Oklahoma City stations have been live around the clock in the aftermath of Monday’s devastating tornado. The stations have been praised for their “thoughtful, professional, experienced” reporting during and after the twister.

All four stations were live during the storm, with meteorologists and anchors issuing repeated warnings for people in the storm’s path to take shelter.

“You folks in Moore, grab whatever it is you need to grab and you need to go underground. Bottom line: grab your kids, grab your loved ones, grab your friends,” KFOR chief meteorologist Mike Morgan said shortly before the tornado hit. “And just get out of the way.”

In her press conference Monday night, Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin thanked the local media for early warnings of the tornado threat.

“The media’s done a superb job over the last few days of keeping people informed about the conditions, especially our weathermen and those that have been on the ground, driving, following and tracking the storm itself,” Fallin said.

The local stations’ coverage was available online via live stream. Stations were praised by the Columbia Journalism Review, which noted stations provided “life-saving information before the tornado, essential reporting afterward.” Read more

KABC meteorologist Indra Petersons has joined CNN as a weather anchor and correspondent, TVNewser reports.

Petersons will primarily contribute to “New Day,” CNN’s morning newscast set to launch on June 17. Her first assignment for CNN will be covering the tornado devastation from Moore this week.

Before joining KABC in 2003, Petersons worked at KEYT in Santa Barbara and KVIA in El Paso.

A massive, mile-wide tornado ripped through Oklahoma City shortly after 3pmCT Monday, leaving a path of destruction in the southern part of the city. Local stations in Oklahoma City began following the threat closely during the 2 p.m. hour.

All four stations gave regular updates throughout normal morning programming. CBS affiliate KWTV was the first station to go to wall-to-wall with the tornado threat at 2:01 p.m., with meteorologist Michael Armstrong leading coverage.

• Related, TVNewser: ‘Catastrophic’ Tornado in Oklahoma City Spurs Special Coverage

NBC affiliate KFOR and ABC affiliate KOCO both broke in with continuing coverage at 2:12 p.m. Chief meteorologist Mike Morgan was on the air for KFOR and chief meteorologist Damon Lane led coverage for KOCO. “We’re going to stay on the air here for awhile because storms are developing quite rapidly,” Morgan said.

KOKH chief meteorologist Jeff George took over wall-to-wall coverage on the Fox affiliate at 2:30 p.m.

The Oklahoma City metro area is under a tornado warning until 10 p.m. tonight.

Pablo Pereira has been named meteorologist for the evening newscasts at KTTV-KCOP, Fox’s duopoly in Los Angeles. In his new role, he will appear on “Studio 11 L.A.,” “FOX 11 News at 10 PM,” “KCOP My13 News at 7PM” and “KCOP My13 News at 11PM.”

Pereira joined the stations on a per diem basis in 2011. He has previously worked at KABC and KNBC, both in Los Angeles.

“This is my dream job. Getting the opportunity to work alongside such a talented team is truly a great honor and thrill,” Pereira said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing to provide accurate and informative weather forecasts to KTTV/KCOP viewers.”

Gary England, chief meteorologist for Oklahoma City CBS affiliate KWTV, will be inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

England has worked at KWTV since October 1972. His induction into the Hall will take place November 7, 2013.

The Oklahoma Hall of Fame has inducted names like noted author Ralph Ellison, radio announcer Paul Harvey, and Cincinnati Reds’ catcher Johnny Bench. Inductees get their names along with a bust and a portrait displayed at the Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. They also get granite monuments in the Heritage Plaza at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds.

Brandon Spinner has been promoted to chief meteorologist at KDLT, the NBC affiliate in Sioux Falls.

Spinner joined KDLT in March as the morning meteorologist. He replaces Cody Matz, who is leaving KDLT to join KMSP in Minneapolis.

“I am confident Brandon will do a great job moving to our evening newscasts. He is an extremely hard worker, and he will bring a lot of enthusiasm to KDLT News at 5, 6 and 10,” KDLT news director Paul Heinert said in a statement.

Before joining KDLT, Spinner worked at KQDS in Duluth, Minn.

When a big blizzard hit the East Coast in February, Hartford, CT, FOX affiliate WTIC let a local production crew follow meteorologist Dan Amarante and his photographer around as they slogged through snowdrifts in the station’s hi-tech weather chaser called the “Storm Tracker.”

The Union Productions director Dustin Schultz told TVSpy the team initially set out to shoot promo footage for WTIC. After the storm, they found enough footage to make a short doc, so they did.

All-in-all it’s a bite-sized look behind the scenes during a major weather event. Plus, there’s a short montage featuring Macklemore’s catchy tune “Thrift Shop.” And what video piece can’t use a montage?

Meteorologist Kyle Mounce is joining WRTV in Indianapolis from WPSD in Paducah, Ky.

Mounce, an Indiana native, will be the weekend meteorologist and weekday weather reporter at ABC affiliate WRTV. He has worked at NBC affiliate WPSD since 2008.

“We are happy to welcome Kyle back home to Indiana. He will be contributing to our live weather coverage on TV, on-line at theIndyChannel.com and on our expanding mobile and iPad news and weather apps,” news director Terri Cope-Walton said in a statement.

Meteorologist Bryan Bennett is joining WFLA, the NBC affiliate in Tampa-St. Petersburg.

Bennett comes from New York, where he was executive weather producer and chief meteorologist at CBS-owned WCBS. He also managed weather graphics content for 14 other CBS stations. Before that, he worked at WSB, the ABC affiliate in Atlanta, for five years.

Bennett will be the meteorologist for the weekend morning newscasts and the noon newscast. He begins at WFLA on May 25.

KWQC meteorologist Greg Dutra fought off a fit of laughter on the air after he made a “Depends” joke during his forecast, which aired immediately after a commercial for the adult diapers (video above).

“Well, your weather forecast today ‘depends…’” Dutra said at the top of his forecast, trailing off as his colleagues at the anchor desk started chiding him for making the joke. “As soon as I saw it, I was like, it’s stacked right in front of me. I got to. It might be my only chance!” [h/t Los Angeles Daily News]