ORLANDO, Fla. – WKMG-TV News 6 Chief Meteorologist Tom Sorrells is retiring.
After more than two decades of providing Central Florida with the latest weather updates, Sorrells said goodbye to News 6 viewers on Friday.
WKMG is looking to celebrate Sorrells’ long and storied career by digging into his background and recounting his memories.
Below is a Q&A with Sorrells.
Q1: How’d you get into this business?
“How’d I get into broadcasting and TV? It’s really weird; I really believe that children will always think about doing what they have seen, done or know they can do.
I was born in obscurity. I wasn’t born to bright lights, big city. I was born outside of Nashville. I grew up in an old town called Greenbrier, Tennessee. And my mom’s brother worked at a radio station in a little town called Elba, Alabama. The first time I was going to see the ocean, we stopped off in Elba. I was about seven. We stopped up there, and (my uncle) took me into the radio station that he worked at. He was part owner of a 1,000-watt AM day timer, and he put headphones on my head and had me say hello into a microphone. I could hear it.
And I got bitten by the bug there.
So he grew up wanting to do radio, and since I’d seen it done by someone that I knew, I kind of thought I could do it, too. He was killed two years later, but I never lost the knowledge that someone in my family had been on radio, too. So that became my goal. I worked toward that.
It came down to broadcasting or law school. My dad wanted me to grow up to be an attorney. I wanted to grow up to be in radio. And I got into radio when I was 18 — worked through college, thinking I was going to be a sports guy. I interned in Nashville at WSMV, and there was a weather opening in Huntsville, Alabama, and I wanted to apply for it. So I went to the weather guy and said, ‘Can you help me do a weather tape.’ I had taken meteorology and astronomy in college, and I had weather on my tape.
I did not get the gig in Huntsville, so I kept applying in a little town called Hopkinsville, Kentucky. They hired me to be a reporter but saw my tape and saw I could do weather. The news director said, ‘OK, you could be our No. 4 weather person.’ But two weeks into my job there, the weather guy got fired. The backup weather guy was a weekend anchor, didn’t want to stop doing news. And the No. 3 person was leaving. So by default, I became the main weather guy after two weeks. And from there, I never looked back.
I worked there a year and eight months. Then, I did almost four years in the Florence/Myrtle Beach, South Carolina market. Then, I went back to school at the Ohio State University while I worked at WBNS 10 TV in Columbus, Ohio. I went to school at Ohio State for three years and majored in meteorology so I could become a true meteorologist. Got my AMS seal, moved to Detroit for five years and came here in 2000. That’s my whole career in a nutshell. That’s how I got started.”
News 6 Chief Meteorologist Tom Sorrells
Q2: What brought you to WKMG-TV?
“You know, I was working for the company Graham Media. It used to be called Post-Newsweek, PNS. I got hired by Post-Newsweek in Detroit, and we moved begrudgingly.
No one from Ohio moved to Detroit. There was a hatred between the Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines — the two schools hated each other, and the two states fought a war one time over the state line. So no one really from Ohio goes, ‘Yeah! I’m going to move to Detroit!’” But I got offered a great job at WDIV. I was going to be the morning and noon guy, and I thought I’d be there a year or two.
We stayed five years.
We loved the company. Post-Newsweek was great to me. Two of my children were born there. But after five years of doing mornings, I wanted to become the ‘chief’ again. I wanted to do nights. I’ve done five years in Columbus, five years in Detroit. I’ve done a decade of mornings, and I wanted off. And so I was up, I was going to get it in Ohio, and the president of the corporation — the upcoming president, Alan Frank — said, ‘Don’t go to Ohio. Let me move you to Florida.’ And he moved me here. That’s how I got to Orlando.
And when he first said it, I was like, ‘Orlando? Can I go to Miami?’
He’s like, ‘No, no, we have our guys in Miami now.’
‘What? Can I take the station in Jacksonville?’
He’s like, ‘No, no, no, no — they’re not ready to make a change. But Orlando really needs you.’
And I’m like, ‘I don’t know...’
And then I came and looked around and went, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s beautiful!’
