Meteorologist Mish Michaels Husband, Family, Suicide, Cause of Death, Obituary, Weather Channel
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Mish Michaels Biography – Mish Michaels Wiki
Mish Michaels Atamian was an American broadcast meteorologist, environmental reporter, author and entreprenuer. Mish started her career at WMUR in New Hampshire and moved to Boston, where she did stints with WHDH-TV and WBZ-TV. She also worked at The Weather Channel. She lived in Wellesley.
When Mish was in kindergarten, an F2 tornado ripped through her apartment complex just outside of Baltimore, Maryland. It is her earliest childhood memory and she’s been searching the skies ever since! Her weather coverage has taken television viewers on a tornado chase in Oklahoma, on a flight into Hurricane Isabel and to the top of Mount Washington in mid-winter. Besides her field coverage of storms, for many years Mish was the only reporter in Boston dedicated to covering stories related to weather and climate change. Additionally, her work for The Weather Channel show Atmospheres spanned the globe from air pollution studies in the Swiss Alps to ice climbing in Calgary.
Mish worked for WBZ (CBS) from 2001 to 2009. Prior to that, she worked for The Weather Channel (TWC) as co-host of Atmospheres along with Jim Cantore. She began her career in Boston with WHDH (NBC) back in 1992 working as weekend meteorologist. She credits her T-STORM license plates for landing her the job at such a young age. During that time, she was twice named “Boston’s Best Meteorologist” by the Improper Bostonian.
Her first job after graduation was as weekend meteorologist/ environmental reporter for WMUR in Manchester, New Hampshire. Mish was a 2006 recipient of a Metcalf Fellowship presented by the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting. She was also awarded a science journalism fellowship to study at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod in 2004. The fellowship allowed her to investigate various weather related topics including climate change and ocean/atmospheric coupling, according to her LinkedIn profile.
In January 2017, Mish was hired as a science reporter for the WGBH News show “Greater Boston.” Two weeks in, in February 2017, tormer WBZ-TV meteorologist was fired after questions were raised about her anti-vaccine views. After Jim Braude, host of “Greater Boston,” was alerted to Michaels’ past statements linking vaccines and autism, he raised concerns about Michaels with WGBH News GM Phil Redo and “Greater Boston” executive producer Bob Dumas. Mish was then notified that she would not be working for WGBH News after all.
“I am saddened by the sudden end of my position as science reporter at WGBH. I worked tirelessly for more than two decades as a broadcast meteorologist, storm chaser, and science reporter. I have always taken my job seriously and reported without bias. I was eager to return to that role after 8 years of exclusively raising my daughters,” Mish wrote in an e-mail. “Unfortunately, my personal beliefs as a private citizen have been positioned inaccurately. I have never claimed that I don’t believe in vaccines. I am pro-safe and effective vaccines and pro scientific discovery. As a journalist, I strive to ask hard questions. Scientific consensus does not equal complacency. It is a challenge to scientists to verify the science or push it forward.”
At issue are comments Michaels made before the Massachusetts Legislature in 2011 on behalf of a bill to add parental choice to the list of reasons children without immunizations may attend school, according to The Boston Globe.
Mish told lawmakers in 2011 that she and her husband have a family member who “contracted leukemia after exposure to vaccines and pesticides.” When she became pregnant in 2006, she said, she began to “avidly research vaccine safety” and pitched stories to her bosses at WBZ-TV about “vaccine-damaged children.”
“Up to that point, we believed what the media told us, that all vaccines were safe and effective,” Mish told lawmakers. “What I was told time and time again was that there is no story, that the science is settled, that there’s no reason to present stories of this nature on TV because simply these are fringe stories. This was not representing the masses. To me, this was surprising because I thought the media was supposed to be the voice of the people, and clearly at that point, in my newsroom, it was not acting as the voice of the people.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no link between vaccines and autism.
Mish Michaels Age
Meteorologist Mish Michaels was born in Calcutta, India with the given name Anuradha meaning “one who does good for others”. She died in March 2022. She was 53 years old.
Mish Michaels Husband
Was meteorologist Mish Michaels married? She was married to her husband Wes Atamian. Wes is the owner of Home Market Foods based in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States.
Mish Michaels Family
Mish and her husband Wes Atamian have a daughter named Nalina.
Mish Michaels Death
Meteorologist Mish Michaels died at the age of 53, according to a family statement.
“It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of our beloved Mish Michaels. Our family is devastated by her loss. She was a devoted mother, wife, daughter, auntie, friend and stellar equestrian, as well as an award-winning broadcast meteorologist and environmental reporter,” the family’s spokeswoman said.
“Mish had the ability to brighten up every room she entered. Her professional success was monumental, but so was her commitment to helping others through her philanthropic work. We are asking that our family’s privacy be respected during this difficult time. Thank you for your love and support. Funeral arrangements will be announced.”
WBZ-TV paid tribute to Michaels in a post, writing, “We are incredibly sad to report the loss of a member of our WBZ family. Mish Michaels, who was part of our weather team for 7 years, has passed away.
“Mish was a friendly, reliable, curious meteorologist who loved science. She began forecasting weather in the 1990s and joined us here at WBZ in 2001. Mish chased tornadoes, flew into hurricanes, and brightened our lives – always sharing her enthusiasm for science and weather.
“To us, she was a friend. But Mish was so much more. In a statement posted on Facebook, Mish’s husband called her a devoted mother, wife, daughter, auntie, friend, and stellar equestrian.
“Mish had the ability to brighten up every room she entered, and we at WBZ are sending her family our love.”
Meteorologist Mish Michaels Cause of Death
Meteorologist Mish Michaels’ cause of death was not revealed.
Mish Michaels Suicide
Did Mish Michaels die by suicide? Details about her death have not been made public.
Mish Michaels Obituary
An obituary for meteorologist Mish Michaels is being updated.