Tisha Powell and Chris Hohmann announce their departures from ABC11
Two of the most recognized faces in local television — and two of the biggest stars in the ABC11 lineup — are leaving the station.
ABC11 announced Thursday during its 6 p.m. newscast that lead co-anchor Tisha Powell and chief meteorologist Chris Hohmann are both departing the Disney-owned-and-operated station.
Both Powell and Hohmann are a big part of WTVD’s local brand, among the first faces viewers expect to see when major news or serious weather hits the state.
Hohmann, who has been at WTVD for nearly 30 years, is retiring. His last day at the station is May 28. ABC11 plans to celebrate Hohmann and his career throughout the month of May, culminating with a special send-off on May 28.
Powell, at the station for 17 years, is leaving the news business and will return to her native Louisiana to be closer to family. Her last day on-air will be June 30. As with Hohmman, ABC11 will celebrate Powell throughout the month of June, with a final send-off on June 30.
Powell is going home
Powell co-anchors WTVD’s weeknight newscasts with Steve Daniels at 5, 6 and 11 p.m., as well as a 10 p.m. newscast that airs on The CW.
She came to the station in 2004, recruited by Rob Elmore, who was then the news director at WTVD and now serves as president and general manager of the station. Before coming to WTVD, Powell spent a number of years working as a reporter at stations in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.
In a press release, Elmore said he is grateful that the station and community have had Powell here for 17 years, adding that “she represents the best of ABC11.”
Elmore also acknowledged Powell’s strong pull toward home.
“We have always known that Louisiana has a special place in Tisha’s heart, and we will miss her daily presence in our lives,” Elmore said.
Powell lives in Chapel Hill with her husband, an Army officer and doctor. They have two daughters — one a freshman at Johns Hopkins University and the other a first-grader — and a cat named Ella.
In a recent note to the ABC11 staff, Powell recounted that she moved to the Triangle with a toddler while her husband was deployed in Iraq, and that she and her husband, Col. James Wayne, were lucky to find a welcoming home here. Powell also thanked her colleagues for seeing her through tough times and for celebrating her milestones.
“And to the loyal ABC11 viewers who have welcomed me into their homes every night, I couldn’t be more grateful,” Powell wrote.
While at WTVD, Powell’s presence extended beyond the anchor desk.
She traveled to Louisiana to cover Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans in 2005, and to Philadelphia for Pope Francis’ visit in 2015. Powell also reported from San Francisco for the Carolina Panthers’ trip to Super Bowl 50 in 2016, the same year she jumped with the Army Golden Knights Parachute Team in Laurinburg.
Powell has also worked with community groups, including The Girl Scouts, The USO of North Carolina, the American Heart Association, the Fill Your Bucket List Foundation and Book Harvest.
The first weather ‘chief’
Hohmann, a Kentucky native, came to WTVD as a weekend meteorologist in 1991, moving in 1993 to weekday morning and noon broadcasts.
In 2007, Hohmann became the first at the station to hold the title of chief meteorologist, presenting weather for the evening and 11 p.m. newscasts.
Before ABC11, Hohmann worked at WRCB-TV in Chattanooga and at WDAM-TV in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Hohmann was on the air for more than 12 hours during the April 2011 tornado outbreak, the worst tornado disaster in North Carolina’s history. He is also front and center for ABC11 when hurricanes, ice storms and snow events hit the area.
When flooding from Hurricane Matthew devastated parts of Eastern North Carolina, Hohmann traveled to damaged areas to report on the aftermath.
In a press release, Elmore called Hohmann “a calm, friendly presence in the middle of the storm,” noting that he was one of the very first to earn advanced accreditation from the American Meteorological Society.
“Chris is a skilled forecaster, a wonderful storyteller, and an even better person,” Elmore said. “Our viewers and all of us at ABC11 will miss him.”
Hohmann said in the release that he has a full heart, and that his trajectory at WTVD has been a “dream come true.”
“I’ve been so fortunate to work with and learn from so many talented people along the way, including Larry Stogner,” Hohmann said, citing the station’s longtime anchor, who died in 2016.
In addition to his official meteorological duties, Hohmann also regularly visits school classrooms across central North Carolina to talk to kids about weather and science.
Hohmann lives in Raleigh with his wife, Beth, and two dogs, Madison and Abby. They have one daughter, Ashley, who is a student at UNC-Chapel Hill.
ABC11 is a reporting partner of The News & Observer.
