Kacey Montoya was recently laid off by KTLA after 13 years. She had every right to collect her severance check and walk away. She chose not to.
The longtime KTLA weekend weathercaster announced Thursday, March 5, that she would return to the air starting this Saturday to work out her 60-day notice period, which runs through sometime in April.
It was not a traditional move, and the fans who have watched her deliver the forecast every weekend for over a decade responded in a way she certainly did not expect.
“I want to thank everyone who’s reached out for your love and support that you’ve shown me over the past week,” Montoya said in a video posted to her Instagram.
“I had no idea that I had made such an impact on so many of your lives. To say that I’m overwhelmed would be an understatement, so honestly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for that.”
Why Did KTLA Lay Off Kacey Montoya And Others?
On February 25, 2026, Nexstar Media Group, the corporate parent of KTLA, laid off five of the station’s most recognizable on-air personalities in a single day.
Montoya was one of them. So was meteorologist Mark Kriski, a KTLA institution who had been with the station since 1991, the last remaining original host from the launch of the KTLA Morning News and an eight-time local Emmy winner.
Kriski has covered everything from the 1994 Northridge earthquake to the recent Malibu fires.
He had even returned to the air after suffering a stroke in May 2024. Apparently, he wasn’t valued by Nextar.
Also let go were midday anchors Lu Parker, a six-time local Emmy winner and former Miss USA who joined KTLA in 2005, and Glen Walker, a multiple Emmy winner who had been with the station since 2010.
The two had co-hosted the KTLA 5 News at 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. for years. Reporter Ellina Abovian, who joined in 2015, found out she had been laid off on the same day she turned 40.
“I was blindsided,” she said.
Nexstar is pursuing a $6.2 billion merger with rival broadcast company Tegna and is cutting costs across its portfolio of stations, including KTLA in Los Angeles, WGN in Chicago, and WPIX in New York. They are trying to maximize profitability ahead of the deal.
SAG-AFTRA condemned the layoffs, noting that Nexstar was eliminating union bargaining positions at the same time it was pushing to gut severance packages and limit workers’ negotiating power at the table.
For viewers who grew up watching these anchors cover LA news through fires, earthquakes, elections, and everything in between, the response on social media was visceral.
“To layoff an LA icon like Kriski, who came back after a stroke, is beyond disrespectful,” one viewer wrote on X. “The man earned a proper farewell and retirement. This is a dark day.”
What Is Kacey Montoya Doing Next?
Montoya is not disappearing. The news personality told her followers she will use the weekdays during her notice period to run Fix’n Fidos, her nonprofit organization that raises money to spay and neuter pets in Southern California.
On weekends, she will be back on air through March and into early April.
“I truly love this job and love being able to come into your home and bring you the forecast and bring you my animal welfare stories,” she said. “I hope you’ll join me starting this weekend. In the meantime, join me this weekend so we can celebrate these last few weeks. I’ll see you then.”
After her time at KTLA formally ends, she says she will be exploring other opportunities. She did not specify what those are.
What Does This Mean For Local TV News?
The KTLA layoffs are not happening in a vacuum. They are part of a pattern playing out across local television stations nationwide as streaming platforms drain traditional broadcast advertising revenue and corporate consolidation accelerates.
When Nexstar eliminates a Mark Kriski, 35 years at one station, through a stroke, through every major disaster to hit Southern California in a generation, it is not just a budget line item.
It is the end of something that cannot be rebuilt quickly or cheaply.
Kacey Montoya spent 13 years at KTLA.
She did not have to come back for the final weeks. The fact that she did says something about who she is.
The fact that tens of thousands of people responded to a short Instagram video about a weathercaster’s last weeks at a local TV station says something about what local news actually means to the people who watch it every day.
