Matt is a hometown boy. He was born and raised in Jefferson, out in the heart of the Northeast Ohio snowbelt of Ashtabula County. He also has a meteorology degree from The Ohio State University. It doesn't get much more Buckeye than that! He can track his interest in weather back to when he was just 3 years old.
"We got cable TV and I apparently would watch the Weather Channel for hours. While most kids were watching cartoons, I was staring at the radar and satellite," Matt said.
His love for weather continued to grow with each lake effect snow event and summer thunderstorm. He says he's been observing and studying Northeast Ohio weather for more than 30 years!
His television career actually started in Chicago where he spent 6 years as the Chief Meteorologist at WYIN, the PBS affiliate. He then traded in the cold Chicago winter for the bright, sunny South where he spent three years as the Chief Meteorologist at WLTZ, the NBC affiliate in Columbus, Georgia. He gained valuable severe weather experience forecasting in the Deep South.
"We had more than 60 tornadoes in my viewing area during my tenure, and I'm proud to say we had no injuries or loss of life through those events. My priority is keeping families safe during severe weather, and we did that through wall-to-wall tornado coverage on TV and on Facebook Live."
Matt and his family feel so blessed to finally be back home in Cleveland.
"This is truly the dream. I made forecasts on the chalkboard for my teachers in school and now those same teachers and mentors can catch my forecast on TV. It's surreal."
When Matt's not forecasting the weather, you can find him out running or chugging coffee at a local coffee shop. He's also a proud husband and father of three little ones, Emerson, River, and Wyatt.
You can catch Matt's forecasts Monday-Friday at 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.
