Belinda Jensen ended her 33-year run at KARE 11 on April 30, signing off as the NBC affiliate’s main weather anchor and saying farewell to the weekday audience at 10 p.m. Thursday. Her last appearance as co-host of KARE 11 Saturday came on the May 2 edition of the show.
Jensen, 58, announced her retirement in February, but the station still gave her a packed sendoff. Julie Nelson aired a six-minute retrospective during the 5 p.m. broadcast on April 30, with clips of Jensen alongside Robert Redford, Bill Murray and Jimmy Fallon. Chris Hrapsky read a proclamation from Gov. Tim Walz declaring Belinda Jensen Day, and Matt Kummer said it was a day to celebrate Jensen and the show she built.
The farewell reflected how long Jensen had been one of local TV’s most popular personalities at the NBC affiliate. The station marked her retirement with speeches, champagne, a retrospective and the governor’s proclamation, while Jensen had recently raised $25,000 for charity by auctioning off her on-air coats.
Even with the tributes, Jensen made clear the ending was real. She told viewers she had been shut out from the morning meeting and that everything was going to be a surprise, then later summed up her career by saying being their meteorologist was not just a job but an honor and a responsibility she never took lightly.
The question now is not whether KARE 11 has closed the book on Jensen’s run. It has. What comes next is how the station and its viewers adjust after 33 years with one of the market’s most familiar faces on the air.