Vanessa Bayer’s Dawn Lazarus sketch revisited as 2026 winter storms approach

Nbc reports that Vanessa Bayer’s Weekend Update character Dawn Lazarus — a cheery, tongue-tied weatherwoman — is being revisited as a few big storms approach the U.S. in 2026.

Bayer debuted Dawn at the end of Season 42, first appearing on May 6, 2017, and returning for the season finale on May 20, 2017; she also made a surprise cameo on March 11, 2018. The sketch includes intentionally mangled safety tips — for example, "First off, be sure to keep it safety," and "if you gotta go car on that icy road, slowing it right down will be that big papa deal, mmkay?" — and Bayer told E! News that she and writer Jeremy Beiler originally wrote the character into a sketch and tried it in different formats before placing her on Update.

You can watch Saturday Night Live Saturdays at 11:30/10:30c and the next day on Peacock; the Dawn Lazarus winter-storm sketch from Season 43, Episode 15 and all seasons of SNL are available on Peacock.

Key Topics

Culture, Vanessa Bayer, Dawn Lazarus, Saturday Night Live, Jeremy Beiler, Winter Storms