Michael Phillip Seidel (born January 18, 1956) is an American

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

best known for appearing on

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel ...

from 1992 to 2024. He is noted for his field reporting from breaking weather including severe weather,

hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

, and snowstorms. He's been live on The Weather Channel in 46 states, DC and Puerto Rico, plus Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, and Cuba and had done over 25,000 live shots.

Early career

Seidel's interest in weather started at the age of six when he began measuring snowfall in his hometown of

Salisbury, Maryland Salisbury ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wicomico County, Maryland, United States. Salisbury is the largest city in Eastern Shore of Maryland, the state's Eastern Shore region, with a population of 33,050 at the 2020 United States census ...

. While he was in the eighth grade in school, Seidel installed a weather station on the roof of his house. He worked for four local radio stations during his high school and college years, including WJDY-AM in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

, WDMV-AM in Pocomoke City and WKHI-FM in Ocean City (all three in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

), as well as WSUX-FM in

Seaford, Delaware Seaford is a city located along the Nanticoke River in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 Census Bureau figures, the population of the city is 6,928, an increase of 3.4% from the 2000 census. It is part of the Salisbu ...

. After graduating from Wicomico Senior High School, now Wicomico High School, Seidel attended Salisbury State College and earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree, double majoring in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and geography, in 1979. Seidel is also a 1979 student initiate of the

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is an American collegiate honor society that recognizes leadership and scholarship. It was founded in 1914, at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and has chartered more t ...

Circle and

Phi Kappa Phi The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (or simply Phi Kappa Phi or ) is an honor society established in 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to the area of study, and to promote the "unity and democracy of educa ...

Honor Society at Salisbury State College. Immediately after his graduation, Seidel began his television career with

WMDT WMDT (channel 47) is a television station in Salisbury, Maryland, United States, affiliated with ABC and The CW Plus. It is the flagship television property of locally based Marquee Broadcasting, and has common ownership with low-power Weath ...

-TV, from 1980 to 1982, in Salisbury. Seidel also entered

graduate school Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachel ...

, and he earned his

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

Meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. Seidel wrote his master's thesis under the direction of Dr. Greg Forbes, The Weather Channel's retired severe weather expert. During his graduate studies, Seidel appeared on ''Weather World'' on the Pennsylvania Public Television Network. Seidel's first full-time broadcasting position was at

WYFF WYFF (channel 4) is a television station in Greenville, South Carolina, United States, serving Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina as an affiliate of NBC. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on Rutherford Stre ...

-TV in

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...

, where he worked from 1983 through 1989. He next returned to Salisbury in 1989 to work as the meteorologist for

WBOC-TV WBOC-TV (channel 16) is a television station in Salisbury, Maryland, United States, affiliated with CBS and Fox. It is the flagship television property of the Milton, Delaware–based Draper Holdings Business Trust, and is co-owned with low ...

. Seidel remained there until March 1992, when he left for

The Weather Channel

Seidel covered his first storm, Hurricane Edouard, on

Labor Day Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...

Weekend in 1996 on

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...

. Since then he has covered 99 tropical storms and hurricanes,

nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below) is a large-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. Typically, such storms originate as a low ...

s, numerous snow and ice storms, and tornado outbreaks. He has also reported live from the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

, the Baseball All-Star Game, the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

, and the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

automobile race. From 2002 to 2012, Seidel hosted the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

"Kickoff Forecast" segments every Sunday morning from NFL venues. While at The Weather Channel, Seidel has appeared on numerous network news programs, including NBC's ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' and '' Nightly News'', CBS's ''

The Early Show ''The Early Show'' is an American morning television show that aired on CBS from November 1, 1999, to January 7, 2012, replacing the original incarnation of '' CBS This Morning'', and the ninth attempt at a morning news-talk program by the n ...

'', ''

CBS Mornings ''CBS Mornings'' is an American morning television program which is broadcast on CBS. The program debuted on September 7, 2021, and airs live every weekday from 7:00a.m. to 9:00a.m., EST. It is hosted by Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil, Nate Burleson, ...

'' ''

The CBS Evening News The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featuring news reports, feature st ...

'' and ''

CBS Sunday Morning ''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (frequently shortened to ''Sunday Morning'') is an American television newsmagazine that has aired on CBS since January 28, 1979. Created by Robert Northshield and E.S. "Bud" Lamoreaux III, and originally hosted by Ch ...

'', and ABC's ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'', '' World News Tonight'', ''

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News (United States), ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchis ...

'' and ''

World News Now ''World News Now'' (or WNN) is an American overnight news broadcast seen on ABC and ABC News Live. Airing during the early morning hours each Monday through Friday, the program features a mix of general news and off-beat stories, along with ...

''. Seidel has also reported live from breaking weather on

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

, and

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

. Seidel filled in for Tony Perkins on ABC's ''Good Morning America'' in 2003 and for

Al Roker Albert Lincoln Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American weather presenter, journalist, television personality, and author. He is the weather anchor on NBC's ''Today'', and occasionally co-hosts '' 3rd Hour Today''. He has a lapsed Ameri ...

on ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

'' in 2009. He became the first Weather Channel and U.S. meteorologist to report live from Cuba during coverage of Tropical Storm Isaac August 24–26, 2012. On January 12, 2018, Seidel did his 20,000th live shot during a snowstorm in Rochester, NY. On August 31, 2023, Seidel did his 25,000th live shot covering

Hurricane Idalia Hurricane Idalia was a powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that caused significant damage across parts of the southeastern United States, especially in North Florida, in late August 2023. The ninth tropical cyclone naming, named storm, thi ...

aftermath in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

. While reporting from North Carolina during

Hurricane Florence Hurricane Florence was a powerful and long-lived tropical cyclone that caused catastrophic damage in the Carolinas in September 2018, primarily as a result of freshwater flooding due to torrential rain. The sixth named storm, third hurri ...

in 2018, Seidel received some media attention after a video was published showing him bracing his feet against the wind while two men casually walked by in the background. Observers on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

and some comedic news headlines suggested that Seidel was exaggerating the severity of the winds. In response, The Weather Channel stated, "It's important to note that the two individuals in the background are walking on concrete, and Mike Seidel is trying to maintain his footing on wet grass, after reporting on-air until 1:00 a.m. ET this morning and is undoubtedly exhausted." Seidel was laid off on April 29, 2024, as part of broader cuts by the channel's parent company. In August 2024, Seidel moved to

Fox Weather Fox Weather is a digital broadcast television network and streaming channel operated by Fox Corporation which launched on October 25, 2021, to provide weather forecasts and information for the United States. The service is available through free ...

, debuting during coverage of

Hurricane Debby Hurricane Debby was a slow-moving, erratic, and destructive tropical cyclone that caused widespread and severe flooding across the Eastern United States and portions of Eastern Canada, becoming the costliest natural disaster in the history of t ...

Personal life

Seidel was born in

, the son of Marilyn "Lynn" (née Cahall), a nurse, and Samuel W. Seidel, an insurance executive. Seidel has been married to Christine Schroder since 1994. They have two children.

References

External links

YouTube
Mike Seidel's YouTube Channel {{DEFAULTSORT:Seidel, Mike Living people The Weather Channel people People from Salisbury, Maryland American television weather presenters 1956 births