Not many around like him anymore. I'm not from Alabama but I've watched the weather videos on YT and thought they were outstanding. Seems in the last 5 years, Alabama has had an above normal incidence of tornados.
He has so much knowledge and insight. I agree, people become complacent after getting too many warnings where nothing happens and then ignore or discount the warnings when it is actually a life threatening event like April 27th was. Too often people that were affected by a tornado later say that they never heard the sirens. They are an outdated way of warning people and cannot be heard in many places. Weather radios are a much better way of getting those important alerts and warnings. I could listen to him speak for hours. He expresses a lot of interesting facts.
I've never been to Alabama and I've never heard of this guy until today, but holy cow, I am so impressed. I am so glad you locals have such a professional, caring, passionate man working to keep you all as safe as possible.
Contrary to popular belief, Spann's suspenders do not hold up his pants. They are in fact incredibly powerful hoop antennas, with the tie acting as waveguide. Normally he keeps them muffled at a fraction of their power output (out of respect for his viewers' fragile psyches and ability to sleep soundly at night). However, in emergencies, he can shed the cover, amplify his output 500% and become a powerful tactical-level combat coordination unit, interfacing directly with the NEXRAD via his Apple-made machine/man interface. Sadly, each use of this power shortens his natural lifespan. Scientists believe the exertions of April 27th have left him unlikely to live past the age of 116. :-(
I'm Canadian and I live in a part of the country that experiences practically no tornadoes. However, I have learned an awful lot from James Spann by watching the videos of his storm coverage. It really is second to none.
I live in AL and grew up with James Spann being my weatherman. I thought he was just another met. Then I moved around to a few different areas and realized that Spann is one of the best in the country as far as on screen meteorologist go. James is an absolute legend. Storm of the century in '93 to the 4/27/11 tornado outbreak...James Spann got me through both and every other severe weather event while I've lived in AL.
I've lived in AL all my life. I grew up with Spann. He was the MC for years at our Demopolis Pageants. I was in 8th grade when i took the crown and I think my interview with Spann and his commentary contributed to my win. He will always be the GOAT.
i absolutely love this man. there is definitely a method to his madness. he speaks with purpose and over the years Ive learned that if he says it, its happening and you need to move 5 mins ago. here in birmingham we have a process... when James Spann cuts into regularly scheduled program start listening, when the jacket comes off get ready to move, when those suspenders tighten up and that bald head starts shinning you need to be in your safe place... James Spann is a meteorological icon and god forbid anything happen to him no one will ever be able to replace his passion, accuracy and dedication to this city. i watched his broadcast 4/27/11 and felt the intensity in his voice as that EF4 tore across Tuscaloosa and headed straight down I59 towards my area...he saved my life and my family's.
Again, same here. But we're in Wisconsin, so we would only need his expertise maybe 6-10 times a year (depending on where you are in the state) for 1-2 months per year.
I consider James Spann a National Hero,how many people agree with me? I have friends who live near Anniston,in Ashland,AL and I hope and pray that they weren’t affected by these tornadoes that day. I hope that they were safe. I would like to know how many people feel that there should be a national holiday named after James Spann. It should be called, “The National James Spann Holiday-“ April 27th,2011-The Day which all Alabama residents will forever remember. I consider you James “The National Meteorologist,-the life saver” . The Unsung Hero
True. He was given very accurate predictions on April 26th. No one should have been surprised by the events the next day. But as he mentioned, some people did the right thing but still did not survive.
petdogdfw oh yeah I completely agree!!! My heart will forever go out to those families who lost their lives and yeah James the people of Alabama will forever be grateful to you.
James Spann and Gary England are legends in their respective areas for helping to keep people informed and for them to stay safe in horrific weather conditions. God bless them.
This is by far the best piece of weather information i've ever watched. I live in the traditional tornado alley (Kansas) and while we have some great weather personalities here, this man is something special. This should really be something national for all people affected by tornado's to see. And I mean on television for those that dont use youtube. You folks in Alabama should feel very fortunate to have a man like this looking out for you when it comes to the weather.
