Lowell Graduate Becomes One of School’s Few Meteorologist Alumni

Written By Justin Scott

From the halls of Lowell High School to being a prominent face in the Michigan Weather community, it’s been quite the decade for Joel Fritsma. (Photo - Justin Scott)

Justin Scott - Reporter

12 Feb 2025

There are just a few thousand meteorologists in the United States, and the community of Lowell can now boast one of them. LHS Class of 2018 graduate Joel Fritsma officially took the reins as Chief Meteorologist of Michigan online weather coverage provider Michigan Storm Chasers, which has quickly become a leader in weather reporting in the Michigan weather community.

“I initially got involved with MSC somewhat by chance. One day back in 2021, Ryan and Chandler (the current president and vice president) asked a question in our group chat we had in Twitter at the time before eventually moving over to Messenger about forming a Michigan-focused weather page since there was a lack of Michigan pages to begin with. There were some pages out there, but a lot of them didn't have a team and they were either by random people with little knowledge, not updated frequently, or sometimes both. I took a gamble and said yes, and I'm glad I did,” Fritsma told the Ledger in an exclusive interview.

George Lessens who graduated from Lowell High School in 1975, became one of the area’s most prominent meteorologists known for his time at WZZM 13. Kim Hoogewind (Class of 2003) is currently a research meteorologist with the University of Oklahoma Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies.

Despite its name, storm chasing is just a small part of what the group does. MSC is a full-service weather coverage provider with full-time and part-time staff. They had a partnership with WOOD TV 8 in 2023 and last year in 2024 began more extensive live-stream coverage. Their primary services are their 24/7 coverage they are known for, jumping on when any storm is severe no matter the time of day. Elite level forecasting, aurora coverage, and consulting to Michigan businesses like snow plow companies are also part of their day to day operations.

Fritsma grew up in Boston Township and by school of choice went to Alto Elementary and eventually Lowell Middle School and Lowell High School. It was there, that I, assisting the Lowell High School athletic department with high school sports coverage at the time, met Fritsma, then a freshman, at an away football game at Caledonia. 

While a student in high school he was able to help run the weather section of the Lowell Athletics website, took the lead in Lowell’s Red Arrow Report class as their meteorologist, and launched his own popular snow day prediction graphics. Fritsma accounted for over 600 volunteer hours with Lowell athletics under the direction of then athletic director Dee Crowley, many of which were geared toward weather graphics and forecasts.

Fritsma’s weather reports, done during the Red Arrow Report class, were used for Lowell Athletics coverage during Fritsma’s junior and senior years. Fritsma graduated in 2018. Weather reports continue on the Red Arrow Report to this day by current students.

Those weather graphics, actually done through Google Slides, PowerPoint, and Canva primarily, continuing to be a center piece for Fritsma’s weather forecasting. Google Slides are exactly where Fritsma designed many of his graphics at Lowell High School which were featured through the school’s “Lowell Red Arrows” athletics Facebook page to help add to their coverage of high school sporting events. For example, a spring sports weather graphic for a week helped fans know if there would be rain for Wednesday’s baseball game. Friday night football graphics were always popular. Fritsma still is very active with designing graphics, something he was self taught.

“I primarily help out with forecast graphics and mapping. Graduating with both a meteorology degree and Geography - GIS degree, I'm able to use both for this job. On Mondays and Thursdays, I've started writing out full forecast discussions either for the next four or six days, which are released on Patreon (for paid members). Also anytime there's a briefing or severe weather coverage that needs to be done, I have and will be making appearances as we get into the 2025 storm season. From time to time, there's also a bunch of little things that need to be done, such as post content on Facebook, maintain our messages and Discord, and create new software, such as our new streaming operations coming later this month or by the end of March. I will also be making more appearances on our TikTok page moving forward.”

