One Alabama weatherman's crusade to improve tornado safety
On-air, meteorologist James Spann dispenses vital information about the weather. Off-air, he holds frequent seminars to educate the public about storms.
from the March 11, 2008 edition
Page 3 of 3
Charles Springer is one of Spann's typical viewers. He says Spann helps people understand the incomprehensible and react without fear. "I had a friend who was in Dallas during a tornado warning," Mr. Stringer says. "He was able to tell people where the tornado was because of the hook echo on the radar, explaining the inflow patterns of the storm. Someone asked him if he was a meteorologist and he said, 'No. I'm from Alabama.' All thanks to [what he had learned from] James Spann."
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Spann's passion for education is rooted in who he's dealing with – not just viewers but neighbors. He grew up in Alabama. As a child, he had an "electrifying fascination" with storms. In high school, he was sending eyewitness ham radio reports, humbled by events like the April 3, 1974, "super" tornado outbreak, which killed 350 people. "Seeing all that – people so badly hurt – changed my life," he says. "I thought, these people should have known this was coming."
He studied electrical engineering at the University of Alabama before earning a broadcast meteorology degree at Mississippi State University. He took his first TV weather job with Tuscaloosa's WCFT in 1978.
Spann is straightforward when dispensing advice. He tells people not to waste time opening windows during tornadoes to equalize air pressure. He reminds them to use a common household item – a bicycle helmet – to prevent head injuries. He is also unusually blunt. Last week, a thunderstorm spawned three tornadoes in central Alabama, killing one resident. For the first time in 11 years, Spann's team didn't provide continuous coverage. "I take the blame," he wrote on the ABC 33/40 weather blog, which gets 100,000 unique visitors a day. "We run long schedules most folks wouldn't believe, but that's no excuse for an office with four meteorologists."
Despite his hectic professional schedule, he finds time to coach Little League and teach Sunday school. As tonight's seminar draws to a close, he packs his laptop and hurries to make the 10 p.m. newscast before a 30-mile drive home. His wife and two children are waiting.
Tomorrow morning, at 4:52 a.m., he'll mull over his day before heading out the door. He's judging a biscuit bakeoff, and there's excitement in the Alabama air – he's predicting snow.
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