Over the Rainbow

There’s an old joke that there’s no easier job than being a weather reporter in San Diego. But it wasn’t always smooth sailing for Jodi Kodesh, NBC 7/39 News in the Morning traffic and weather anchor.

It took years of hard work got her to where she is today. Kodesh has had her head in the clouds for years, being a meteorologist was something of a childhood dream.

“I’ve been obsessed with the weather since I was really little. I always wanted to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz,” says Kodesh. “My mom was really good at sewing, so she made me this legit costume with real ruby-red high-heels that I would always wear for Halloween.”

After graduating from Mississippi State University with a bachelor’s degree in geosciences, Kodesh got a job as a newspaper reporter. By age 28, she had been a reporter for six years and had been married to her husband, Mark, for five. But before she would have kids, there was something she still had to do.

“I didn’t want to be that mother telling her children to pursue their dreams if she, in fact, had failed to try,” she says.

So, she clicked her heels together three times, and-POOF! -she was a meteorologist. Actually, it wasn’t that easy. Kodesh paid her dues as an intern at CBS 2 in Palm Springs, then got her break when the station’s weather girl suddenly quit. Four years later, NBC’s San Diego affiliate called to offer her a position as traffic anchor and member of the weather team.

“I grew up coming with my family to Seaport Village and the campground by the bay, so it was my dream to end up in San Diego,” Kodesh says. “My goal in 10 years is to still be living here, but with a bigger family-and to be the exclusive weather woman at NBC.”

It seems Kodesh’s passion for weather can be matched only by her love for footwear, which is why she’s pictured here in her shoe closet. Her most beloved pair?

“To this day, my favorite high-heels are ruby red,” she says.