Tony Laubach ( ; born November 20, 1980) is an American storm chaser and meteorologist. He has participated in several field research projects and is one of the

surviving Survival skills are techniques used to sustain life in any type of natural environment or built environment. These techniques are meant to provide basic necessities for human life, including water, food, and shelter. Survival skills also sup ...

members of

TWISTEX TWISTEX (a backronym for Tactical Weather-Instrumented Sampling in/near Tornadoes Experiment) was a tornado research experiment that was founded and led by Tim Samaras of Bennett, Colorado, US, that ended in the deaths of three researchers in th ...

. He has been contracted as a severe weather photojournalist for various major television networks, and has starred in several television shows, including Seasons 3 through 5 of ''Storm Chasers'' on the Discovery Channel. Laubach is a field Meteorologist and storm chaser for AccuWeather. Laubach made his debut on the network on June 7, 2021 after witnessing a tornado from their new house the day they closed. On August 9 in northern Illinois, Laubach aired the Sycamore, IL tornado live on the network in the middle of a tornado outbreak. Laubach was the weekend morning meteorologist and storm chaser for

KAKE KAKE (channel 10) is a television station in Wichita, Kansas, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Lockwood Broadcast Group. The station's studios are located on West Street in northwestern Wichita, and its transmitter is located i ...

-TV in Wichita, Kansas. He joined the team on March 19, 2018 and debuted on-air a week later on March 25. Three years later on March 25, 2021, Laubach announced on his Facebook page that he was leaving KAKE with his last day being May 2. Prior to KAKE, Laubach worked for nearly five years as a meteorologist and the "Weather Warrior" for

WSIL-TV WSIL-TV (channel 3) and KPOB-TV (channel 15) are television stations licensed respectively to Harrisburg, Illinois, and Poplar Bluff, Missouri, United States, serving as the American Broadcasting Company, ABC affiliates for Southern Illinois, So ...

in Carterville, Illinois. He worked at WSIL from July 31, 2013 until March 11, 2018. Prior to that, Laubach was the primary storm chaser and a weather producer at

KMGH KMGH-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Denver, Colorado, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Sterling-licensed independent station KCDO-TV, channel 3 (and its Denver-based translator ...

, 7News in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. At WSIL, Laubach created and produced a nine-part segment that aired every Wednesday from May 3 to July 8, 2015 called "Weather Warrior Wednesday". This weekly package detailed his storm chasing, and he produced it from the field. He did a second season of the "Weather Warrior" segment in 2016, which aired from May 4 to July 13, and featured eight packages and two narratives. In August 2016, Laubach debuted as a broadcast meteorologist, filling in to do weathercasts on weekend mornings. He was promoted to full-time weekend mornings starting on September 3, 2017. He created another storm chasing segment called "Storm Story Sunday", which featured highlights of his storm-chasing career and aired every Sunday for his tenure as the full-time weekend meteorologist. His final "Storm Story Sunday" aired on March 4, 2018 and included his official announcement that he was leaving WSIL to pursue his career in Kansas. Laubach was the contributing producer, a videographers, and featured talent in KMGH 7News's 2011 television news special, "Tracking Twisters". The special was named "Best Single Program Including News Magazine Programs" in 2011 by the Colorado Broadcast Association,http://www.coloradobroadcasters.org/files/Winners-2011/2011-Television-Winners.pdf and received a 2012 regional Emmy award from the National Television Academy Heartland Chapter for "Magazine Program/Weather Program". Laubach's images and footage have been used by networks and programs including

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 ...

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

, ''

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 ...

'',

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 ...

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 ...

, The

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney Enter ...

The Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It initi ...

The Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, who previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in Manhattan, with offices in Silver S ...

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...

, Women's Entertainment, and local media news outlets nationwide. In July 2017, ''The Scioto Post'' named Laubach as the 10th most famous person from

Pickaway County, Ohio Pickaway County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 58,539. Its county seat is Circleville, Ohio, Circleville. Its name derives from the Pekowi ban ...