We have two. Jason Simpson was forecasting that day with spann. Jason was by himself for hours that morning when the tornadoes started hitting. We had five deaths at that time and my county was severely damaged. Mr Simpson received word that his family home had been hit and suffered heavy damage and he never let on that he didn’t know If his family was dead or alive. Mr Simpson is now in Huntsville Alabama giving the same great weather reports as James spann
Jan Blackman Yes. Like Jason Simpson as well. Really like and respect James Spann. Talked with him and the weather team (Charles Daniel and Meaghan Thomas have since left) when they came to JSU spring 2019, and he’s as fun loving as he is on air. Jason Simpson has really shown the folks in Huntsville the knowledge Spann taught him.
This is my first time listening to James Spann at length, and I now understand why he is so well regarded in his profession. He is a great story teller. He speaks very well and really holds your attention with the way he delivers his message. I bet he would be a great narrator. He definitely has the voice for it and he is very descriptive.
You can see and hear the passion in this man when he speaks about this... I'd bet just about everything he said in this piece came off the top of his head and was unrehearsed ... and it was spot on
James Spann is an absolute legend. He takes his position as chief Meteorologist seriously when the viewers need him most. I enjoy watching his tornado coverage videos because he is bar none when it comes down to business
I am so proud to have passionate weather ppl in our state of Alabama, we have so many. But I hope we have James Spann for many many more years. He is our weather guru. The one we turn to in any weather event. Thank you James for the decades you have dedicated yourself to Alabama.
Yes really are blessed in the Birmingham, Huntsville, and Montgomery TV areas. James Spann and his team, JP Dice and his team, Jerry Tracey and his team, the WIAT folks, Brad Travis and gang in Huntsville, Jason Simpson and gang in Huntsville, Josh Johnson and gang in Montgomery... we have several top notch weather teams in this state!
I have watched this documentary a few times after finding it here on RU-vid. Mr Spann is the ULTIMATE professional. His passion to alert and inform his viewing audience is top notch. How many times did he tell his audience to "get to your safe place, now!" during ABC 33/40's broadcast of the Cullman and Tuscaloosa tornado outbreaks? DOZENS! A truly dedicated professional...
I live in Milwaukee but Iove to watch James Spann. He has saved so many lives during his career. Alabama is very lucky to have Mr. Spann. Vince Condella was my favorite meteorologist growing up. Sadly, he retired 😢. Mr. Spann is my favorite as an adult. I respect him and hold high regards for him. Great job James!!!
In the loving memory of those who lost their lives that Day" April 27, 2011" thoughts and prayers are with the ones who are impacted by this super outbreak"
I remember that day vividly. Every half hour another tornado was on the ground and I was hoping that the next one wasn't heading my way. That was a scary day for us in Alabama.
Wasn't aware of him until after 2011, and I'm not even from the US. His coverage (before, during and after) was absoLUTELY the best during the outbreak, and quite honestly the finest act of "combat" meteorology I've ever seen. There's things I'm sure he'd do differently now, too, but he hit that thing out of the park and likely saved many lives.
The man is a legend. I have come around since April 27, and I'm in agreement that the "siren mentality" must stop. The false alarm ratio is coming down but the weather community has got to get that to as close to zero as possible and spotters are needed to assist in that. Are we going to bat 1.000? NO...but if we can get within ten percent, we're doing a lot of good.
Mr. Spann says he knows that they serve a limited purpose and isn't saying they should be taken down. He is in agreement with you and I that NWR should be the first way.
Jeremy Moses The only reason these things are still up is because of (god forbid) the chance of nuclear attack. They can be used as a backup warning system for the attack warning and probably the primary source for the all clear alerts.
Hell Kitty Again, we don't dispute that the sirens have a purpose. The point is the reliance on them to get warnings of severe weather indoors MUST come to an end or we will continue to have needless deaths from tornadoes.
