James Spann has been broadcasting Alabama weather reports for longer than most viewers have been alive. He is headquartered at ABC 33/40 in Birmingham and has a strong social media presence.
Spann is well-known and popular in North Alabama. He could have a lot of influence in politics, but he is quick to point out that he “doesn’t do politics.”
Without pointing a finger at any political official or party, he posted on social media Tuesday, supporting a federal agency that he knows a lot about, the National Weather Service, a part of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Here is Spann’s post:
Long-time followers here know that I don’t do politics, and there’s no political content on this account. I vote; and that’s it. 
The world does not need another social media nitwit telling people how to think and vote. 
This post is not about politics, but about support for my friends that work for the National Weather Service, part of NOAA, a federal agency. NWS meteorologists work long, hard hours serving the people of this country, not only during times of severe weather, but on the routine days as well. Their surface and upper air observation networks along with computer models, radars, and satellites are critical for all meteorologists, including those of us in the private sector. 
Most NWS field offices are currently understaffed.I can only imagine morale is not especially high.
Many high-level politicians follow this page, both Democrats and Republicans. I would encourage them and all of you to support my colleagues at the National Weather Service during this time. Their service is absolutely invaluable. 
If NWS products and services are reduced, we all suffer, especially during times of life-threatening weather.
Spann, 68, is an author, mostly about weather and Alabama storms. He went from well-known to iconic when the tornado of the century hit West and North Alabama on April 27, 2011. Spann went on a 15-hour broadcast marathon of TV warnings as the storm traveled and reported damage, injury and death afterward.
His book, "All You Can Do Is Pray," is the definitive stories (plural) of the storm, chronicling the people hunkered down as it approached, the rescue efforts after, and the recovery of lives, homes and businesses.
Over 300 were killed in the April 2011 storms, including 252 in Alabama. There were 362 confirmed tornadoes.
Spann once tickled the innards of viewers in the area north of Birmingham who knew what he was talking about. He identified the location of a tornado as near "Wesley's Booby Trap," a strip joint near I-22 from Birmingham to Jasper. Some knew.
Spann may hold a record as being the only meteorologist to be on the air covering a tornado when it hit his own home – and he knew it. Blessedly, there were no injuries and little damage,
Spann is a native of Huntsville.
"The climate of this planet has been changing since God put the planet here. It will always change, and the warming in the last 10 years is not much different than the warming we saw in the 1930s and other decades. And, let's not forget we are at the end of the ice age in which ice covered most of North America and Northern Europe." — James Spann
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler writes about Alabama’s people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com.
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