Lelan A. Statom is an Emmy Award winning meteorologist who has been helping Mid-Southerners start their day for more than 15 years. Since 1999, he has been part of the station's #1 rated morning newscast, NewsChannel 5 This Morning. Lelan joined the NewsChannel 5 Network in 1993 as weather anchor for the weekend morning and evening newscasts.In September 2006, he was named co-host of Talk of the Town, the station's long running & top-rated talk show.
He was born in Chicago and raised in Dyersburg, Tennessee. Lelan says his interest in weather dates back to 7th grade. In fact, he had his own weather center in his backyard when he was in middle school.
Lelan earned a Bachelor of Science in Communications with an emphasis in news & public affairs at the University of Tennessee- Knoxville. He received his Certificate of Broadcast Meteorology from Mississippi State.
His TV news career started in Knoxville, first at WTVK-TV(It's now WVLT), then at WATE. He worked as a weather anchor - and then some. In Knoxville, he did several jobs (producer, photojournalist, tape editor and weekend assignment editor). Lelan also worked with Black Entertainment Television News during his time in Knoxville. In 1990, he moved to Bristol, VA and WCYB to become a weekend weather anchor/reporter.
Lelan has received several awards and honors during his time in Nashville. In 2007, he (along with Ron Howes & Charlie Neese) received a Mid-South regional Emmy award for coverage of the tornadoes that hit the area in April 2006. He has received three other Emmy nominations for best weathercast. In 2006, he was awarded Best Weathercast in the state by the TN Associated Press.