Hell Kitty farmers in the fields are a reason they are still up. Power outages means the plug in weather radio doesn’t sound off(most people don’t regularly check the back up battery). Many reasons why they are still up
In the aftermath of that outbreak, we here in Hamilton, AL (Just south of Haleyville), were totally without power, phones, or cell data. The only thing that worked sporadically was SMS messaging. We would get nothing for hours, then 20-30 at once, then nothing again. Luckily, I had previously added James Spann's Twitter feed to my SMS. During those days, it was the ONLY news we got. No power, noTV,radio,cell,phone. Only his Twiiter kept us informed. I am in debt to him. Thank you, James
i think that it is awesome that I have lived through 2 once in a lifetime tornado outbreaks. April3-4,1974 and April 27,2011. And also got to see the Blizzard Superstorm of 1993. Who knows what is down the road in our lifetime. great to live in Alabama.
In my opinion, Mr. James Spann is the best, no frills, straight to the point, passionate, driven, tell it like it is, responsible & professional meteorologist we have here in the deep south, especially in central & north Alabama. I have always respected this man & heeded his warnings...........as should everyone else who live or work in his area of coverage.
Thank you James Spann for everything you have done. You have saved countless lives and inspired many more to learn about severe weather. You are a special special human James Spann, never change.
What a true professional. Where others might "hype" things up to try and advance their career, Mr. Spann stays true to his science and seems to truly care about the people he serves. I don't live in Alabama, but I watched his coverage that day via internet stream and I have no doubt that his superior knowledge of local roads and landmarks saved many lives in April 2011.
Joplin, MO: May 22, 2011 (171 deaths) Moore, OK: May 20, 2013 (24 deaths) Alabama: April 27, 2011 (252 deaths) Hattiesburg, MS: March 2, 2013 (0 deaths) Washington, IL November 17, 2013 (3 deaths) Henryville, IN February 10, 2012 (1 death) Statistics of the 2010's
Living in Massachusetts thankfully we don't have anything close to these kinds of outbreaks, sans a nasty EF-3 that happened a few months after this outbreak in 2011. But if we did, or if I lived in an area susceptible to them, James Spann is the man I would want giving the forecasts and warnings. Consummate professional, truly has the safety and well-being of his fellow Alabamans at the forefront of his mind. Hats off to you good sir!
James Spann is a wonderful human being..I lived 22 years in alabama and saw a few tornados and the damage they caused...espeially the 2001 tornado of Haleyville where I lived... my tv always stayed on Mr Spann...I have the utmost respect for him he truly is the best because he cares,,,,, I now live back in my bith place of Florida and I miss him on bad weather days here although we get no where as many as Alabama does.. thank God for people like James Spann..
This man is as good as they come. I've lived all over the country and he is the best. He is asked to come to seminars all over America to speak for a reason. He can tell you about a typhoon in the Pacific. Days leading up to the 2011 tornadoes James was talking about how he didn't like what he was seeing. 5 days before. Two days before the storms he had pretty much laid out what areas would be affected almost to a T. Before the Moore. OK tornadoes, James mentioned one night on his broadcast in Alabama that he had noticed a problem that may be brewing in the OK area and he hoped everything would be ok.
He just speaks so much sense! From watching RU-vid, I have discovered that during certain emergency situation, TVs in Japan turn on and emit an alarm, and give you news on whatever the emergency is. And if you turn the TV off, it will turn back on. This should be implemented everywhere.
Those air-raid style sirens are creepy, but here in Australia NOTHING makes your hair stand on end like our National Weather Emergency siren that comes over TV and radio. Terrifying sound.
I'm a ameture storm spotter in Indiana and I been encouraging everyone to learn about weather and what to look for during severe weather . Because its the matter of time before Indiana gets a el reno like tornado . A little knowledge is better than none at all ..
