Mike Hamernik is a general assignment reporter for the WGN News.

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He has been a member of the WGN WeatherCenter team since 2005 and began his Chicago broadcast career in 2002 with CLTV.

A Chicago native, Mike’s passion for weather can be traced back to the age of six when a microburst felled many of the large elm trees on his family’s north side block in Rogers Park.

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By the time Mike was 8 years old, he began collecting and studying weather maps provided to him by Chicago weather legend Harry Volkman.

Harry, who was WGN’s chief meteorologist at the time, became aware of the youngsters keen interest through Mike’s father, Donald Hamernik, who worked at WGN as a staff musician for Bozo’s Circus and Artists’ Showcase.

Mike left Chicago to study meteorology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

It was in Madison that he landed his first forecasting position with Weather Central Incorporated.

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