For this month’s cover story, we’re spotlighting Fox 11 Los Angeles’ new chief meteorologist, Adam Krueger — a weather expert renowned for his lyrical air. Krueger has an uncanny ability for remixing hit song lyrics (including Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us”) into his forecasts, a talent that’s earned him more than six million social media followers. 

He recently relocated from Houston to L.A. with his wife, Amanda, and their two kids, Austin and Summer, and in honor of Father’s Day, we caught up with him for a family photoshoot at the Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica.

Below is my chat with Krueger about his viral moment with Snoop Dogg, his trial by fire during January’s wildfires and how life in L.A. has influenced him as a dad.

Your career has been devoted to meteorology. Was weather always an interest for you? 

Weather was more of a fascination than a passion when I was a kid. I used to watch VHS tapes of tornado chasers when I was in middle school, and in high school my dad showed me how to view weather computer models on the internet. I enjoyed being able to analyze a weather forecast on my own as opposed to watching the news like most people. [In college], I decided to pursue a meteorology degree at Purdue University.

At what point did you begin sneaking song lyrics into your forecasts? 

In 2022, when [The New York Times’] Wordle became popular, I started sneaking the daily Wordle word in the weather as an inside joke with my coworkers. I made TikTok videos revealing what the word was, then I’d reveal the clip from the news that aired the day before. Eventually, my followers started challenging me to level up. They’d request certain phrases, quotes and song lyrics. Over time, as my videos continued to gain popularity, I made them more complex and entertaining. 

When did social media and Hollywood start to take notice?

TikTok is where my popularity began. Then randomly one night, my phone began blowing up with Instagram notifications and my videos started getting a lot of views. A big moment for me was in 2023 when Snoop Dogg shared one of my videos and commented “Weather man on one.” I was on national and international TV, and websites like New York Post and Daily Mail wrote about it. Since then, a lot more people have tuned in, as well as Hollywood. It was a dream come true when the opportunity to work in L.A. became a reality. 

You joined FOX 11 L.A. as chief meteorologist just before multiple major weather events in SoCal and the January wildfires. Has it felt like a trial by fire for you?

Intense weather events, including wind-driven fires, are nothing new to me. Most of my career was spent in Texas, where the weather is wild! Before coming to L.A., I did a lot of research on SoCal weather patterns, microclimates and geography. From a meteorology perspective, I was quite confident in the forecast leading up to the January fires. I remember telling our viewers that I think most people don’t realize just how intense and extreme of an event this would be.

Meteorology aside, as a part of this community, I felt pain, shock and raw emotions like many others felt. Our family is lucky to still have our home and each other, but I have so much heartache for what this entire region went through and is still going through. 

What’s the move to L.A. been like for your family? Has it changed you as a dad?

The move overall has been great! We love it here and can’t get enough of spending time outdoors. We were going to the beach weekly for the first few months. Couldn’t get enough of it. We’ve also enjoyed just walking around our neighborhood to shops and restaurants. Sounds simple, but we love it because we’ve never lived somewhere so walkable.

Obviously, uprooting the kids comes with some challenges. But I’ve been impressed at how resilient and open-minded they’ve been. It also helps that they’re able to remain digitally connected with their friends in Texas. As a dad, I’ve become more understanding and empathetic of my kids’ needs and feelings. The move has also bonded us as we went on this big journey together.

Any surprises about life in SoCal? In the aftermath of the fires, has your impression of L.A. changed?

Honestly, one of the biggest surprises when we first arrived is just how ideal the weather is here — most of the time. Windows open? Unheard of in most places I’ve lived before. The “sunshine tax” is worth it!

Before living in L.A., as an outsider, I always just kind of assumed that there wasn’t much sense of community. After all, L.A. is a lot of separate areas spread out over a huge area, linked by congested highways, right? But I’ve been impressed at how wrong I was in that assumption. The fire aftermath proved there is a tremendous sense of community, pride and unity.

Tell us about some of the memorable moments you’ve had on-air so far in L.A. Any dream guests?

I’ve had a couple of fun celebrity collaborations! One was with Lance Bass when I included him in a video where I use “Bye Bye Bye” lyrics in the weather. Another was with Gene Simmons from KISS, where he was actually doing the weather with me. And of course, I dropped some “Rock and Roll All Nite” lyrics. Without missing a beat, he dropped some lyrics, too. Dream guests? It would be amazing to have Kendrick Lamar or Snoop Dogg come in.

You’ve landed a prime position for a meteorologist. Any interest in moving from the green screen to the big screen? What’s next?
It really is a perfect fit. Part of taking this job was to be somewhere where I could see myself [being] for a long time. Big screen? Sounds like a fun side gig! If the next Marvel movie needs a TV meteorologist, they know where to find me.

I would like to keep innovating creative ways to tell the weather story. I hope to revive something I came up with while working from home during COVID in 2020. It’s a segment I called “Weather on the Lawn.” It was really my first viral content before the lyrics took off. I used my backyard as a giant green screen and made videos where I walked around on the weather maps in my yard. But this time around, I want to scale it up, maybe on the LAFC or LA Galaxy field.

You can catch Adam Krueger delivering his fun forecasts at 5, 6, 10 and 11 p.m. on Fox 11 L.A. or on his TikTok, Instagram or X.