The most dedicated, professional, and downright elite meteorologist in my 25 years on this planet and despite living in Michigan far away from the coverage area (unfortunately as the folks in his coverage area are blessed to have him) there is not a single meteorologist in my lifetime that displays the love, urgency, and downright elite skill (sorry I'm a football fan so I tend to use the generic buzzwords commonly used in that area) to protect his community than Mr. Spann. I'm extremely impressed with how humble he is as well as how he never wavers with standing by his values in regards to some incidents in his personal life which gained traction in the national media due to his 100% nuanced and scientifically supported (not referring to the 20-30% of said scientific community who has been co-opted and compromised by donations from the likes of Al Gore and his goons) stance regarding climate change which led to him being targeted by these extremely well connected multi-billion dollar organizations who tried labeling him as a climate change denier yet he stood his ground as he was correct about global warming and cooling cycles which have occurred since earth's atmosphere stabilized to support life (was trying to avoid getting off-track with my diatribe on the cult-esque climate change evangelist doomsayers.) I digress, Mr. Spann's attention to detail and sense of duty to protect his community continually has me coming back on a frequent basis to watch his past and present day forecasts and it speaks volumes considering I don't even live close to Alabama but he has long since cemented his status among the (if not THE best tbh) TV news meteorologists in the history of public broadcasting. He needs to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor for his unwavering commitment and ability with protecting the public just like a veteran would be honored for protecting our country's citizens (he would disagree absolutely as he is among the most humble media personalities for the time I've been on this planet.) Sorry for the novel but Mr. Spann is one of the very few media personalities I would ever consider writing about as the quality and integrity of his work is sadly a dying breed when it comes to news media as a whole. Thank you for taking the time to make this interview as you are lucky to be able to be in the proximity to ask for one, I would personally be extremely nervous if I were ever lucky enough to have even the most basic of conversations with the legend himself as I am now following a passion of mine by attending college to become a meteorologist myself which is the direct result of his work. On a side note I would never want to be a news media personality due to their abandonment of objective reporting and almost universal embrace of inflammatory and manipulative business practices to drive in revenue. My goal is to eventually land a job with NOAA working in their mesoanalysis forecasting department.
I live in Alabama and I’m so proud of this man. Not only does he provide valuable information that saves lives during outbreaks of bad weather, but during the school year, he travels nearly daily to elementary schools throughout the state to teach the kids weather awareness (Respect the polygon)! The kids like to dress like him for favorite hero days, etc.
Boy you betta git somewheres!!! 😎🤣🤣🤣 I grew up in Columbus Mississippi and listening to Mr. Spann thru all the bad weather, which was quite a lot. Respect given.
James Spann is truly a great human being. You can just tell that he cares so deeply. I would love to meet him one day. I almost got to at Kamicon a few years ago. But I didn't make it in time. One of these days I will. Thanks for all you do, Mr Spann. I may live in DeKalb County which is technically out of your viewing area, but I was so impressed with you when I lived in Cherokee County. I truly believe you can make a difference.
Hélène Louise there have been many tornadoes with the correct gate to gate shear and wind intensity/speed but luckily they haven’t done the damage or hit populated areas to warrant an EF5 rating
What makes those early morning tornadoes so violent,James my friend. ? Hope and pray that you and all of the residents of Alabama won’t ever have to relive this catastrophic event. It’s great that everyone works together to rebuild their lives take away from them in a matter of minutes and or seconds. My thoughts and prayers will always be with the residents of Alabama. James you’re such a hero behind the scenes .
Early morning tornadoes are what are known as QLCS (Quasi-Linear Convective Systems) which are often rapidly occurring and 9 times out of 10 heavily rain-wrapped and happen when it’s pitch black and the likelihood of a spotter or chaser being there to see or report it is brought down to almost zero and are the silent killer since they come during our most vulnerable hours when we are in our peak sleep. They happen to kill more people in major outbreaks than any daytime event regardless of EF scale placement due to the parameters I previously discussed.
I bumped into him purely by accident when he and his wife were out to dinner. I was invited to sit down and we had a nice conversation after he realized I was from "up north" (if Wyoming can be considered that)!!
I lived in Alabama for 10 years and James Spann was the number one person we looked to for information on the weather. I live in Louisiana now and I still look for Mr. Spann whenever possible. I still have family in Alabama so when I hear of bad weather in that state, I find him so I can know and understand what is going on over there, and many times I knew of the bad weather before my family did and I would phone or text my family and they automatically go to James Spann.
