Meteorologist from New Port Richey succeeds Howard Shapiro at Fox 13

Tampa Fox affiliate WTVT-Ch. 13 has tapped a meteorologist originally from New Port Richey to join its weather team just a few weeks after longtime forecaster Howard Shapiro's departure.

Sheena Parveen Samanipour, a 2008 graduate of Florida State University, is expected to join WTVT's weather team in mid November. She comes to the Fox station from WCTV in Tallahassee, becoming the second female meteorologist in the station's history.

Parveen, who will use her first and middle names on air in Tampa, lands on weekend mornings after a number of job shifts initiated by forecaster Shapiro's departure last week. Shapiro, 62, said goodbye to viewers at noon Friday after 35 years at the station, surrounded by his wife, daughter, and a number of friends from the station's news and weather departments.

The longtime forecaster had announced his departure in July, saying he wanted to get out of the news game months before his contract would end, to enjoy his golden years while still healthy. He and wife Gail are moving to Phoenix, Ariz.