Indra Petersons

Indra Valija Petersons (born June 22, 1980) is an American meteorologist of Latvian descent. She formerly worked as the weather anchor for CNN's early morning program "New Day". She is also formerly a meteorologist for KABC-TV in Los Angeles, where she was born and raised. She is currently a meteorologist at ABC News.

Early life and education

Petersons was born Indra Valija Petersons on June 22, 1980 in Los Angeles, California,. Her father is Dr. Viesturs T. Petersons, a neurosurgeon, and mother Silvija Petersons (nee Ducis). She has two older sisters, Astra and Brita. She is of Latvian descent. Her first language is Latvian, and she is also fluent in English.

Petersons is a 1998 graduate of La Cañada High School in La Cañada Flintridge, California. She then went on to graduate from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Physics in 2002, also minoring in business, math and physics.

Career

In 2002, Petersons got her start as a meteorologist for KVIA in El Paso, Texas. The same year she went on to KEYT in Santa Barbara, California. In 2003, she became a meteorologist and weather producer and she did reporting on environmental and general assignment issues at KABC in Los Angeles, California. She held the position until she left for CNN's New Day show in 2013, and she does weather segments for CNN Newsroom. She holds an American Meteorological Society Certified Broadcast Meteorologist certificate. Currently she works for ABC News.

Indra

Indra (/ˈɪndrə/, Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the leader of the Devas and the lord of Svargaloka or a level of Heaven in Hinduism. He is the deva of rain and thunderstorms. He wields a lightning thunderbolt known as vajra and rides on a white elephant known as Airavata. Indra is the most important deity worshiped by the Rigvedic tribes and is the son of Dyaus and the goddess Savasi. His home is situated on Mount Meru in the heavens. He is celebrated as a demiurge who pushes up the sky, releases Ushas (dawn) from the Vala cave, and slays Vṛtra; both latter actions are central to the Soma sacrifice. He is associated with Vajrapani - the Chief Dharmapala or Defender and Protector of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha who embodies the power of the Five Dhyani Buddhas. On the other hand, he also commits many kinds of mischief (kilbiṣa) for which he is sometimes punished. In the Puranas, Indra is bestowed with a heroic and almost brash and amorous character at times, even as his reputation and role diminished in later Hinduism with the rise of the Trimurti.