Last July, I had the fortune of joining Fritsma for a storm chase on 5 July 2024 with another Lowell alumnus Jacob Chrisman. Chrisman ran navigation, me on camera, Fritsma of course, driving. Our group chased a line of storms through mid-Michigan eventually a tornadic-warned storm came up in the Lake George area in Clare County. The tornado warning was issued and we settled about three miles away where we were able to watch the tornado pass by. It was unclear to us at the time, was this a tornado? We didn’t know for sure. Images taken of the storm, one seen below, is inconclusive. It was however the same time and place the tornado was.

The tornado was rated by the NWS as an EF1 with maximum wind speeds of 95 mph, a path of 12 miles and a lifespan of 34 minutes. We chased that line of storms to the Lake Huron shoreline, but no more tornadic storms were produced.

Fritsma later said that he couldn’t be certain that what was photographed was the tornado, but it was certainly plausible.

Potential photo of the 2024 Lake George Tornado near Clare, MI

Photo by Justin Scott

While TV is the primary avenue through which weather has been consumed for decades, the growth of social media has fueled endeavors like Michigan Storm Chasers.  “Currently, the public industry of meteorology such as broadcast meteorology is very uncertain. For a while it was a dream to be on TV, but settling down in one spot is nearly impossible unless you get to be chief. Even then, news stations are usually owned by some corporation that can make changes on a whim, as we saw earlier this year with Allen Media. Otherwise, the dream has always been to find a job at a National Weather Service office locally. Even then, it's a government job, and a lot of what happens in the workplace is dictated by higher ups. At MSC, we are free to work on our own schedules with no higher ups or regulations. The freedom to jump live whenever there is severe anywhere in the state is also very nice,” Fritsma added.

Allen Media which owns stations similar (none in West Michigan) to WOOD TV-8, FOX 17, and WZZM 13 laid off local meteorologists by the dozens a couple of months ago, were met by extreme backlash across the media community, and eventually reversed course.

Michigan Storm Chasers, also abbreviated to MSC, covered every severe weather warning live in the state last year.  That included one severe thunderstorm impacting Isle Royale, where very few people were affected. That didn’t matter to the team. They want to provide the same service to every Michigander. Anytime there’s a severe storm they jump on to state of the art studios created in each of their homes. Fritsma himself has his own PC he built, four monitors, and a green screen himself. The goal? The same quality or better than a traditional tv studio.

It isn’t just those seen on the screens, the group has a team of moderators that volunteers alongside them to help with live-chat moderation and their own community on the social media app Discord. They also run their own weather-themed apparel store called Helicity.

Meteorology isn’t an easy degree to get. It’s why Joel is the lone meteorologist on staff. It’s challenging and there were times of doubt for Fritsma during his years in college. Math and physics are just two of the subjects needed to graduate. Atmospheric thermodynamics. Atmospheric modeling. Mesoscale meteorology. Calculus I-IV. Even I remember bleak January mornings in calculus IV. Fritsma has a bachelor of science in meteorology and GIS.

“The main challenges are staying motivated through the adversity of tough classes. That's really what it boils down to. Meteorology is a four-year program, but it can turn into a five or six year program very quickly. You have to be wired to understand the complexities of math and science. I was never an advanced student in high school, so I had to start from scratch. It took roughly eight attempts, or semesters, to get through calculus one, two, three, and four (four is technically linear algebra and differential equations). I also didn't make it through atmospheric thermodynamics once, so that set me back a whole year in the meteorology program. I stayed busy taking classes towards my geography GIS degree in the meantime.” Fritsma said of his time at Central Michigan University, where he still lives just off campus in Mt. Pleasant.

Below - Several of Joel’s weather graphics done for Lowell High School athletics coverage and snow day predictions during his time at LHS

While Fritsma is the lone licensed meteorologist, there’s plenty of weather experience on staff. MSC Founder Ryan Harriott out of Monroe County on the southeast side has been storm chasing and weather forecasting for over 10 years and was on the ground chasing the EF2 tornado that struck Portage last year. Vice President and Growth Director Chandler Bos out of Edwardsburg also has a decade of storm chasing under his belt including time spent chasing in tornado alley in the central plains. Other full-time members include treasurer Alex Melendez, merchandising manager Nick Visser, and content creator and designer Caleb Ivins. All staff members are integral parts of their live-streams.

