Tony Laubach

Laubach is the weekend morning meteorologist and storm chaser for KAKE-TV in Wichita, Kansas. He joined the team on March 19, 2018 and debuted on-air on March 25 after working for nearly five years as a meteorologist and the "Weather Warrior" for WSIL-TV in Carterville, Illinois. He worked at WSIL from July 31, 2013 until March 11, 2018. Prior to that, Laubach was the primary storm chaser and a weather producer at KMGH, 7News in Denver, Colorado.

In July 2017, The Scioto Post named Laubach as the 10th most famous person from Pickaway County, Ohio, owing to his well publicized storm-chasing career.

In 2016 he earned a Master's of Science in Professional Media and Media Management Studies, with a concentration in New Media and Journalism, from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois. In 2009, he earned a Bachelor's of Science in Meteorology and Technical Communications, with a minor in Mathematics and a concentration in Interactive Media, from Metropolitan State University, Denver, Colorado.

On May 24, 2016, near Dodge City, Kansas, Laubach saw his 300th career tornado.

At WSIL, Laubach created and produced a nine-part segment that aired every Wednesday from May 3 to July 8, 2015 called "Weather Warrior Wednesday". This weekly package detailed his storm chasing, and he produced it from the field. He did a second season of the "Weather Warrior" segment in 2016, which aired from May 4 to July 13, and featured eight packages and two narratives. In August 2016, Laubach debuted as a broadcast meteorologist, filling in to do weathercasts on weekend mornings. He was promoted to full-time weekend mornings starting on September 3, 2017. He created another storm chasing segment called "Storm Story Sunday", which featured highlights of his storm-chasing career and aired every Sunday for his tenure as the full-time weekend meteorologist. His final "Storm Story Sunday" aired on March 4, 2018 and included his official announcement that he was leaving WSIL to pursue his career in Kansas.

On May 31, 2013, Laubach documented the largest tornado on record near El Reno, Oklahoma. That tornado took the lives of his fellow TWISTEX teammates Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras, and Carl Young of South Lake Tahoe, California. Laubach escaped the storm by less than a minute early in its life-cycle as it was quickly growing to its record width and was three miles south of his TWISTEX teammates when the storm struck them.

Laubach was the contributing producer, a videographers, and featured talent in KMGH 7News's 2011 television news special, "Tracking Twisters". The special was named "Best Single Program Including News Magazine Programs" in 2011 by the Colorado Broadcast Association, and received a 2012 regional Emmy award from the National Television Academy Heartland Chapter for "Magazine Program/Weather Program".

On May 24, 2011, Laubach saw his 200th career tornado in Fairview, Oklahoma.

In 2008, Laubach took part in the filming of shows for the National Geographic Channel and Women's Entertainment, both shows airing in early/mid-2009. In 2011, he was part of the filming for the KMGH special "Tracking Twisters", airing in July 2011.

From 2007 through 2011, Laubach was a permanent participant in the field research project TWISTEX, headed up by engineer Tim Samaras. He was in charge of operations in a mesonet vehicle, taking measurements of RFD in supercell and tornado-producing storms. From 2009 through 2011, he was part featured on Storm Chasers.

Prior to college, he graduated high school in 1999 from John F Kennedy High School in Denver, Colorado after relocating from Ohio where he attended Circleville High School in Circleville, Ohio.

Laubach's first chase was in May 1997 where he documented a small tornado near Clarksburg, Ohio. After moving to Colorado, he began his professional career in 2002 and has since been featured on several television specials, with his video work appearing nationally across various major networks.