Trinity Woods-Sunday Spirit Series: Bart Adrian-“Following God’s Compass on My Journey”

Our 2025 Sunday Spirit Series theme is Fueled by Faith: how faith directs our life choices.

Bart Adrian has been fascinated with the weather since his boyhood in the Chicago area. He majored in engineering science (applied mathematics) at Northwestern University and then came to Wisconsin where he completed his M.S. (1981) in meteorology at UW-Madison.

In Madison, Bart became very interested in teaching and in youth ministry. After a one-year stint as a forecaster and occasional on-air meteorologist at WKOW-TV in Madison, he came to Milwaukee in 1982, joining the weather team at WITI-TV (FOX 6). His Milwaukee TV career lasted 28 years, but teaching was never forgotten. During his years at FOX 6, Bart taught meteorology to UW-Milwaukee undergraduates, and to elementary school students in the UWM “College for Kids” program. He also worked on certification as a high school earth science and math teacher, and gave literally hundreds of talks to elementary, middle school and high school students.

In 1991 Bart was honored by the Archbishop of Milwaukee as the first ever recipient of a “Vatican II Award” for service in communication.  At the close of his TV career in 2010, he was recognized with a Public Service Award by the National Weather Service. And in 2015 he was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle.

Currently Bart teaches meteorology and mathematics at UW-Milwaukee. He also works part-time as a contract weather observer for the FAA at Milwaukee’s airport and serves as President of the Greater Milwaukee Chapter of the American Meteorological Society. He remains involved in outreach programs for teenagers, and loves to encourage the study of history, science and mathematics. Above all, Bart will tell you that his most important roles in life are those of husband (to his wife Terri) and father (to their four sons).