TOM PASTRANO

Tom's fascination with weather began when in the 1st grade. He would  draw pictures of storms and tornadoes, so much so that his teachers thought he might have a problem. By the time Tom reached the fourth grade, he began to take a deep interest in the weather. Often times before a thunderstorm, Tom's parents would have to take down from off the roof. His interest grew dramatically in the 5th grade after watching a PBS documentary on storm chasers. Ever since the 5th grade, he knew that he wanted to become a storm chaser.

Tom began his storm chasing career in 1992 while chasing storms in the San Antonio area. In 1993 Tom moved to Norman Oklahoma to pursue a degree in Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma. As you can imagine, Tom has seen a lot of storms, from the infamous 1988 Hurricane Gilbert,  to the 1999 Tornado Outbreak that affected Oklahoma City. Tom has come close to many tornadoes, coming as close as 1/4 mile to a tornado on May 3rd 1999. " It was so close, you could hear the roar".  In 1995, Tom's truck was beat by baseball sized hail in the Texas Panhandle.

Tom has been Featured on many local news affiliates, as well as CNN and National Geographic. Tom is a native Texan. He graduated from Antonian College Prep High School in San Antonio Texas. Tom Interned at KMOL TV during his high school years, where he learned a lot about TV weather. In 1995 Tom was hired as a Stormtracker for KWTV where he is currently employed. Tom earned a bachelor degree in Geography from the University of Oklahoma. When Tom is not chasing Storms, he enjoys Movies, Traveling, Cooking, Social Gatherings, Watching OU Football, and Fishing.