CBS3 it girl was Ciarrocchi fangirl first

SHE'S A RISING star at CBS3 - filling Kathy Orr's (tasteful) shoes as chief meteorologist after the station's seismic shakeup in on-air talent early this month. You can catch her delivering the 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. forecasts on CBS3 Eyewitness News, the 10 p.m. on CW Philly, and on KYW Newsradio. So who is Kate Bilo?

The 34-year-old mother of two young boys hails from Phoenixville and now lives on the Main Line with her husband and sons. She has mad skills in Spanish. (She studied the language during high school in Phoenixville and at Penn State.) She sat down last week in the newly renovated CBS3 studios with Daily News reporter Jenny DeHuff to tell us more.

Q Can you tell me something that your viewers might not know about you?

I'm a huge bookworm. I was on "Jeopardy" a few years back. I am the nerd of all nerds.

I try to read 100 books a year. That's a goal for myself. That's how I fall asleep at night.

Q You seem to be climbing the ranks quickly at CBS3. How has this affected you?

I still consider myself so lucky to be here every day. I grew up in this area. I still feel so thrilled and overwhelmed when people recognize me on the streets.

I was at Home Goods the other day in my workout clothes and some guy was like, "Oh, I love your work." It's still really surreal.

I grew up watching some of the people I work with now. When I met Pat Ciarrocchi, I was almost star-struck.

Q Growing up, were you a weather geek or more of an aspiring broadcaster?

I've been a weather geek since I was little. I credit part of that to my dad. We would go out and watch thunderstorms roll in and he'd say, "Let's stay on the porch till the very last second." We'd stand out and watch the storms.

During the blizzard of '93, I was out with my

ruler and I would take hourly measurements of the snow.

When I reported for the paper at Penn State, I realized I'm not really good at chasing people down the street and trying to get the story and knocking on doors. That wasn't really my forte.

I never really put two-and-two together that I could do weather - which I love - on TV, until after I graduated. I started working for AccuWeather [in State College]. I was applying to grad schools and didn't really know what to do with my life until AccuWeather said, "We're looking for someone who can speak Spanish who would like to do the weather on-air."

I can speak Spanish. That was my original major in college. I had a great teacher at Phoenixville High School. It's a little rusty now.

Q Who did you look up to on television as a kid?

It was always Pat Ciarrocchi. My dad used to play in the Pat Ciarrocchi invitational golf tournament that she used to host, and so my dad always had a thing for her.

I remember thinking, maybe I can be a Pat Ciarrocchi someday.

Q Do you ever see yourself anchoring?

I wouldn't mind trying it. I've always said weather people would make great anchors because we ad-lib everything.

There's no teleprompter, so if there's breaking news, weather people are very good at being able to talk without saying "ugh" or "um."

Q CBS3 has really shaken things up lately, letting go of a lot of local favorites. Are you still in touch with any of those people?

I have been. I emailed Kathy [Orr] and I text back and forth with Chris [May]. It's weird - it still feels like they're on vacation in some ways.

We all kind of know that getting into this business that it's kind of ephemeral. But it's hard to see people you're friends with - they're there one day and gone the next.

I feel like most of them are incredible talents and will land on their feet and do amazing things. I talk to Carol Erickson pretty much every day.

I'm under no illusion that it's going to be the rest of my life. Right now I'm just looking forward to putting together a great new show.