KXAS Channel 5 Dallas-Fort Worth meteorologist David Finfrock stepping back even more
David Finfrock, the long-time KXAS/Channel 5 meteorologist who semi-retired in 2018, announced Sunday that the late newscast was his last regularly scheduled weekend shift but he would still fill in for vacations and holidays no more than 20 to 30 days a year.
He was the second chief meteorologist for the station in its 75 years on the air. He was hired by the original chief meteorologist, Harold Taft, in 1975 and took over the role when Taft died in 1991.
Finfrock stepped back in 2018 when Rick Mitchell became chief meteorologist, but he continued to appear on air about 100 days out of the year.
Fans took to Facebook to comment on Finfrock’s announcement.
“Some people just make things feel ‘right with the world and you are one of them,” one woman wrote.
“I watched you as a kid, moved all around the world, came back and found you on my familiar NBC5. You are a true Texas legend!” another person posted.
Finfrock came to at KXAS after a stint as a field researcher for the Juneau Icefield Research Program in Alaska, according his online bio. It is the only station he has worked at.
Finfrock’s bio describes him as an “avid nature conservationist.” He told the Star-Telegram in 2018 that he has gone on archaeological surveys in Mongolia and on Easter Island. He also volunteers at the Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains national parks.
In September 2020 he was bitten by a rattlesnake while pulling ragweed at Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center in Cedar Hill.
Even though he worked six days a week during his early days at the station, he still made time to camp and hike at state parks throughout North Texas.
“That was my way of getting outdoors and enjoying that fix, but also to learn the area,” Finfrock told the Star-Telegram in 2018. “I think it was very important to travel through the counties that I was covering and learn what was there.”
Finfrock told the Star-Telegram his most memorable severe-weather event was May 5, 1995, when soft-ball sized hail injured dozens at Fort Worth’s Mayfest. That same night a major storm moved through Dallas, dumping five inches of rain in one hour. About 20 people died in flash floods.
Finfrock and his wife Shari will celebrate their 45th anniversary in October. They have two children and three grandchildren.
