The forecast is looking sunny for Raphael Miranda.
The NBC 4 New York meteorologist and his husband, Doug Simpson, have welcomed their second child, a baby girl named Elis Rose.
“We are bursting with love and joy and Mac is officially the best big brother ever,” Miranda, 45, wrote Saturday on Instagram, alongside a sweet slideshow of the infant with her family. The little girl’s name is pronounced eh-LEASE, Miranda added.
Miranda and Simpson are already parents to a 5-year-old son named MacArthur, whom they call Mac. This spring, Miranda told New Jersey Monthly that he was most excited to welcome a new child to the family so that he could see Mac become a big brother.
During the same chat, Miranda—who lives in Union City—reflected on his public coming-out on the WNBC airwaves more than a decade ago. With June’s Pride Month approaching, he recalled his spur-of-the-moment decision to refer to his husband during a live segment, after an anchor asked him a question about relationships.
“I could’ve gone around it; I could’ve played the game,” Miranda said. “But I said, ‘Why not? What am I hiding here?’ I’m proud of my husband. But just saying that, it was like you could hear a pin drop [in the studio].”
He said that, at the time, it was a “big deal to be out” as a gay man on television, prior to marriage equality and without much LGBTQ+ representation on the airwaves.
Although Miranda typically attends Pride events, often with his WNBC colleagues, this year he’ll be busy taking care of the baby.
“We’ll be there in spirit,” Miranda told us.
After sharing the baby news, Miranda received a plethora of well wishes on his Instagram post.
“WELCOME TO THE WORLD ELIS!!! Can’t wait to meet you! #congrats 💕,” wrote WNBC chief meteorologist Janice Huff, who lives in New Jersey.
Darlene Rodriguez, co-anchor of Today in New York, added: “Rafi she is absolutely precious!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰. God bless her, I love her already!”
Miranda has been at WNBC since 2009.