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WSYR-TV Channel 9 meteorologist Dave Longley

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse TV weatherman Dave Longley, who has battled multiple sclerosis for more than 10 years, is taking a behind-the-scenes job at WSYR-TV Channel 9 as assistant news director.

Longley, Channel 9's chief meterologist, gave his final evening newscast Thursday evening. He has worked at the station 24 years.

"I knew this day would come, so there is no sadness," Longley told viewers. "Beginning on January 1, I won't be in front of the camera. It's not goodbye. Instead, I'm turning the page to a new chapter in my life."

Jim Teske, who has worked at Channel 9 for more than 20 years, will take over as chief meterologist.

Longley, 44, of Cicero, was diagnosed with MS in 2005 after he noticed a tremor in his right hand. He went public with it five years ago when the disease started affecting his voice.

"As the speech became more impacted people would call in or write asking, 'Is the weatherman drunk?' " Longley said in a story published last year in The Post-Standard and syracuse.com. That's why Longley decided he had to share his secret. He first revealed the disease and his treatment in a report on Channel 9.

Since then he's become Central New York's most famous face of MS, a disease that affects more than 2,000 people in the region. He speaks about MS to community groups. He listens to other people with MS who approach him at the grocery store to share their stories.

"It's pretty obvious that I struggle with my voice, and ... I knew I couldn't be in front of the camera forever," Longley said in an email.

Longley went to great lengths to fight the incurable disease so he could continue in his high-profile broadcasting job, which depends so much on his voice.

He received speech therapy and injections of Botox, a drug often used to remove wrinkles, in his vocal cords to temporarily eliminate the tremor in his voice.

"Weather is in my blood so we're not going to extinguish that fire," Longley said in his final newscast. "Once I start getting comfortable in my new spot in the newsroom, I plan on contributing content on our digital platforms."

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