ABC13's David Tillman saw an F-4 tornado unfold on TV and knew he wanted to be a meteorologist

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- ABC13 Chief Forecaster David Tillman is receiving recognition for being part of just 2% of Black meteorologists across the country.

While the field is growing for Black people, there's still work to do. The National Association of Black Journalists found there were 126 Black meteorologists employed by TV stations in 2023.

Tillman said he knew there was a path for him because of the pioneering Black men and woman he saw forecasting the weather on TV when he was growing up in St. Louis.

"The first one was Diane White, and I didn't find this out until about 15 years ago, she was actually the first African American person to present the weather on television," Tillman said.

White was also pioneering as an African American model in department stores.

The second person Tillman found inspiration from was Bryan Busby, who was doing the weather at WGN Chicago at the time.

"More of us need to be in places where people can see us," Tillman said. "Back when I started, I was one of 18 African Americans presenting the weather on television. That was 30 years ago, so the more of us that get out there and expose this career to African American kids, more will be interested in it and will be able to do it."

Of the 4,470 meteorologists employed in the United States, 76.3% are men and 73.9% of employed meteorologists are white, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But what really sealed the deal for him? It was watching an F-4 tornado unfold live on television in April 1979.

Today at ABC13, Tillman is a storm chaser, heading toward the danger to study it so he and the team can be informed to help keep us safe.

Tillman came to ABC13 from Memphis nearly 25 years ago and didn't always think he'd be on television. Yet for his award-winning work, the Houston Association of Black Journalists named him a 2024 Media Powerhouse.

He said that despite limited representation of Black people in meteorology when he started out, he's hopeful for the future. Tillman wants people to understand that television isn't the only path meteorology has.

"You can go work for airlines, you can work for oil companies, a private industry. You can do different things with a degree in meteorology," he said.

Aside from having the weather down to a science, Tillman is also a huge basketball fan and worked in the automotive industry before his TV career took off.