I called my wife and I went, ‘How come we’re not high on Orlando?’ She goes, ‘It’s not us, it’s you. If you want to go, we’re going.’ And we came. And we loved it. It’s been perfect. Now, I’ll never leave. I’ve dug in; I will never leave. My children have grown up. One’s in Boston, then Brooklyn; one’s in Princeton, New Jersey; and one is a Gator (just graduated from the University of Florida). But they all want to live away from Florida for a while, but I’m never leaving.
Even when I’m not on the air here, that’s OK. You’ll see me in the neighborhood. You’ll see me on social media. I’ll still be here.”
News 6 Chief Meteorologist Tom Sorrells
Q3: Fingers crossed — it’d be a shame to lose you from the state, too! How long have you been here?
“Almost 24 years. I’m in my 24th year, so I’ll go ahead and say 24 because I started in October (2000), and I’m leaving July 1. August, September — it’ll be some two months away from being 24 years when I walk out.”
News 6 Chief Meteorologist Tom Sorrells
Q4: What was your first day at WKMG like?
“My first day was crazy. Coming into the building, I was coming in as an outsider. Everyone thought I was from Detroit because that was my last gig at sister station WDIV. So when people say, ‘Yeah, you’re from Detroit,’ I would just let them. I didn’t want to go, ‘Actually, I’m from Greenbrier, Tennessee, because you don’t want to say, ‘Actually, I’m a small-town boy.’ You want them to think, ‘Yes, big-city tough guy.’ Let’s let them think it.
As soon as you get to know me, you kind of figure out that I’m obviously southern. Yeah, you talk to me long enough, I don’t sound overly Midwestern. There’s still some Tennessee in my voice...
But the first day, Pamela Brady was a big star, and everyone had told me that she was a big star. ‘She won’t be happy that you’re here to take her job. You guys are going to fight.’
And I’m telling you: from the moment I walked in, Pamela Brady was an angel, so easy for me to get along with. She’s sweet, she’s wonderful, she’s a very deeply spiritual person. She wasn’t mean to me at all. She was happy that I was here to help out. Glad to be giving up the 11 so she could stay home with her kids. It was wonderful.
So I would say my first day here was pensive, kind of scary, and then she made it all easy. So kudos to her! She was great. My transition from her to me was made easy for the station because of her — because of the person she is.”
News 6 Chief Meteorologist Tom Sorrells
Q5: In all this time, do you have any crazy stories you’d like to share?
“I mean, every day is different. As you know, probably the biggest thing that I’ll always be remembered for is the hurricanes.
The hurricane season of ‘04, Florida got hit by four storms in 44 days. Three of them came through Central Florida: Charlie, Francis, Jeanne. Normally, when we say, ‘Charles, Francis, Jeanne,’ we leave out Ivan, because Ivan missed Central Florida — hit the panhandle. But it was four storms in 44 days — or technically in Central Florida, three storms in 44 days — and that changed everything.
Orlando is an odd market in a way because of the recidivism, turnover rates. People move here, leave, move here, leave. I forget what the turnover rate was when we first got here. It was in the 20th percentile. Places like Columbus, Ohio and Detroit, where I’d worked before, people don’t leave for the most part. They grow up. They stay there. They watch TV all the time. But here in Orlando, there’s so much to do outside the parks. Just the lifestyle: swimming, fishing, biking, being outdoors, whatever.
People didn’t know who I was for the first four years. It was a hard market to break into. But once those hurricanes hit, I was known. It was the next day I went into the Albertsons (when there was an Albertsons), and a 16-year-old clerk looked at me and went, ‘Hey, Viper Man!’ Because we used VIPIR Radar during a hurricane.
So immediately, even teenagers knew who you were because the coverage had been so intense and so long, and that season cemented me. Without that, I don’t know if I’d have survived. I don’t know if I’d still be here. But that season changed everything.
News 6 Chief Meteorologist Tom Sorrells
Q6: Now I’ve got to ask. Do you still go by that name? ‘Viper Man?’
“(Laughs) No, it was funny. We did VIPIR radar; it was one of our call signs for the longest time. VIPIR eventually became TITAN radar. We got rid of VIPIR to TITAN, now we have the same radar again. The live weather radar you see on News 6 is from the Baron company, but we no longer call it VIPIR.”
News 6 Chief Meteorologist Tom Sorrells
Q7: You mentioned your wife and kids. What was it like trying to build a family while building your career?
