ORLANDO, Florida. – Some of you have asked for more “personal” details about our talent. News 6 Chief Meteorologist Tom Sorrells brought an old photo album to work and the photos did NOT disappoint.
There is no more “Insider” than that!
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“You can’t say it’s me,” Tom said pulling a baby picture out of a photo album.
“It’s a whole life compressed into photo albums. My mother put them together for me when I was 50, I think. I think she just wanted to get those pictures out of her house,” Tom said.
Tom will be entering his 22nd year identifying the weather here in Central Florida. But he had a long career serving communities as a meteorologist in Michigan, Ohio and South Carolina.
“This photo was my publicity photo when I was 28 in Ohio. They had a lady come in to do my makeup and she put a perm in my hair so it wouldn’t touch my face,” Tom said. “I keep it in my garage and my wife the other day was like, ‘Why is it in the garage?’ I said I would need it one day, and here is that day.
Tom shared one of his most memorable moments: his first hurricane coverage at WPDE in South Carolina.
“I had never been in a hurricane before. In 1989, when I was just a boy, I had never had a real tropical experience. On September 21, 1989, Hurricane Huge ripped through Carolina South. I had no reason to foresee this storm. Young, I was way too confident, I was like, ‘I got it,'” Tom said. “The roof was shaking in the studio and I was like : ‘That was awesome.'”
Tom also covered in snow.
Tom says Central Florida has become one of his favorite places to live.
“I love it. From the weather to the people and the experience, to the ocean, to the sand,” Tom said. “Even if the TV broadcast was gone, I would still be in Central Florida.”
“I remember my very first visit to Orlando. It was 1973. My grandfather had an airflow he was carrying and took me and my mom, dad and sister to Orlando to go to Disney World and we stayed at Jellystone State Park said Tom. “That’s me in the bucket.”
And if you didn’t know, Tom is a father of daughters.
“I legitimately have three daughters, but we kind of have four. We also raised our niece,” Tom said. “Daughters are the best thing ever. Some people ask me how I felt not having a boy, and I don’t know what it is. I wouldn’t change a thing.
And Toby is the family favorite.
“Toby the Goldendoodle. He’s the reason my kids always come home,” Tom said.
Before he started his career in meteorology, Tom actually wanted to work in radio and he has the photos to prove it.
“My uncle worked at a radio station and I told him that was what I wanted to do. I worked at a radio station while I was in college. I loved putting on headphones and hearing my voice echo as I spoke,” Tom said.
And did you know Tom was a karate kid?
He shared this photo of him and famous martial artist Mike Stone.
“I got my black belt in March 1995. My moves are old and rusty now,” Tom said.
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