Beloved Meteorologist Reveals Stage 4 Cancer Diagnosis

Beloved Nebraska meteorologist Kent Boughton is battling stage 4 cancer.

Boughton, who is the chief forecaster for News Channel Nebraska, announced his aggressive cancer diagnosis in a video on his Facebook page on March 20, revealing that three weeks prior, he received news of his “own inside tornado.”

“After some tests and a lot of uncertainty, I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer,” Boughton, 68, said. “It’s small cell carcinoma that has spread throughout my body.”

Boughton first learned of his diagnosis when doctors investigated a rasp in his voice, which they determined to have been caused by a tumor in his lung that had grown against his tonsil, paralyzing it.

“If that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have known I had cancer,” he explained, adding, “I spent my entire career telling you about storms, trying to save your lives, for crying out loud… Now I’m facing my own storm, my own inside tornado, if you will.”

While it’s not “an easy road” to recovery, Boughton thanked his supportive community of family, friends and colleagues for encouraging him through it.

“I don’t need anything from any of you except your prayers. I do ask for that and I appreciate every single one,” he said. “Your kindness, your prayers, your messages, they all mean everything. It’s tough… I’m going to fight to the end.”

“There is no barcode anywhere on my body that gives me an expiration date,” he continued. “That’s pretty much true for all of us. We could all get run over by a car tomorrow. So I’m gonna be here… I’m gonna go as far as I can.”

Boughton revealed that he had already completed one round of chemotherapy and was scheduled for another at the end of this month. Despite the treatment, the TV personality said that he planned to continue his work forecasting for News Channel Nebraska.

Boughton began working as a meteorologist more than five decades ago, kicking off his career as a radio announcer at KRGI in Grand Island before moving to the world of weather in 1977 at KIFI-TV in Idaho Falls. After two years, Boughton moved to KHAS-TV in Hastings, where he worked for 12 years. In 1999, Boughton went to work at NTV in Kearney, where he stayed for more than two decades. In 2024, he was inducted into the Nebraska Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.