We at SFist have long been fans of weatherwoman Roberta Gonzales, who blithely delivered the weather for two decades over at KPIX before apparently being dismissed from/leaving that post in 2017. Mid-pandemic she popped back up doing the weather at KTVU, and there she remains — and we live for the days when she makes the story about her.

During this latest onslaught of storms, Roberta has been out in her rain gear and baseball cap showing us what's what on the roads and in the swollen creeks. Just last week, she donned some hoop earrings and her gear to show us the rising Arroyo de la Laguna stream, which had become a raging river. And she made sure to let us know that she was standing next to what's usually her jogging path over the stream.

Yesterday, KTVU sent Roberta down to see the mudslide on Highway 17 — and you can tell by her sly grin that she lives for drama like this.

And she has been notably excited about the rain.

Today, we learn of Roberta's near brush with fate after she witnessed a jackknifed and toppled big rig crash on I-880 on the morning of December 30. KTVU reports that Roberta was on her way to work at the station that morning around 2 a.m., driving northbound on I-880, when she realized she'd forgotten to perform her morning ritual of saying a prayer in her driveway to keep her family safe. A devout Catholic (and clearly a bit superstitious), Roberta turned around and went back home to do her blessing — we learn also that she is a Eucharist minister at her church, St. Augustine Catholic Church in Pleasanton. And then when she got back on the road, she ended up being the first car behind the truck that crashed.

Per KTVU, via Roberta, "the driver of a big rig drove past her at about 62 mph on I-880 at High Street in Oakland, splashing water and debris all over her car. He hit another car and overturned, wedging his rig along the center divide. The roads were slick and the sky was dark... Plastic bits and metal shards flew into the air right at her. But she wasn't hit and neither she nor her car suffered any damage."

Roberta then called in to say she would not be making it in, but to send a camera crew out to her. She also reportedly went to the aid of one of the drivers involved in the crash, who had a bloody knee, and called 911.

"Her mother had always reminded her that she wouldn't be remembered for being the best meteorologist in the world; she'd be remembered for being a great humanitarian and philanthropist," says KTVU/Roberta. But then she got to reporting live from the freeway next to her undamaged car, right in the center of the action.

This is all to say that we are so glad to have Roberta Gonzales back on our TVs on the regular, and we can't wait for her to be back doing the weather on a normal day in a well fitted, color-blocked dress, chatting about whatever. (Remember when, just before the pandemic, she went on KPIX to talk about the children's book she'd just published titled "Marina the Fish with Teal Lips"?!)

Below, see KPIX's Brian Hackney marking the day that Roberta celebrated 20 years at KTVU (back in 2016), and airing a clip from when she became his replacement doing the weather at KSBY back in the 80s.

Previously: Iconic Former SF Weatherwoman Roberta Gonzales Publishes Children's Book About a Fish