Growing up enjoying weather, Fritsma often went on storm chasing trips in his youth with varying success. There were plenty of great chases including Fritsma’s first ever tornado in Indiana on a chase, 18 Jun, 2021. After five years of chasing both in and out of state, Fritsma scored three tornadoes over the course of the day including an EF-2 tornado. Plenty of chases were met with frustration though. One last year went up through the backroads of a marshy section of Clare County with few crossroads, crossroads and important part of chasing safety to be able to drive in different directions. Safety is paramount for storm chasers, most injuries coming from car accidents. You can also find yourself in parts of storms you don’t want to be in. Fritsma was caught in a storm on Hastings Rd, something he noted he learned a lot from.

Listen to our podcast with Joel from December 2023

When asked how a private company helps people compared to a public television station, Fritsma believes their flexibility helps benefit them.

“Our private company helps bridge the gaps in communication from the public and to the public. Often, new stations get severe weather reports, but they're sometimes delayed, and often they can't go live and stay live through an entire storm. We help bridge that gap by staying live from beginning to end, and hosting community forums which are accessible by the public and government entities so they can pull and place storm reports the minute they're submitted. With that extra lead time, the NWS offices can send out alerts quicker and with higher accuracy compared to a delayed report. We are also aware that like the news, the NWS offices also can and have pulled our livestreams in to hear the reports firsthand, and see all our chasers out in the field.”

The group partners with experienced area storm chasers to help provide on the ground content of not just tornadic storms, but also high wind events, severe storms, and winter weather. Some of the group’s chasers include CMU meteorology student Drew Brummel, Chris Tobias, Ben Richmond, Kristina Turchi, Cody Reynolds, Chris Mundy, Robert Forry, Nick Krietz, Landyn Schlott, Brandon Munson, Aaron Snoeyink, Tyler Maynard, Matt Homer, Joshua Isaac, Trisha Dominguez, Jason Wood, Michael Gagnon, Mike Laslo, and Morgan Kinzer. All of whom have years of experience chasing storms. Most of their staff is volunteer, with some on the payroll, but Michigan Storm Chaser’s coverage is 100% free to all Michiganders. People can pay to support the stream through subscriptions on platforms like YouTube and Patreon, and provide tips which is what streamers on platforms like Twitch do.

Michigan Storm Chasers has over 300,000 followers across various social media platforms, rivaling and even outdoing local tv stations.

Storm chasing isn’t just documenting storms and content creation. Storm chasers are often first on the scene when damaging occurring storms occur and MSC provides their staff with first aid kits and the tools needed to help in rescue and recovery efforts if needed. Chasers will also provide the National Weather Service with vital information during and after storms hit.

Michigan Storm Chasers is most active on Facebook and YouTube, but also is on Instagram, Twitter/X, BlueSky, Discord, Patreon, and TikTok. The group hopes to add more options to follow them in the future, including their own phone application. Apps take tremendous time and resources though.

“The private sector of meteorology is likely going to take over within the next 10-20 years, especially as social media becomes the new normal over TV. We were able to get started early, so we’re setting the standard of what digital meteorology should look like. AI may be an up-and-coming thing, but you'll always need human forecasters to adjust weather models and interpret the maps,” Fristma added.

MSC makes most of their money through Facebook’s content partnership program, along with subscriptions off Patreon and YouTube, along with a select few sponsors.

“I’m excited to see how 2025 goes as my first year as chief meteorologist. We're hoping to reach 100,000 on Youtube by year's end. We will also be expanding to Twitch for live broadcasting to help better cover our younger demographics who likely don't use Facebook as often, and to help expand coverage to all Michiganders, as we are aware a lot of people don't realize we exist still,” Fritsma concluded.

Joel with his first ever spotted tornado in 2021.

Justin Scott
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