How Did Former Broadcast Park Meteorologist Mike Hamernik Die?

There has been the death of a TV icon, which is always sad for the news cycle. This was the case for WGN Weekend Morning News Chicago.

The beloved analyst Mike Hamernik passed away on March 10, 2021. He was 60 years old. Since then, people have been wondering: What happened to Mike?

How did Mike Hamernik Die?

Someone wrote on Mike's Twitter account that he had died. It was written by his sister Kathleen.

The tweet also said that he had been sick with lung cancer and said, “This is Kathleen, Mike's sister. I'm very sorry to say that our dear meteorologist passed away this morning from lung cancer.” He was at peace and loved being at home. Please know that he loved all of you, his Twitter following, and weather fans.

How did Mike Hamernik Die

The people who work at WGN Weekend morning will miss Mike a lot. As of 2002, he worked as a meteorologist in the Chicago area. His first job was on CLTV.

Mike became interested in weather when he was only six years old and WGN reported that a microburst had cut down a big elm tree on his family's block.

By the time he was 8, he was collecting weather maps that Harry Volkman, a scientist in Chicago, gave him.

It turned out that my family had worked for WGTV. Harry was able to give Mike the weather maps because Donald, Mike's dad, was a staff musician at WGTV for Bozo's Circus and Artists' Showcase.

Many people liked Mike's work because he was always interested in and liked the weather. This made the staff at WGTV feel even worse about losing their friend and coworker on March 13, 2021.

Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling was quoted as saying to the other meteorologist, “When I want to watch a weather show, I watch your show.”

This was shown on WGN during several tributes to Mike. Tonya Francisco, who used to be on the Morning Team, also said nice things about her ex-teammate, saying, “If Mike said [weather] was going to happen, it was going to happen.”

Tom Skilling also wrote a different tribute on Facebook that showed how much Mike had been going through in his last weeks. “I had been afraid something was very wrong because he had been coughing so hard for months,” Tom writes.

But Mike kept to himself a lot. It was never clear to anyone how bad things were getting for him with his health.

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Tom ended with a simple sentence that said how everyone must be feeling about Mike's death. “Mike Hamernik, a dear friend and coworker at WGN, will be missed.”

In all the years I've worked in this field, I haven't seen many people with Mike's work ethic. He worked hard and did all the shifts, from early morning to late at night.

Mike's sister Kathleen and all the other people he left behind will miss him very much. Friends and family at home, both new and old, wish his family the best.

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