Mike Thomas

Mike Thomas

Meteorologist

Mike Thomas’ fascination with weather started at a young age. Growing up in the small Prince George's County town of Beltsville, MD Mike vividly remembers the EF3 tornado that tore through the city of College Park, damaging his elementary school at the time. His drive to understand the disaster took him on the meteorology path.

After graduating from DeMatha Catholic High School, Mike attended University of Maryland, Baltimore County where he double majored in mathematics and physics before wrapping up his degree in Atmospheric Sciences, Meteorology at Penn State University in 2012. His first experience with FOX 5 came in the summer of 2011 when he took a weather internship under the guidance of Tucker Barnes and Tony Perkins.

After graduation, he took a job with Commodity Weather Group in Bethesda, MD where he focused on learning forecast techniques, weather model analysis, extended range, and seasonal forecasting. Forecasting and advising commodity traders and other meteorologists on the New York Stock Exchange, Mike's forecasts were featured in various articles from USA Today, MSNBC, CNBC, Bloomberg, and Reuters.

Mike got his start in television when he joined the FOX 5 Weather Team in the summer of 2014 as a part-time weekend morning meteorologist. In the fall, he joined the team full time, reuniting with his old mentor Tucker Barnes. 

Mike applies his weather knowledge each morning by writing the morning forecast and builds the vast majority of weather graphics you see on the show each day. Keeping often complicated weather patterns viral and fun, he went viral in 2015 when he fashioned song lyrics from Taylor Swift and Madonna into weather forecasts. He regularly does "weather talks" on his Facebook page, particularly during snow season.

A part of the FOX 5 Morning Team for the first eight years of his career, Mike covered anything from hurricanes to tornado outbreaks to blizzards with the great Blizzard of 2016 a favorite highlight of his career. He also filled in with occasional field reporting, traffic, and "Good Day DC" appearances. 

Mike was promoted to evening meteorologist in the spring of 2022 to fill the void left by longtime FOX 5 Chief Meteorologist Sue Palka. He writes regularly on fox5dc.com as well, and is the Mid-Atlantic’s "Weather Champion" for the FOX Weather Network.

When not at the station, Mike spends most of his time at his home in Columbia, MD with his golden retriever Sid. In 2016, he was voted as one of the "Top Eligible Bachelors" in Baltimore Magazine. An avid sports fan, he regularly attends local sporting events and continues to play lacrosse, hockey, and volleyball. His passions include learning about technology, history, skiing, hiking, and traveling. A nerd at heart, he loves to learn anything about absolutely everything and is passionate about sharing that knowledge with others.

The latest from Mike Thomas

BLIZZAPOINTMENT: Why snow struggled in the DC region last night

Hindsight is 20-20 is how the phrase goes, though looking back at the event from overnight in the D.C. area, the signs that things were going wrong appeared very late in the forecast period. Often called "now-casting," it became clear when the snow finally did begin to fall that this event was not going to go as planned. So what went wrong? 

Snow in DC region to kick off Presidents’ Day weekend

After a week that started with parts of the region picking up some snow on Tuesday morning, another snow event appears likely as we get ready to start the holiday weekend here in the D.C. area.