Mike Lynch is a native Minnesotan who grew up in Richfield, Minnesota in the 1960s. He attended St. Peter’s Grade School and Holy Angels High School. After two years at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities, he transferred to the University of Wisconsin in Madison, earning his B.S. degree in Meteorology in 1979. Shortly after, he was hired as a broadcast meteorologist at WCCO Radio in Minneapolis, serving listeners for over 30 years.
Throughout his career, Mike covered all kinds of extreme weather—from deadly tornadoes to record cold snaps. On February 2nd, 1996, he broadcasted live from Tower, Minnesota when the temperature dropped to 60 below zero, setting an all-time record low for the state.
Mike’s other lifelong passion since his teenage years has been astronomy. He built his first telescope when he was 15 years old. For over 40 years, Mike has been teaching classes and organizing star parties through community education programs, nature centers, and civic organizations across Minnesota and Western Wisconsin. His core mission is simple: to help people make the stars their old friends.
From 2004 to 2007, Mike authored comprehensive astronomy and stargazing guides through Voyageur Press covering Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, the Dakotas, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New England, New Jersey, The Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, and Southern Canada.
Mike also authored WCCO Minnesota Weather Watch in 2007, which was selected as a finalist in the Minnesota Book Awards. In addition to his books, Mike writes a weekly Starwatch column syndicated in the St. Paul Pioneer Press and more than two dozen newspapers nationwide.
Mike, his wife Kathy, and their two children, Angie and Shaun, live in Eagan, Minnesota.