Christmas Miracle?

With 30 preliminary reports of tornadoes, this will likely become the worst tornado outbreak ever recorded on Christmas Day. This map shows every area that was threatened by tornadoes today. The National Weather Service remained ahead of the storm and accurate forecasts by the Storm Prediction Center and local TV Meteorologists saved lives today.

Other than two people killed in Texas and Louisiana earlier, no fatalities were reported due to today’s tornadoes. However, there are many areas that were hit by tornadoes…and some injuries. Meteorologists with the National Weather Service will be surveying areas tomorrow in order to classify the strength of the tornadoes. -Eric

Posted under tornado

This post was written by Eric Sorensen on December 25, 2012

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2013 is a special year for Chief Meteorologist Eric Sorensen as he celebrates working at WREX for a decade! From 1999-2003 he worked as a Meteorologist in East Texas at KTRE and KLTV. Eric was born and raised in Rockford, attending St. Edward's Grade School, Boylan High School, and Northern Illinois University. In June 2008 he received the prestigious Silver Dome Award for 'Best TV weathercast' from the Illinois Broadcasters Association. His parents live in Belvidere and are viewers every night. He has an older brother who lives in the western suburbs and a sister in Southern Wisconsin. He's happy to share his Rockford home with the official 13News Weather Lab (a 12 year old black lab named Theo).

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Meteorologist Greg Bobos comes to Rockford via WYIN in Merrillville, Indiana. He is a graduate of Indiana University and had internships at WLS-TV in Chicago and WRTV in Indianapolis. He is originally from Dyer, Indiana. Greg didn't always know weather was the job for him. "I grew up wanting to be an astronaut because I was fascinated by the unknown. As I got older my interests turned toward the weather for the same reason, the thrill of the unknown and ever changing." Greg is a movie buff as well as a television junkie. He's also good on the drums and has been in various bands during his high school and college careers.

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Meteorologist Joe Astolfi was born and raised in Sandusky, Ohio, home to the world famous Cedar Point Amusement Park. As a child, Joe would always flip through the television stations to catch all the different weather forecasts; his favorite meteorologist is Dick Goddard, Cleveland’s Tom Skilling. Joe moved to Illinois to attend Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology and Geographic Information Systems certificate from NIU in 2009. Ever since, he has lived in the Rockford area and is thrilled to be able to forecast the weather for northern Illinois. In his free time, Joe enjoys outdoor photography, walking along one of the Rockford region's many nature trails, anything geography or weather related, and of course visiting friends and family. His favorite places to relax and take in the natural scenery include Sinnissippi Park and Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve. He enjoys visiting museums. Chicago’s Field Museum and Rockford’s Burpee Museum of Natural History are his favorites.