Ginger Zee Biography

Ginger Renée Colonomos Zuidgeest, also known by her pseudonym Ginger Zee, is an American TV personality, climate correspondent, and meteorologist working for ABC News as chief meteorologist and chief climate correspondent. Before her promotion in 2011, she served the network as a weekend meteorologist. She served the network as the managing editor of the climate unit from October 2021 to October 2023.

Ginger Zee Education

Zee joined Valparaiso University in 1999 after finishing her education at Rockford High School in Rockford, Michigan. In 2002, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology. She also majored in both Mathematics and Spanish.

Ginger Zee Career

Zee works for ABC News as chief meteorologist and chief climate correspondent. She previously worked as a meteorologist at WMAQ-Channel 5 in Chicago from 2006 to 2011. She also filled in for multiple NBC and MSNBC News programs.

Zee was a member of Storm Team 8 at WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, Michigan, before moving to Chicago. There, she broadcast science, the environment, and the effects of weather all over western Michigan. She served at WEYI NBC 25 in Flint, Michigan between 2003 and 2005. She kick-started her career at WLAV FM/ WXMI in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and WYIN PBS in Merrillville, Indiana.

Zee is genuinely passionate about the atmosphere and is devoted to making young people interested in science. She provided the voice for Dr. Zephyr Skye, a storm-chasing alien in Disney Junior’s “Miles from Tomorrowland.” She wanted to be a meteorologist after she saw a waterspout on Lake Michigan at the age of 8. Mesmerized, she thought it was the coolest thing she had ever seen.

Aside from her work in weather and climate, Zee is a published book author. She has published five books, including the bestseller “Natural Disaster” in 2017 and her memoir, “A Little Closer to Home: How I Found the Calm After the Storm” in 2022. Moreover, she and her husband, Ben, appeared in DIY Network’s “Renovation Realities: Ben & Ginger.” She also created and hosted the original digital series “Food Forecast.”

Zee also served as an adjunct professor at the University from 2008 to 2011. Over the course of her career, Zee has received Emmy and Murrow Awards. She was also inducted into the Weather Hall of Fame and holds the Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal for Meteorology from the American Meteorological Society.

Ginger Zee ABC News

Zee works for ABC News as chief meteorologist and chief climate correspondent. She also has a recurring climate segment called “Climate A to Zee.” Before her promotion in 2011, she served the network as a weekend meteorologist. She served the network as the managing editor of the climate unit from October 2021 to October 2023.

Zee has been present for nearly every major natural disaster, filing reports for “Good Morning America” and across ABC News programs and platforms. She was in the eye wall of Hurricane Helene and has covered Hurricane Katrina, blizzards across the nation, tornado outbreaks from Alabama to Oklahoma, as well as wildfires in California, France, and Australia. Moreover, she has used her lifelong passion for the atmosphere, merging it with compassion and humanity, to share these stories, as they are always about the people the storms impact.

Zee is devoted to being a vehicle for the most recent science on the climate crisis and solutions globally. She has displayed the faces of human-induced climate change, from the intricacy of the megadrought plaguing Lake Mead and Lake Powell to the drawdown of carbon dioxide using rock dust on fields in North Carolina(amplified rock weathering) and the effect of sea-level rise from the Maldives to Maryland.

Besides storm chasing and climate, Zee’s passion for adventure has taken her worldwide. In this capacity, she paraglided from the Himalayas to the Andes, went parahawking in Nepal, hiked the largest cave in the world in Vietnam, flown a drone into the fissure of a volcano in Iceland, rappelled 27 stories down the exterior facade of the Wit Hotel in Chicago, gone diving with sharks in the Bahamas, and explored the 275 waterfalls of Iguazú Falls in Argentina and the Victoria Falls in Africa. She has also gone ice boat racing, skydiving, and surfing live on “GMA.”

Aside from her work in weather and climate, Zee serves as the co-host of the ABC weekend show “Hearts of Heroes.” Hearts of Heroes highlights first responders. Additionally, she has hosted multiple climate specials for ABC News Live.

Ginger Zee Age

Zee was born Ginger Renee Zuidgeest on January 13, 1981, Orange, California, United States of America. She is 45 years old as of 2026. Zee celebrates her birthday on January 13th.

Ginger Zee Height

Zee stands at an approximate height of 5 feet and 6 inches.

Ginger Zee Family

Zee was born to Dawn Zuidgeest-Craft and Robert Zuidgeest in Orange, California. Her family relocated to Michigan before she was one year old. Her father named her after “Ginger” from his favorite show, Gilligan’s Island.

Zee has a stepfather named Carl Craft, and two half-sisters, Adrianna and Elaina Craft. Adriaan Cornelis Zuidgeest and Hillegonda VanderShoor Zuidgeest, her paternal grandparents, migrated to the United States from the Netherlands. George Joseph Hemleb and Paula Adeline Wesner are her grandparents from her maternal side of the family.

Ginger Zee Husband

Zee got married to Benjamin Aaron Colonomos(also known as Ben Aaron) on June 7, 2014. He proposed to her on August 2013. The couple lives in Rockland County, New York, with their two sons, Miles Macklin and Adrian Benjamin. Adrian was born on December 9, 2015, in Petoskey, Michigan, and is 10 years old as of 2025. Miles was born in February 9, 2018, weighing 8 pounds and 7 ounces, and is 8 years old as of 2026.

Ben was born on September 10, 1981, and is 45 years old as of 2026. He is a New York City-based media personality who previously served NBCUniversal’s LXTV, WNBC’s New York Live, and the nationally syndicated Crazy Talk series. He graduated from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts.

Ginger Zee Net Worth

Zee has an estimated net worth ranging between $1 million – $5 million, which she has earned through being a TV personality, climate correspondent, and meteorologist.

Ginger Zee Salary

Zee earns an annual salary of around $500,000.

Ginger Zee Dancing with the Stars

On March 4, 2016, it was announced that Zee had joined of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars Season 22 as a celebrity competitor. Paired with professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy, they finished in third place.

Ginger Zee Instagram

Zee has an active Instagram account that has over 1M followers. CLICK HERE to view.