Meteorological Match
Weather forecasters find love under blue skies. ( Editor’s note: This piece originally appeared in the Jan/Feb 2017 issue of MVM. )
For Matt Noyes and Danielle Niles, the forecast these days is sunny, with long periods of love and laughter. Noyes, 37, the chief meteorologist for NBC Boston/NECN, and Niles, 32, a meteorologist at CBS Boston/WBZ-TV, were married on July 18, 2015 — two years after the former colleagues and now work rivals started dating.
“A lot of times, people think we just come home and sit and talk in excess about the weather the whole time,” Noyes says, with a laugh.
Well, maybe the topic comes up sometimes, but not as much as their viewers might think, the Haverhill couple insists. “Hardly ever,” Noyes says. After all, Noyes says, he and his wife spend their days living, studying and reporting on the weather. When they arrive home, there are other things to discuss.
The couple first met in 2008, when Niles joined the staff at NECN, where Noyes was chief meteorologist. They became fast friends. On August 2014, Noyes proposed on a weekend getaway to Ogunquit, Maine, during a walk by the water.
Photo at top of page: Randall Garnick Photography. Above: Rivals at work, Niles and Noyes find romance in Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine shortly after getting engaged in August of 2014. Courtesy photo.
“I was very surprised,” Niles says. “It was a beautiful, wonderful moment.”
Noyes and Niles were married at Willowbend Country Club in Mashpee on the Cape. The sun broke through the clouds just in time for Niles to walk down the aisle. Could it get any more perfect for two meteorologists?
Noyes’ young son from a previous marriage, who was his father’s best man, turned 5 years old just a few days after the nuptials. In a surprise for the boy, the couple turned their wedding cake into his birthday cake, and all the guests serenaded him. “That was kind of a fun twist,” Noyes says.
For Noyes and Niles, who both developed a passion for weather when they were young children, their jobs gave them two loves — each other and their careers.
A native of Weymouth, Niles first saw the power of weather when Hurricane Bob hit Massachusetts in 1991. The young girl was amazed by the strong winds and the huge waves in the ocean.
Left: Niles is seen here from our 2014 edition of Style File, photo by Meghan Moore. Bottom right: Noyes at work at the NBC Boston studios, courtesy photo.
After graduating from UMass Lowell in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric science, Niles got her master’s in meteorology at Florida State University. She is now WBZ’s morning and midday meteorologist. Noyes, who grew up in Haverhill, was similarly amazed by Hurricane Gloria’s strength in 1985. But weather continued to be merely a hobby for the youngster who always dreamed of becoming a state trooper like his father. Then, when he was in high school, Noyes realized he wanted to turn that hobby into a profession that he’d be excited to work at each day.
“Suddenly it hit me: I want to make my passion my job,” he recalls.
“Matt is the most passionate person I know,” Niles says.
A graduate of Cornell University and Phillips Academy Andover, Noyes has a Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology. He began working for NECN in 2002.
Now, going back for a second to whether the topic of weather ever slips into the conversation at the dinner table? OK, sometimes it does, they say, but just in jokes. Such as when a sudden, surprise storm hits, and they ask each other, “Did you call for this?”
(Editor’s Note: Danielle Niles was featured in our March 2014 edition of Style File. Ten years ago, Matt Noyes was featured in our Winter 2007 issue.)
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