Ellen Bacca has been part of Storm Team 8 since the fall of 2014 and loves being back home in West Michigan. She was named Chief Meteorologist in July 2021.
Since then, she has won Emmys for Best Weathercast and Weather Anchor in Michigan, as well as Best Weathercast from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. She was selected as one of the only broadcast meteorologists in the country to participate in the National Severe Storms Laboratory Hazardous Weather Testbed study to test the next generation of tornado and severe storm warnings and is passionate about severe weather and communication. She is now the first female chief meteorologist in West Michigan.
Since joining the team, she has covered blizzards, high water levels, floods and several tornado events like the tornado outbreak of Aug. 20, 2016.
Each spring and fall, Ellen welcomes hundreds of elementary school students into a real-life TV studio for our exclusive Weather Experience. This interactive program teaches kids about all things severe weather with hands-on experiences. At the end of the program, each student gets to practice their new-found knowledge on the green screen and see what it’s like to be on TV themselves!
Ellen is from Portage, Mich. where she met and married her high school sweetheart. She has her meteorology degree from Valparaiso University and worked in the mountains of Helena, Mont. and the banks of New Bern, NC before returning home.
Ellen enjoys hiking around West Michigan and hitting up the best local breakfast joints. You might catch her at a local balloon festival with her husband Mark, who is a pilot.
You can catch Ellen at 6 p.m., 7 pm., 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. and with her latest answer to the weekly Ask Ellen series.
