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
- Showers and storms midweek, severe threat low
- More mild weather, before rain midweek
- Cold front arrives before midnight Friday, showers and storms follow
- Warm and windy, before showers and storms
- Summer warmth surges ahead of Friday's storm threat
- Rainy Wednesday, Friday storm update
- Fair for now, focus on storms Friday
- Concord schools' weather balloon lands in Lake Michigan
- Heat breaks with scattered showers / storms this weekend
- Warm and dry again Friday, scattered storms this weekend
- Relief from the humidity Thursday
- Record warmth midweek
- A taste of summer, but humidity stays in-check
- Warmer, drier and even a little humid next week
- One more rainy day
- Dry Wednesday, more rain to end the week
- A rainy day Tuesday, cool week
- Saturday showers and storms, dry Sunday
- Warming into the weekend, storms Saturday
- A bit milder by the weekend
- Earth Week 2022: The St. Joseph River Inventory
- Nice days between rounds of rain
- $150-million dollar energy storage system proposed in LaPorte County
- Rounds of rain and milder weather
- Rounds of rain and milder weather
- Evening storms, windy Thursday
- Midweek warm-up, Wednesday storm threat
- Damp and dreary end of the week
- Damp, dreary and breezy weather ends the week
- Wetter and cooler end of the week
- Dry Thursday, wetter and cooling midweek
- Rain Saturday afternoon, but most the weekend is dry
- A couple dry days to start April
- A wetter, windier evening, much cooler Thursday
- A windy, rainy midweek rollercoaster
- Spring restart, milder with more rain
- A wintry weekend
- A cold, windy and even snowy weekend
- More wet weather Thursday, chilly weekend
- Wet weather through midweek
- Plan for rain most the week
- Soggy start to the weekend
- Goshen Drafts Flood Resilience Plan
- Rain Friday, damp Saturday
- Mild midweek, focus turns to rain Friday-Saturday
- Mostly mild weather this week
- Two rounds of snow, bitter cold Saturday
- Harsh wintry weather ends the week
- Wednesday is the best weather day this week, wintry weather Friday - Saturday
- March, marches on, more messy weather
- Weekend roller coaster: Temperatures swing, wind and eventually snow
- The roller coaster ride clicks upwards...
- Temperatures fall and rise again, March roller coaster continues
- Winter 2022: The snowy finish, wasn’t enough to overcome a shirking cold season
- Temperatures swing this week
- On the mild side, to start March
- A fair weekend, milder weather ahead
- Snow tonight, then a fair weekend
- Another round of snow Thursday night
- The cold is back, more winter weather Thursday night
- Weather Whiplash: Spring, back to winter this week
- Snow lasts through the evening, cold & slick morning
- Local Lettuce: Growing greener in South Bend
- The Mess: Heavy rain tonight, heavy snow Thursday
- The Mess begins, warm and windy Wednesday
- A big melt and a big mess, midweek
- Lake effect snow and a bitter cold weekend
- Sloppy Friday, lake effect Saturday
- Plan for a slushy, sloppy week as temps rise just above freezing
- A little lake effect, temperatures fall Monday
- Enjoy the fair winter weather Sunday
- A little snow tonight, fair winter weekend
- Winter Storm: Heavy snow, all day Wednesday
- Winter Storm: Widespread heavy snow Wednesday and Thursday
- Winter Storm Wednesday and Thursday
- Staying cold, not much snow through the weekend
- Wednesday, the coldest day of the season
- Lake effect snow and bitter cold
- Staying cold, a few rounds of light snow
- Bitter cold tonight, and staying cold through the weekend