Hometown: Como (ko-mo), Mississippi – about 45 minutes south of Memphis, TN & 45 minutes west of Oxford, MS (Ole Miss)

Raised on a farm in rural northwest Mississipi, I got interested in trying to find out what the weather was going to do next.  My love for weather actually grew out of a necessity of needing to know what the weather was going to do in order to work that day.    My aunt and uncle that lived in Tennessee were storm spotters and that peaked my weather interests even more.  By high school, I started following weather more intently, even going out with my video camera and taking footage of thunderstorms, lightning, clouds, whatever looked “cool”.  I was able to look up weather information on the internet, and had access to a wealth of information.  My dad encouraged my weather interest by taking me to a storm spotting class put on by the National Weather Service in Memphis.

I wanted to learn more, so after graduating high school in 2000, I spent 2 years in community college.  After that, I transferred to Mississippi State University, where my major was Civil Engineering, with a minor in Meteorology.  After trying Calculus 2 three semesters in a row(with Calculus 3 and 4 and Differential Equations left to take), I realized that Civil Engineering wasn’t for me.  I did, however, really enjoy all of my meteorology classes, so I changed my major to Meteorology.  I did not regret this decision at all.  I was heavily involved in the production department of our local weather channel.  I operated graphics, served as director, producer, board operator, camera operator and audio technician.  During the summer of 2003 and 2004, I interned at WHBQ, the FOX affiliate in Memphis.  Among other things, I updated the weather graphics, ran the radar and forecasted with the approval of the chief meteorologist.  During May 2005, my class took a 2 week trip to the Great Plains for our Great Plains Storm Chase.  That trip was fun and I learned a lot from those two weeks.  I graduated in December of 2005 from Mississippi State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Meteorology.

In January 2006, I met my wife, Anna,  through a mutual friend.  We visited her hometown, Tahlequah, a few times, and I thought it was a great place.  We moved to Tahlequah in February of 2007.  We got engaged in November 2006 and were married October 17^th, 2009 in Wagoner on Fort Gibson Lake. 

After moving to Tahlequah in 2007, I was immediately attracted to the radio station & came in & presented Ralph Lynch with my resume and let him know that I was more than willing to work.  He offered me a job as a board operator under the supervision of Mick Reed.  I still enjoy working as a board operator & production technician at Lakes Country Radio.  I am the “man back at the studios” for the football and basketball games, as well as operate the  Sunday morning church services, and put in advertisements that you hear all throughout the week.  I also help with the auctions, parades and anything else.

We have one dog, a german-sheppard /pit-bull / labrador mix named Pucca (poo-kaa) born in 2008.  Anna is a pharmacy technician at Wal-Mart in Stilwell.  She has worked at Wal-Mart since she was 16, and loves her job.  I enjoy storm chasing, shooting video of storms, going on cruises, hunting, fishing, drag racing, car shows, gardening, cooking, grilling, watching college football and going to Lake Tenkiller & the Illinois River.

-Richard Hoseney

Staff Meteorologist

Lakes Country Radio

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