Shannon O’Donnell Biography
Shannon O’Donnell is an American Meteorologist working for KOMO, serving as the chief meteorologist since she was promoted in August 2018. She joined the station in February 2009 as a meteorologist. Before joining the station in 2009, she spent seven years as the morning meteorologist at KNTV, the San Francisco NBC station.
Shannon O’Donnell Age
O’Donnell was born on September 27, 1973, in Redmond, Washington, U.S.A. She is 52 years old as of 2025. O’Donnell celebrates her birthday on September 27th.
Shannon O’Donnell Height
O’Donnell stands at an approximate height of 5 feet and 6 inches.
Shannon O’Donnell Family
O’Donnell has managed to keep her personal life away from the limelight; hence, she has not disclosed any details about her parents. It is also unknown if O’Donnell has any siblings.
Shannon O’Donnell Husband
O’Donnell got married to Richard, her UW college sweetheart, in September 2025. On September 20, 2025, she posted their wedding photos on her Instagram account and captioned, “Finally posting some wedding photos from our FABULOUS day! Last Saturday, I married my UW college sweetheart, Richard. We’d dated 6 or 7 years back then…”
They held their ceremony on the University of Washington campus at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house, where they first met. They met as freshmen in the fall of 1991 at the University of Washington and dated for around 7 years. The couple has a blended family of five children and lives in the Seattle area with their golden retriever, Max.
Shannon O’Donnell Net Worth
O’Donnell has an estimated net worth of between $1 million-$5 million, which she has earned through her successful career as a Meteorologist.
Shannon O’Donnell Salary
O’Donnell earns an annual salary ranging from $ 45,000 – $ 110,500.
Shannon O’Donnell Education
O’Donnell joined the University of Washington in September 1991 after completing her studies at Redmond High School, where she was valedictorian. In June 1995, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology.
While in college, she worked as a weather producer at KOMO. She credits Steve Pool’s tenacious lessons in front of the green screen for helping her leap on-camera work.
O’Donnell a research assistant in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences for famed Professor Robert A. Houze, Jr. In this role, she flew in P-3 aircraft over the Pacific to collect data designed to better northwest storm forecasting. She also launched radiosondes (weather balloons) from the decks of NOAA research ships.
Shannon O’Donnell Career
O’Donnell is working for KOMO, serving as the chief meteorologist. In this role, she broadcasts the weather for Western Washington on the weekday evening shows for KOMO4 News.
O’Donnell initially joined the station as a meteorologist, holding the position for almost a decade before she was promoted to her current role in August 2018. She earned her Seal of Approval from the American Meteorological Society in 1998.
O’Donnell’s love for everything to do with the atmosphere when she was only 7 years old. At the time, Bellevue Elementary School did a unit on weather. Harry Wappler, a famous local forecaster, visited during their studies, and she was hooked. Since she enjoyed the weather and talking, she decided to pursue a career that merged the two.
O’Donnell loves the full-circle experience of bringing weather education back into the classroom. She regularly visits regional elementary schools with her traveling “Weatherwise” presentation. Her presentations allow children to better understand concepts like precipitation, pressure, clouds, and lightning as they help her with several experiments. Her STEM outreach earned features in publications by the Girl Scouts and Microsoft.
Before working for KOMO, O’Donnell spent seven years as the morning meteorologist at KNTV, the San Francisco NBC station. During her time in the Bay Area, she was invited to serve as a guest anchor numerous times on the national level at MSNBC and Early Today. Also, she enjoyed working with the Today Show’s Al Roker.
O’Donnell was a meteorologist at KING and NWCN between 1995 and 2000, and again in 2008. Since September 2019, O’Donnell has taught the summer version of Atmospheric Sciences 101 at the University of Washington.
O’Donnell was a research meteorologist at the University of Washington’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences from January 2015 to November 2019. There, she helped with several research projects, including the Olympex field campaign.
O’Donnell created and debuted a ‘Media & Meteorology’ class, which helps the next generation of prognosticators learn to forecast and present weather and science information through ‘the UW Dawgcast’.
Awards
During her career, O’Donnell has won many awards, including ‘Best Meteorologist’ from the Golden Gate Chapter of the American Women in Radio and Television in 2005 and 2006.
O’Donnell was part of several Emmy-winning morning news programs at KNTV. She has also been featured in Men’s Health magazine. In 2023, she and the team at KOMO earned an Emmy for their broadcast of a winter ice storm that gripped Puget Sound.
Shannon O’Donnell Social Media Platforms
She is active on her social media accounts and often posts on her Instagram, Facebook, and X(formerly known as Twitter). She has over 25K followers on Facebook, over 1.8K on Instagram, and over 16K on X.