George Lessens

About George Lessens

George Lessens began his career at WZZM 13 in 1980 as weekend meteorologist. From 1985 through 1991, he anchored weekday morning weathercasts before returning to the 6:00 PM and 11:00 PM weekend newscasts. George became WZZM 13\'s Chief Meteorologist in July 2001. In October, 2007, he became the longest-tenured meteorologist at any single West Michigan TV station: 26 years, 11 months. George has been passionate about weather ever since the 1965 Palm Sunday tornadoes hit West Michigan. He grew up in Lowell, Michigan, and formed a weather club as a youth to scan the skies for storms and tornadoes. Although he has never seen a tornado, he has been inside the damage paths of many of these storms. In the early morning hours of his 21st birthday, a small tornado touched down in his hometown. George heard the storm coming and alerted his family members. This storm destroyed the Lowell Showboat, toppled a church steeple, and caused considerable damage to the surrounding community. He rode out a \"derecho\" windstorm during the July 4, 1991 holiday weekend in a van parked under a highway bridge overpass! Another \"derecho\" hit West Michigan on May 31st, 1998, and this time he waited out the storm in the WZZM 13 studios, co-anchoring nearly 12 hours of continuous severe weather coverage. My goal is to set the highest standard for professional, scientific, and most accurate weather forecasts to my customers. Specialties: Severe and synoptic weather, computers, graphics

Experience

1. Chief Meteorologist

   13 On Your Side

   Nov 1980 — Present · Grand Rapids, MI, US

   Providing West Michigan\'s proven, most-accurate forecast for over 40 years.

Education

• Penn State University

  B.S., Meteorology

  1977 — 1980

• Grand Rapids Community College

  A.S., Chemistry

  1975 — 1977