“You know what? It just happened along the way. I never intended to be married or have children, really... No, I didn’t think I would live long. How stupid is that?
(I’d had) fatalistic thoughts and my uncle had been killed, and I was in broadcasting, and I thought that I was gonna be more like him — that I would check out early. My wife still tells people that when she met me, I was like, ‘It’s OK, I won’t be here long. I’ll be gone by the time I’m 30. Well, then 30 kind of came and went (laughs). It just keeps going on. I didn’t expect to live as long, which I think was goofy now. It was a young, fatalistic thought that I had, a way of thinking.
And when we first got married, I remember telling Mitra, ‘I don’t want kids. I just want dogs.’ (interviewer laughs) ...I know.
And then, we started having the first child, and when I heard her heartbeat, that changed everything. It’s like that Grinch thing that your heart grows three times in a day. Boom, boom, boom. That was me. But I heard my kid’s heartbeat during the sonogram. I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s my child’s heart.’ And now I wish I had 10 kids. I seriously wish I had 10.
Having a family, of course, is weird when you’re on TV in the morning and you’re gone all morning, but we didn’t start having children ‘til I was a morning (meteorologist). I got married. I had kids as a morning guy. All credit for the family goes to my wife. When you say, ‘How was it?’ you’d have to ask her. I mean, I try to be a hands-on dad, but I give it all to her. The kids have turned out great. They’re all Uber intelligent, very healthy, super smart, super friendly, loving people. And that’s mostly credit to them. I give her credit for that.
News 6 Chief Meteorologist Tom Sorrells
Q8: How did they take the news that you’re retiring?
“It’s really weird. They took it great. They’re all about it. They’re like, ‘Dad, come on, get out early. An early retirement is perfect for you. People who retire early, dad, live longer. People who retire early are happier late in life.’
I’m like, ‘But guys, I’ve worked really hard to get here, and I only had 24 years.’
‘Dad, 24 years at the top is a lot. Get out.’
And my wife has prayed for years now: ‘Get off the 11.’ She’s like, ‘You know, you’re getting older, let’s get somebody else on the 11.’ I’m like, ‘No, it’s my favorite show!’ (laughs) And so for her, it’s like a dream come true. I’m off the 11. Being off the 11 is great for her. And then, the kids are all about it. They’re so excited that I’m not going to be driving home at midnight. Everybody’s all about it.
I took it harder than anyone (laughs), and I was the one that searched my soul. I finally decided to happily retire.”
News 6 Chief Meteorologist Tom Sorrells
Q9: What’s the plan for your last day here?
“I will wrap up my career broadcasting on June 28 at 6 p.m. The company’s having a party for everyone who’s leaving. I’ll go to the company party — the ‘Class of ‘24,’ as they’re calling us — and not come back to the (11 p.m. newscast). I won’t be in the 6:30 that night or the 11. I’m going to be gone. That’s the plan.
6 o’clock to 6:30, say goodbye, have an emotional moment there, hopefully not cry, and clean out my locker on July 1.
News 6 Chief Meteorologist Tom Sorrells
Q10: So what are the next steps for you? There’s no way this is the end of your rope!
“No, I’m not getting to the end of my rope at all. I just have a chance here to secure my family’s future with an early retirement...
I’m going to take this opportunity the company’s doing for me. I’m going to go, and I want to try to be bored for a while. I’m not going to wear a suit and tie. Five days a week, I won’t be working past midnight. I won’t be getting to bed at 1 a.m. five days a week. I’m going to try to find my center.
I’ll still do my hobbies: I’ll ride my motorcycle, I’ll play tennis, I’ll work out more. I’ll see what pops up. I gravitate toward communication. We’ll see if that’s a thing, or if I’m truly just going to lay low. I don’t know!
I told you one of my children lives in Brooklyn. I threatened her: ‘I’m going to move to Brooklyn to try to be an actor.’ Why can’t I be a bit actor on a CBS show? Why can’t I make that?
I really don’t know what lies ahead, but I’m gonna take it as it comes.
News 6 Chief Meteorologist Tom Sorrells
If you would like to wish Tom well, you can leave a comment below or send a note to memories@wkmg.com.
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