Elise Finch, CBS New York Meteorologist, Dead at 51

Meteorologist Elise Finch passed away on Sunday at the age of 51. Finch was well known in the New York City area where she had predicted the weather for the local CBS News affiliate WCBS-TV for over a decade and a half. The station announced her passing to viewers on Monday, but did not disclose her cause of death.

“Elise has been a friend and team member at WCBS for 16 years. Elise was a gifted and consummate professional who took great care with her work,” read the station’s statement. “She was also a wonderful ambassador in the community, including her hometown of Mount Vernon. Above all, Elise was a fiercely loving and devoted mother to her daughter Grace and wife to Graig Henriques, who is a photojournalist at WCBS.”

The station noted that Finch was on the air on Friday and that “her death is sudden and unexpected.” The statement mentioned that Finch passed away in a local hospital, but said: “The cause of death has not been determined.”

The statement listed some of her accomplishments and accolades – a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, a master’s degree from Syracuse University and the President’s Award. Finch joined CBS New York in 2007 and has been the meteorologist on a few different configurations of the broadcast, starting on weekends before moving up to the weekday morning show. It also mentioned some non-weather career highlights for Finch, such as her interviews with Janet Jackson, her all-time favorite musician.

Finch even met her husband at work at CBS New York, so naturally their colleagues felt very invested in their relationship. The statement mentions their wedding almost 10 years ago – “a glorious wedding ceremony at Untermyer Gardens.” She and Henriques share one daughter, Grace.

In addition to the print statement, WCBS paid tribute to Finch on Monday morning on the air. Anchor Mary Calvi read a similar statement on the website and showed some highlights from Finch’s time at work and on the air. It was clear that Calvi was close to tears, as was her co-anchor Cindy Hsu. Calvi said: “Truly every day was a good day when we were with Elise, and we will miss her dearly.”

As the news spread, tributes to Finch began to crop up on social media with viewers and fans devastated to hear the news. Many New Yorkers are remembering Finch online this week and asking for more details on this shocking death.