, owing to his well publicized storm-chasing career.

Education

Prior to college, he graduated high school in 1999 from John F Kennedy High School in

after relocating from Ohio where he attended Circleville High School in

Circleville, Ohio Circleville is a city in Pickaway County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The city is situated along the Scioto River 25 miles (40 km) south of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The population was 13,927 at the 2020 United States census, 2 ...

. In 2016 he earned a Master's of Science in Professional Media and Media Management Studies, with a concentration in New Media and Journalism, from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois. In 2009, he earned a Bachelor's of Science in Meteorology and Technical Communications, with a minor in Mathematics and a concentration in Interactive Media, from Metropolitan State University, Denver, Colorado.

Storm chase career

Laubach's first chase was in May 1997 where he documented a small tornado near Clarksburg,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. After moving to Colorado, he began his professional career in 2002 and has since been featured on several television specials, with his video work appearing nationally across various major networks. From 2007 through 2011, Laubach was a permanent participant in the field research project

, headed up by engineer

Tim Samaras Timothy Michael Samaras (November 12, 1957 – May 31, 2013) was an American engineer and storm chaser best known for his field research on tornadoes and time on the Discovery Channel show ''Storm Chasers''. He died in the 2013 El Reno torn ...

. He was in charge of operations in a

mesonet In meteorology and climatology, a mesonet, portmanteau of mesoscale network, is a network of automated weather and, often also including environmental monitoring stations, designed to observe mesoscale meteorological phenomena and/or microclima ...

vehicle, taking measurements of RFD in

supercell A supercell is a thunderstorm characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone, a deep, persistently rotating updraft. Due to this, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms. Of the four classifications of thunderstorms (su ...

and

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

-producing storms. From 2009 through 2011, he was part featured on ''

Storm Chasers Storm chaser or stormchaser may refer to: Weather * Storm chasing, the pursuit of any severe weather condition * Storm chaser, colloquial term referring to scammers who enter areas recently afflicted by disasters offering false or shoddy servi ...

''. In 2008, Laubach took part in the filming of shows for the National Geographic Channel and Women's Entertainment, both shows airing in early/mid-2009. In 2011, he was part of the filming for the

special "Tracking Twisters", airing in July 2011. On May 24, 2011, Laubach saw his 200th career tornado in

Fairview, Oklahoma Fairview is a city in Major County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,740 at the time of the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Major County. History The first permanent settlers arrived in the area of the present town at the ti ...

. In 2012, he returned to solo chasing. On May 31, 2013, Laubach documented the largest tornado on record near

El Reno, Oklahoma El Reno is a city in and the county seat of Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 16,989, marking a change of 1.55% from 16,729, recorded in the 2010 census. The city was begun shortly after ...

. That tornado took the lives of his fellow TWISTEX teammates Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras, and Carl Young of

South Lake Tahoe, California South Lake Tahoe is the most populous incorporated city in El Dorado County, California, El Dorado County, California, United States, in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The city's population was 21,330 at the 2020 census, down from 21,403 at the 20 ...

. Laubach escaped the storm by less than a minute early in its life-cycle as it was quickly growing to its record width and was three miles south of his TWISTEX teammates when the storm struck them. On May 24, 2016, near

Dodge City, Kansas Dodge City is a city in and the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. It was named after nearby Fort Dodge, which was named in honor of Grenville Dodge. The city ...

, Laubach saw his 300th career tornado. On August 8, 2021, Laubach broke his

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

curse, documenting his first confirmed tornado in the state of his career. On August 16, 2021, Laubach chased his first tropical storm, Fred in Florida. Two weeks later on August 29, he chased his first hurricane, Category 4 Ida, in Louisiana.

