Courtesy of KGUN

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KGUN's chief meteorologist Erin Christiansen has added a little more clout to her title after receiving her Certified Broadcast Meteorologist designation from the American Meteorological Society.

Christiansen took and passed the CBM exam on April 10. She is one of only 242 meteorologists and fewer than 30 women in the world to hold the distinction.

The Illinois-born weather expert put two months of solid study time into preparing for the CBM. She likened the experience to a lawyer taking the bar exam.

"They test you on your book skills," she said. "On weather you don't get here in the desert. I had to reach back into my memory banks from school. I was pleasantly surprised that I still knew a lot of it."

Christiansen is the first chief meteorologist in town to hold the designation.

"I hope it reiterates with our viewers that they can have the utmost confidence in my forecast," she said.

Alison Sweeney helps the MDA

Alison Sweeney, host of "The Biggest Loser" and a regular on the daytime soap opera "Days of our Lives," was in town Saturday filming public-service announcements for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Sweeney has come onboard as an ambassador for the organization. She first lent her talents to the MDA by co-hosting stretches of the "Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon" in 2007 with Tom Bergeron.

"I've been watching the telethons since I was a kid," Sweeney said on her lunch break from the "Days of Our Lives" set last Thursday. "I can't tell you how much I admire Jerry Lewis and the work he has done for these children. I am proud to be a part of it."

Sweeney's visit to the Old Pueblo comes less than a week after she announced Mesa resident Ali Vincent the Season Five winner of "The Biggest Loser."

"(Ali) worked so hard and she is such a good person," Sweeney said. "She kicked butt and was up against some incredibly steep competition."

Sweeney said filming for the next season of "Loser" starts in May. She also is slated to co-host the next Jerry Lewis Telethon over Labor Day weekend.

Sierra Vista native Brandi Milloy has made it to the season finale of "Oprah's Big Give."

The show airs tonight on ABC. Contestants have been whittled down to the final three in a quest to find who can give the most to those in need in the most creative of ways.

The former beauty pageant winner and University of Arizona alumna will face off against Stephen Paletta of New York and Cameron Johnson of Virginia. The winner of the show will receive $1 million.

Milloy graduated from the UA with degrees in English and broadcast journalism in 2006, according to news reports.

The episode airs at 7 p.m. tonight on ABC.