Joseph Dames joined the KOIN 6 news and weather team in October of 2015. He is currently the weekend evening forecaster and you can also catch him putting together weather, science and other environmental stories for the evening newscasts during the week.

Born and raised in Illinois, just miles outside of Chicago, Joseph grew up in the small community of Plainfield. Plainfield is notorious for the 1990 F5 tornado, which started Joseph’s interest in weather. Joseph stayed in the state of Illinois for his education and attended Eastern Illinois University with a concentration in broadcast meteorology.

Before his start with the KOIN team, Joseph spent time forecasting storms and winter weather in the Midwest, tracking severe weather and record breaking snow events across Indiana and Illinois. However, Joseph isn’t a stranger to the mountains and microclimates. He started his career in Colorado where he spent a lot of time in the mountain snow and covering wildfires.

You better believe he has a love for Chicago sports and, of course, that deep dish pizza. One of his fondest memories includes Michael Jordan and the untouchaBULLS taking on the Trailblazers in the early 90s. In his down time, Joseph spends his days and nights hitting the outdoors and soaking in the scenes, enjoying live music, and trying all the different restaurants Portland has to offer.

Feel free to send in weather questions, photos, or weather and environmental story ideas to Joseph.