been an easy one, but this is one goal he is not giving up on.
“I really enjoyed everything I did, but it felt like it was getting late in the game, and I didn’t want to give up on the chance to practice medicine and help people directly,” said Witzel.
Ryley Bennett, a classmate of Witzel’s at the University of Calgary, believes Witzel’s career history is what makes him such a successful student.
“When I look at how Jordan interacts with his patients, or how he talks about how he interacts with his patients, it’s abundantly clear that because he just has some life experience, he brings a really rich body of knowledge and compassion with him into those interactions,” said Bennett.
Bennett also noted Witzel’s determination to study medicine and to leave a comfortable career behind.
“Despite being an older student, he was like, ‘No, I have more to offer in this world. I’m curious. I’m impassioned by medicine,'” said Bennett. “And he took the leap,”
Having left the world of broadcasting behind, Witzel knows that helping others through medicine is where he is supposed to be.
“To not only help a person tell their story but to maybe help a person solve their story. Yeah, that was my choice for getting into medicine,” said Witzel.