Tom Coomes, Chief Meteorologist

I grew up in Michiana; Little League in North Liberty, hockey in the IYHL and high school football at South Bend Washington. I remember summers on Lake Manitou in Rochester at one set of grandparent's house and winters sledding in South Bend at the other.
After graduating from Purdue and moving to Colorado to start my career in Grand Junction, I wasn't sure if I'd be back. 300 day of sunshine, mountains and skiing, who would leave? For most, it sounds like paradise, unless you're a meteorologist, then it can get a little boring.
When I got the call from my now boss “We're launching a new news station in South Bend” I thought he was pulling my leg. It's all I could ask for in a new chapter in my career. I enjoy taking on a challenge, and building something from the ground up was just the thing. Not only that, but in what I'd consider one of top weather markets in the county. Not many places can it snow 100 inches and get down to 20° below zero in winter, to severe weather and 90s in summer and everything between. Oh, and I was home.
I got the love of science from my grandfather, who was a PhD physics professor at the University of Notre Dame, he helped me with my first science project in first grade that was on light and the color spectrum. Starting at Purdue, I thought I wanted to be a chemist, but being stuck in a lab all day didn't' seem right to me. I picked meteorology because it combined what I thought to be my two best talents, talking and science.
When I'm not doing all things weather I like to travel, enjoy the outdoors, garden, grill and of course enjoy some craft beer. You're likely to find me on my bicycle on sunny day, at the South Bend Farmers Market in the summer and at one of our local breweries on a Friday night.
I have a passion not just for weather, but for informing the public. I feel I live the First Warning brand because I think telling you “in the moment” of the storm is already too late. I'm a planner and I take it as a mark of pride when I can help others plan for the next hour, day or week. I look forward to taking Michiana weather into the modern age and love using social media, especially Twitter.
You can send me an email, follow me on Twitter and like me on Facebook.
Articles by Tom Coomes
- One more sunny day, before gray weather returns
- The fair weather lasts about as long as the cold
- Clearing and colder, like the coldest week of 2023
- Another round of wintry weather, Saturday night
- Another round of snow, breezy Friday
- Lake Effect: More Slushy snow Thursday
- Snowy Wednesday: Wet, slushy snow
- All focus is on a snowy Wednesday
- Colder weather to end the week, nasty wind chill Friday
- The warm before the storm, not much cold after
- Mild through midweek, ahead of our next storm
- Still gray Friday, improving weather this weekend
- Winter weather returns, but snow struggles to stick
- A dry New Year's weekend, another storm next week
- Temperature fall Friday, but it may not be all that wet of a day Friday
- Melting and getting wetter, rain likely Friday and Saturday
- Temperatures rise, and stay above freezing
- The big melt starts midweek
- A soggy New Year
- The weather improves but the roads will still be snowy on Christmas
- The worst of the weather lasts through tonight, slow improvement Saturday
- Dangerous winter weather through Saturday
- Dangerous winter weather begins Thursday evening
- Cold weekend, heavy lake effect snow in Michigan
- Colder, lake effect snow for some, this weekend
- Wet and windy tonight, colder with a chance of snow, Friday
- Two rounds of wet and windy weather, Wednesday
- Wednesday starts a more active weather pattern with wind and rain
- Gloomy and gray weekend
- Cold rain or wet snow, Friday is unpleasant
- Sloppy Friday Weather
- Wednesday is nice, Friday is not
- Quiet start to the week, more active by Friday
- Blustery weather to start the weekend
- Windy tonight, blustery and much colder Wednesday
- Windy, rainy, then falling temperatures
- Warm and sunny for Wednesday travel
- Sunny and warmer, thawing before Thanksgiving
- Bitter wind chill and more lake effect snow Saturday
- Heavy snow Wednesday night
- Rounds of lake effect snow
- Tom's winter scouting report 2023
- More wintry weather this week
- Mix of rain and snow Saturday
- Falling temperatures through Friday
- Temperatures fall Friday, snow showers Saturday
- From near record warmth to snow showers, over the next 5 days
- Fair and mild midweek, ahead of a cold weekend
- Fair and mild for now, windy and rainy Saturday
- Fog possible again Wednesday AM, more mild weather
- Fog possible Tuesday morning
- A nice weekend, tracking rain for Monday
- Temperatures are on the rise, again
- Improving weather into the weekend
- Wet tonight, breezy and cooler Wednesday
- When the rain arrives Tuesday, temperatures start to drop
- Enjoy the warm weather, a return to normal next week
- This weekend may be the nicest weather until spring
- Beautiful weather and color this weekend
- The cold rain ends Wednesday
- Miserable weather through Tueseday
- Fair weekend, nasty next week
- Freeze for some tonight, more cold nights ahead
- Active evening, cooler and quieter Thursday
- Wind, rain & a cool-down
- Frosty lows but a sunny weekend
- Much cooler Friday
- The cold front arrives Thursday evening
- One more nice day, temperatures drop to end the week
- Enjoy the mild weather, much cooler Friday
- No change until late next week
- Fair fall weekend
- Flirting with frosty temperatures
- A brisk and breezy first day of Fall
- Summer ends Wednesday evening
- Fog possible Tuesday morning, a couple more days of summer
- Storms early Monday morning
- Warm Sunday and mostly dry, storms Sunday night
- Warm weekend, chance of storms Sunday night
- Still hazy, less foggy and warmer