Mike Janssen | Weather | ABC26.com | WGNO-TV

Mike Janssen

ABC26 Weathercaster

Few people can claim to have had a first week on the job quite like Mike Janssen. Mike arrived in New Orleans in mid-August of 2005 to take over as the weekend meteorologist at ABC 26. His first scheduled weekend on-air was to be August 27-28, and little did anyone know how big his debut would turn out to be.

On Sunday morning, August 28, Mike was on air when Hurricane Katrina became a category five storm with winds of 175 mph. By the time his first week on job was over he had witnessed and covered the most catastrophic natural disaster in U.S. history. Before a month had passed Mike again found himself in the middle another historic storm, Hurricane Rita.

In the days, weeks and months ahead Mike looks forward to using his reporting skills as well. He is excited to see first hand how one of the nations most colorful and exciting cities rebuilds.

Mike is a 1998 graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. After earning his Mass Communications degree at SIUC, he returned to school and received a Certificate in Broadcast Meteorology from Mississippi State University. Mike is a member of the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association. He is also a National Weather Service trained storm spotter.

Mike started his career at WSIL-TV, the ABC affiliate, in southern Illinois. There he saw all that mother nature could bring to the Midwest, from brutal winter storms to large tornadoes.

In his spare time Mike enjoys working out and exploring the outdoors. Born and raised in Illinois, Mike looks forward to milder winters when he can do more bike riding.