0409 April 2009.pdf - Pacific San Diego Magazine

PULSE: anchors away
Good Morning,
Sunshine
Chrissy Russo lights up San Diego
By Brandon Hernández Photos by dave good
Forecasting blue skies in a virtual paradise can lack excitement. In fact,
according to Chrissy Russo, who delivers weather and traffic on the FOX 5
Morning News, “Sometimes it’s so boring that I want to gnaw off my own
arms.”
Russo has always craved action. “I’ve always fantasized about being a
rescue swimmer jumping out of helicopters into 50-foot swells to pluck
people out of the water,” she says. “The eternal quest to have fun every
second I’m alive drives me in general. I fire on all cylinders until I fall flat
on my face in bed at night.”
Before rocketing into meteorology, Russo spent four years as a Virginia
Beach lifeguard, diving into rough waters to drag stranded swimmers
(some nearly double her weight) to safety. It was an extremely glamorous
lifestyle… for her male counterparts anyway.
“The guys would have girls hitting on them all the time,” Russo recalls,
adding that her closest brush with flirtation came when a 14-year-old
West Virginia boy with braces approached her lifeguard tower and
hollered, “You sure are pretty!”
One day at the beach, Russo was on duty during a hurricane when a
man finally came calling on her—a CNN reporter asking how lifeguards
conduct rescues during storms. The second the cameras went on, she
sprang to life, displaying the charismatic balance of smarts and energy
that has become her trademark.
“After that, there was no doubt what I would do for a living,” says Russo,
who immediately shifted gears and, in 2001, packed her bags and her
Communications degree from Old Dominion University and charted a
course for San Diego. Once here, she quickly landed a broadcast gig
and has been gracing our region’s airwaves ever since.
Anchors Away:
Get the inside
scoop on what
local television
personalities
do when they’re
not in your
living room.
Courtesy of Greg Gorelick
In addition to her work on FOX 5, Russo also does pre-game feature
reporting for the Padres on Channel 4. It’s a perfect fit for this avid sports
fan and athlete who says that one of her favorite places to be is “in the
middle of a soccer
field, exhausted,
hot, sweaty, dirty,
running full speed
and seeing that I
have a shot on goal.”
I fire on all cylinders
until I fall flat on my
face in bed at night.
The beauty of San Diego weather may be routine, but the atmospheric
predictability makes it easier for Russo to devote time to her passions.
She is addicted to the adrenaline rush of big-wave surfing and enjoys
running, biking, Krav Maga (an Israeli self-defense system), cooking and
playing with her pets (dogs, chickens, ducks and a goat named Betty).
“But when it’s stormy or a Santa Ana is kicking up,” she says, “it’s
incredibly serious and meaningful for people, so I bust out the calculator
and get working.”
And when the skies are clear, it’s Russo that’s the whirlwind. Catch her on
Fox 5, weekdays from 5-9 a.m.
Russo soaks up the sun in Imperial Beach with her dog, Sally.
1
PacificSD: Most
challenging thing
about your job?
Russo: The
psychosis from the
sleep deprivation. I
get up at 2:30 a.m.
every weekday. I’ll
chase you with a
sharp object if you
wake me up on a
weekend before
I’m ready.
On the record, off the air...
2
What are
your favorite
San Diego-area
restaurants?
I absolutely love
McP’s (an
Irish Pub
in Coronado)
and any
Busalacchi
or Deborah
Scott restaurant.
3
Who’s your
favorite Padre
of all time?
Greg Maddux.
He’s the smartest,
most talented
person I’ve
ever met.
(Maddux will
become eligible
for induction into
the Baseball Hall
of Fame in 2014.)
4
What are a few
more of your
favorite things?
I love 80-degree
water, 90-degree
air and headhigh
rights (great
surfing waves); the
smell of lasagna
coming out of my
oven; my golden
retriever, Sally;
and belly laughs.
24 | APRIL 2009 « PACIFICsandiego.com