Sean Bailey remembers that whenever a storm rolled through, his parents would have to pry him away from the window. Growing up in the
Midwest, this happened all too often.
Sean has loved weather since he was in 3
rd grade, but the sign that he needed to become a meteorologist really came together after a tornado went through his hometown of
Monee, Illinois in June 2008. Coincidentally, this happened only a couple days before student orientation at
Valparaiso University in
Indiana, where he planned on studying meteorology.
Sean recently graduated from Valparaiso University in May 2012. While studying at Valparaiso University, Sean was very active in the Meteorology department. He served as the weather director at Valpo’s student run television station, VUTV, and as a co-host for their weekly weather talk show, The Cold Front. He also served as the president of the Northwest Indiana chapter of the American Meteorological Society and hosted the 10th annual Great Lakes meteorology conference. Sean is a member of the National Weather Association and the meteorology honors society, Chi Epsilon Pi. Sean was also a member of the Valparaiso University Storm Intercept Team and has chased numerous storms both in the Midwest and the Great Plains. He has seen five tornadoes, but is still deathly afraid of lightning.
Sean also has worked with some of the best broadcast meteorologists in the Midwest, having interned with Ginger Zee at NBC5 Chicago, the WOOD TV8 Storm Team in Grand Rapids, MI, and WGN-TV with Tom Skilling. All three internships have given him a great foundation, one that he says he will continue to expand on as he starts his broadcasting career here at WETM.
When Sean isn’t in the Weather Center, he is probably shooting pool, blasting country music in his car, or rooting for the Chicago White Sox.
You can follow Sean on Facebook and Twitter by clicking below.
