Melissa Jones is the meteorologist on The Morning News weekdays from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Melissa grew up in Atlanta, and went to school at Mississippi State University, where she graduated with a degree in geosciences/meteorology.

Melissa developed a love for weather at an early age. She decided to make a career out of it when a meteorologist from a television station in her hometown visited her school.

Melissa comes to the Carolinas from KTVE/KARD-TV in West Monroe, La. where she was the morning meteorologist. While there, Melissa covered everything from tornadoes to the landfall of Hurricane Katrina.

E-mail: melissa.jones@foxcarolina.com

On the weekends, I love to: Spend time at home in Atlanta, where I live part time.

My favorite kind of music is: Top 40 stuff, but I admit that I have a strange love of 80's music.

My favorite food is: Sushi.

Hidden talents: Archery. I'm a pretty good shot with a bow!

Hobbies: Traveling, cooking, being outdoors and watching the Georgia Bulldogs play football.

Pets: Three cats.

Children: My husband and I are expecting our first child in October.

Most Memorable Story: Hurricane Katrina. I was on the air the morning that Katrina hit, and I can remember this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach - knowing what was going to happen that day. Monoroe itself was only brushed by Katrina, but we had a massive flood of evacuees who had come north to escape New Orleans. I think the memory that will stick with me the most happened after landfall. I was hosting a telethon at the local civic center, which had been opened as a shelter. By this point, the levees had failed and the city was flooded. The look of emptiness and disbelief in people's eyes was heartbreaking. People kept coming up to our crew, wanting to know if we could broadcast an announcement about a loved one they could not find.

As tragic, as that day was, I was overwhelmed and inspired by the outpouring of love and concern from the community. It wasn't just in our city, but across the country. People donated food, clothing, money, opened their homes to evacuees and traveled to the Gulf Coast to volunteer. For those of you who did, you will probably never know how much you were and are appreciated by the people of Louisiana and Mississippi.