PERSON: Ginger Zee

Chief Meteorologist

Ginger Renee Colonomos (née Zuidgeest; born January 13, 1981), known by her pseudonym Ginger Zee, is an American television personality. She is the chief meteorologist for ABC News, after having been the network’s weekend meteorologist.

Zee was born Ginger Renee Zuidgeest on January 13, 1981, in Orange, California, the daughter of Dawn Zuidgeest-Craft and Robert Zuidgeest. The family moved to Michigan before she was 1 year old. Zee was named after “Ginger” from Gilligan’s Island by her Dutch father, due to his love of the show.

In her extended family, Zee has a stepfather named Carl Craft, and two half-sisters, Adrianna and Elaina Craft. Zee’s paternal grandparents are Adriaan Cornelis “Adrian” or “Arie” Zuidgeest and Hillegonda “Hilda” Zuidgeest (née VanderShoor), who both immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands. Zee’s maternal grandfather is George Joseph Hemleb and grandmother Paula Adeline Wesner.

Zee said she chose to be a meteorologist because “I saw a waterspout on Lake Michigan when I was eight... I was mesmerized. I really thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen.” In 1999, Zee graduated from Rockford High School in Rockford, Michigan. After that, Zee went on to Valparaiso University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology as well as a major in both mathematics and Spanish. Her goal at graduation was to be a meteorologist on The Today Show by age 30.

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