I don't live in Alabama..I live in Tennessee..but I watch James 😂 during this outbreak we had a lot of damage as well...but I switched back and forth from local to James Span...he is really the best..there is another one that is really good but I cant remember his name right now...our guy is Matt Hinkin and he is wonderful..but this man has weather running through his blood and he cares so much..plus he's pretty handsome to look at 😂😂
Haven't got a clue why, but he reminds me of Jordan Spieth. Same professional attitude but with an intensity that is unrivaled. He really feels it. True intensity. I can understand that people call him a legend.
Them storms that day across the deep South were so strong and violent.. can't believe there were that many swarms of tornadoes all over the place.. we had those here in Tennessee that night.. I've watched the whole coverage for 9 hours straight
We could issue tornado advisories for weaker tornadoes EF0-1, then tornado warnings for stronger ones EF2-3, and tornado emergencies for violent EF4-5.
F5Storm1 The only problem with this is you do not know what type of tornado it is when the NWS issues the warning. Radar does not see tornadoes, only the thunderstorms that cause them. The only thing that can be done is to issue a tornado warning.
The problem is that tornadoes can grow in size very quickly. The EF-5 that hit Moore in 2013 started out small & became huge very quickly. If I remember right you can see it turn from rope-like to stovepipe in about 60 seconds. The one thing I think they should change is in the event of a multi-vortex or wedge tornado, tell people to get underground or get out of the way if there's time. Sheltering in place does no good in a residence with no basement if it's a tornado that's so big & powerful that it leaves nothing but a concrete slab behind.
Some people are legendary for all the best reasons. We Alabamians are beyond grateful for this man's expertise and professionalism. He was telling us a week prior that conditions were building to an event you only see once in a generation.
I'm glad to be in Alabama because James is my weather man. I have always trusted him. He has 2 MAJOR tornado outbreaks under the belt(1974 and 2011) as do I. He handles tornado warnings wonderfully and I put my full trust in him.❤️
James Spann, I'm very concerned about Friday, May 11th. I live in Lubbock, TX which was hit by an F5 tornado the night of 5/11/1970. I also grew up in Waco, TX which was hit by another F5 tornado the late afternoon (4:40 p.m. CST) of 5/11/1953. With the way the city of Lubbock is growing (250K people), it is no longer a matter of "if" a tornado will hit Lubbock again; but, matters of "when" and "where".
Yeah, about 10 per year, BUT, maybe 1 of those 10 hits any sort of populated area, so basically think 3-5 out of 1000 a year hitting populated areas. that's .003-.005 percent of tornadoes.
@@BulletAgario I think there's more than that, but they don't give them that rating because they touch down in the middle of nowhere and don't do any damage. The rating comes from windspeed plus damage done. So you can have 250+ mph winds, but it's in a wide open field and doesn't do anything, rendering it an ef4
@@callofdutyblackops9 you can have 250+ winds in the middle of a field and it not touch anything at all and it will be rated EF0 cause there was no damage. Tornados are rated on damage not wind speed.
@@BulletAgario are you sure. I know Moore had a EF5 May 20th 2013. So there hasn't been a EF5 in 6 years throughout the country. That doesn't seem right. Not saying you're wrong, just seems odd that's all.
My thoughts,prayers,and my heart goes out to everyone who was affected by these horrific monster tornadoes. James,you are indeed a lifesaver,a godsend. You saved a lot of lives that day,along with everyone on the weather team on 33/40. I live out of state in NC,but I have friends who have been living in Alabama,near Anniston for nearly 25 years now and I was born and raised in Western Georgia,and severe storms and tornadoes would always come out of Eastern Alabama and follow along I-20 to where I lived in Douglasville,GA,which is about 40 minutes east of the Alabama state line. I agree with everything that you said,James. Things have to change. People just can't die for nothing,you know? GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR WEATHER TEAM.
