Michigan Meteorologists Discuss Severe Weather Coverage During NCAA Tournament Game

It was likely a no-win situation for many TV meteorologists as a violent thunderstorm complex blew across Michigan during the final week of March in 2025.

The storms would spawn 4 confirmed tornados as well as vicious straight line winds up to 96 miles per hour. They were storms that both took lives and caused property damage. And the occurred at the same time Michigan State was playing in the Elite 8 round of the NCAA college basketball tournament.

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So what's the call for a TV station - particularly CBS affiliates who carry these games - to continue to show the game or switch to storm coverage mode?

It's a no-win scenario as basketball fans would have no other outlet to view their team in a vital lose-and-go-home tournament. Balance that against a broadcast outlet's duty to serve the community to which it's licensed.

No matter what choice is made, a portion of their viewing audience will be outraged.

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The stations needing to make that difficult choice were the CBS affiliates around the state, WWMT in Kalamazoo/Grand Rapids, WLNS in Lansing, WNEM in Flint/Saginaw and WWJ in Detroit.

TV Meteorologists Debate Weather Vs Sports Coverage during Severe Storms

Credit CBS Detroit chief Ahmad Bajjey and WNEM chief Chris Easlick who both took to social media to discuss openly the debates between sticking with the MSU game or taking the main channel to wall-to-wall weather.

Easlick from the Flint/Saginaw station shared that they did a split-screen approach that kept the game on and also allowed for weather coverage. Because of that set-up, the audio of the game was muted and the 'score bug' (industry term for the on-screen ticker that tracks the score, gametime and other stats) was obscured.

He shared the disheartening fact that they did receive negative feedback on social media:

This is not about ego or loving their own voice. This is not about fame or having their moment. I can assure you the hateful and disrespectful messages that were sent in on social media, email, etc. are not worth any ego boost that some think is at play in these situations.

Read his full statement here.

For Bajjey from CBS Detroit, he writes in part:

I would like to address the elephant in the room.

Our primary severe risk exists while the MSU game is on.

Let me begin by saying I understand how big of a deal that is.

Now, let me also give you our plan just in case we need to cover larger severe or tornadic storms.

We'll be covering severe storms on our stream. In the event of a tornado issue, we would be on CBS.

Sorry coverage was overkill. Issue the warning, people can seek shelter, go back to the game. Didn’t need the lesson in meteorology.

The severe weather is more important than a basketball game. If they get mad that you had to cut in, too bad. To hell with them if they get mad.

If the storms are bearing down on your, it's vital information. If they're affecting somewhere else in a TV station's service area, it's useless information taking you away from the program you've chosen to watch.

What's the correct answer? There isn't one. The choice broadcasters make will always be scrutinized and it's impossible to please everyone. Each of these TV stations provided mirrored weather coverage on social media channels but that same quick mirroring is not available for a national sports telecast.

Either way, there's no justification for personal attacks on meteorologists social media profiles based on the jobs they're asked to do.