Retirement Won't Keep Redman From the Weather

Michael Redman says his interest in severe weather is in his blood.

Redman’s mom was 11 years old when a tornado hit her school. She managed to reach safety in the basement, but the strong winds ripped off the southwest side of the building. No one died in the incident, but the event left a lasting impact on his mom. Redman said she always had an interest in weather after that, something she passed down to her son.

On top of that, her maiden name was Warning—like tornado warning.

It seems only natural that Redman became a weather junkie. He began studying weather on his own after a tornado hit near his home when he was 8 years old.

Redman has now spent nearly a lifetime focused on understanding the weather. He spent 30 years teaching severe weather classes for the St. Louis County, teaching more than 400 classes over the years and showing people how to spot dangerous weather and how to stay safe if they are caught in the middle of it.

When Redman retired in July 2010, he decided to continue teaching these classes on his own. He now teaches a traveling weather class. He said there were more than 2,000 class participants in the county’s database in 2010. Redman guesses about 800 of those participants are regular attendees.

“That shows there’s a need,” he said.

Redman’s the first to say he’s not a meteorologist. But when the county had an overflow of interest in the weather preparedness classes and not enough meteorologists to teach them, they turned to Redman.

The county offered eight to 10 classes each spring, Redman said, with each class bringing in between 30-75 participants.

Now that Redman is on his own, he’s had a hard time reaching out to his attendee base. Advertising is expensive and he can’t afford to rent space for a class.

For now he’s relying on email, newsletters, word of mouth and the hospitality of local churches that have let him use their space for the classes.

Despite being on his own, Redman’s done a decent job reviving the classes. He held two classes last fall and is already planning more this spring.

He hosted a class recently at St. Matthias the Apostle Catholic Church.

With the Dec. 31 tornado in Fenton and Sunset Hills, the area has had its fair share of severe weather lately. Knowing that it can happen to anyone, some 20 participants wandered into the small classroom and picked up informational handouts and pamphlets near the door.

A small projector and laptop was set up on a table in the front with coils of orange and black cables running across the floor. Redman began by showing footage of tornados tearing the country, then launched into a historical account of fatal tornadoes that have hit St. Louis.

This is part of his presentation that Redman thinks separates his classes from those the county hosts.

“The Weather Service presentation is one-size-fits-all,” he said. “Mine are tailored to this area. A lot of the material is the same, but it’s presented differently.”

For the next three hours, Redman clicked through his PowerPoint presentation, showing attendees how to spot severe weather and when to call it in to the Weather Service.

By the end of the class, all attendees were considered certified storm spotters—not to be confused with storm chasers, which Redman stressed was highly dangerous and not recommended to the largely senior audience.

Redman’s next class at St. Mathais will be June 18. Redman is planning a class at St. Paul Catholic Church, in Fenton, this fall.