His father is George O'Connell, the City Comptroller who led to effort to save the Shea's Performing Arts Center after it had fallen prey to taxes.
He was also a disc jockey early in his career, before moving into work in weather; as late as 2012, O'Connell was voice-tracking a shift at WECK in addition to his television duties.
[3] Since joining WGRZ in 1993, O'Connell's primary focus has been weather forecasting, and he obtained an American Meteorological Society seal of approval as a result of his work there.
[6] Hammer was retained for mornings (where he worked in a previous market) while Heather Waldman, a former Accuweather on-air personality, will take over most of O'Connell's shifts.
[8] O'Connell was fired from WGRZ in July 2018 in a dispute over his legal work (weather anchors and meteorologists routinely provide testimony in court, which is forbidden under Tegna, Inc.'s policy without express permission) and his endorsement of a local attorney.