Alissa Carlson

Alissa Carlson is the Chief Meteorologist at KGET-TV.

She moved to Bakersfield in 2007 and has established herself as not only as the person to watch for an accurate and understandable forecast, but as a community servant.

Alissa hails from northwest Illinois, where she grew up on a farm. That sparked an interest in weather at an early age. She watched severe storms with her dad, who also loves weather.

Going to the basement during tornado warnings was common and wind storms and snow storms were a normal part of life. Meanwhile, Alissa’s mom was a journalist who encouraged Alissa to watch the news every night and read the newspaper daily. In high school, Alissa decided to follow in her mom’s footsteps and become a broadcast journalist. She landed a part-time radio DJ job on a local AM station and was hooked.

After graduating as salutatorian in high school, Alissa went on to earn a Bachelor’s of Science degree at Illinois State University followed by a Certificate of Broadcast Meteorology at Mississippi State University. While in college, Alissa applied for an overnight news anchor position at WQAD in Moline, Illinois. She became one of the youngest TV anchors in the country. She worked in her hometown television market, known as the Quad Cities, before moving on to jobs in Greenville, North Carolina and Jacksonville, Florida.

Alissa holds the prestigious Seal of Approval from the National Weather Association. In 2010, Alissa won the Mark Twain Award from the Associated Press for Best Weathercast.

She also won Best Weathercast in Bakersfield in 2009 and 2011 from the Kern Press Club. From 2014-2018, Alissa won four Emmys for her weather as part of the KGET News at 5 p.m. newscast.

Alissa is very involved in the community, taking an active role in numerous charity events as an emcee. She has helped raise money for organizations such as the SPCA, Gleaners, Volunteer Center, Children’s Miracle Network, and the Bakersfield Homeless Center. In February 2008, Alissa was chosen for the cover of Bakersfield Magazine. She was selected as a Lady in Red by the American Heart Association, as part of its “Go Red For Women” campaign. She was the “Circle of Red” Chairman with the American Heart Association from 2017-2019. Alissa regularly attends St. Francis Catholic Church. She served as a lector at St. Philip’s Catholic Church for five years.

She was honored to be a part of California State University-Bakersfield’s commencement ceremonies in 2014 and 2015, announcing the names of the graduates. Alissa’s dedication to Bakersfield earned her the nomination for Humanitarian of the Year in 2018 by the Beautiful Bakersfield Awards.

Alissa was Mrs. Bakersfield 2017 and named Mrs. California in 2018, placing Top 15 at Mrs. America.

Alissa is married to Attorney Neil Schwartz and their wedding was featured in Bakersfield Magazine. They have one daughter and two dogs.