Credited television appearances

*''Twister Sisters'' - Episode 6, Women's Entertainment (aired January 15, 2009) *''Disaster Labs'' - "Into the Tornado",

(aired May 14, 2009) *''

'' - Ep. 13, "Storm Catchers",

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

(aired October 18, 2009) *''Storm Chasers'' - Ep. 14, "Bigger In Texas", Discovery Channel (aired October 25, 2009) *''Storm Chasers'' - Ep. 16, "Inside The Tornado", Discovery Channel (aired November 8, 2009) *''Storm Chasers'' - Ep. 17, "Not In Kansas Anymore", Discovery Channel (aired November 15, 2009) *''Storm Chasers'' - Ep. 19, "Sean Casey At The Bat", Discovery Channel (aired November 29, 2009) *''Storm Chasers'' - Ep. 20, "EF-3 Strikes You're Out", Discovery Channel (aired November 29, 2009) *''Storm Chasers'' - Ep. 21, "What Goes Around", Discovery Channel (aired October 13, 2010) *''Storm Chasers'' - Storm Chasers 2010 Greatest Storms, Discovery Channel (aired October 14, 2010) *''Storm Chasers'' - Ep. 22, "Why We Chase", Discovery Channel (aired October 20, 2010) *''Storm Chasers'' - Ep. 24, "Dedication", Discovery Channel (aired November 3, 2010) *''Storm Chasers'' - Ep. 25, "Smoke Monster", Discovery Channel (aired November 10, 2010) *''Storm Chasers'' - Ep. 26, "Perfect Storm", Discovery Channel (aired November 17, 2010) *''Storm Chasers'' - Ep. 27, "Twilight Zone", Discovery Channel (aired November 24, 2010) *''Storm Chasers'' - Ep. 28, "Judgment Day", Discovery Channel (aired December 1, 2010) *''Storm Chasers'' - Behind The Storms, Discovery Channel (aired December 8, 2010) *"Tracking Twisters" - KMGH ABC 7News (aired July 31, 2011), also credited as photographer *''

Storm Stories ''Storm Stories'' is an American non-fiction television series that airs on The Weather Channel (TWC) and Zone Reality. It is hosted and narrated by meteorologist and storm tracker Jim Cantore. ''Storm Stories'' showcases various types of sever ...

, The Next Chapter'' - Ep. 1, "Twin Twisters",

(aired August 8, 2019) Laubach was featured in the opening credits of ''

'' in season 5, but never appeared in an episode.

Awards

*National Storm Chaser Summit, 2024 "Photo of the Year" (Akron, CO Twin Tornadoes) *National Storm Chaser Summit, 2024 "Video of the Year" (Akron, CO Multiple Tornado Sequence) *Kansas Association of Broadcasters (KAB) First Place, 2019 "Weathercast: Severe Weather Alert Day" (won with Meteorologists Jay Prater and Cat Taylor) *National Television Academy Heartland Chapter Regional Emmy Nomination, 2019 "Talent, Weather Anchor" *National Television Academy Heartland Chapter Regional Emmy Award, 2012 "Magazine Program/Weather Program" for "Tracking Twisters" (contributing producer/videographer/featured talent) *Colorado Broadcast Association, 2011 "Best Single Program Including News Magazine Programs" for "Tracking Twisters" (contributing producer/videographer/featured talent) *Weatherwise, 2012 photo contest, third prize, for "The sun sets through a supercell featuring arc clouds and a banded underside of an anvil cloud, photographed near Tryon, Nebraska, on August 17, 2011". *Weatherwise, 2012 photo contest, honorable mention, for "The sun sets at the end of a stormy day near Pratt, Kansas, on May 20, 2011" *''303 Magazine'', 2009 "Odd Job of the Year" Award

Academic publications

*2012/03/01 - Continuous Upper Air Profiling Near an EF3 Tornado *2008/10/27 - TWISTEX 2008: In situ and mobile mesonet observations of tornadoes

References

External links

Laubach's Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laubach, Tony Storm chasers American meteorologists Amateur radio people 1980 births Living people People from Oxnard, California People from Jackson County, Illinois People from Carterville, Illinois People from Circleville, Ohio