Tuscaloosa Tornado 4-27-2011 James Spann, Jason Simpson ABC33/40 SkyCam Coverage

[earthboundmisfit1983]

This weatherman kicks ass!!!

[BeneathTheVioletSky]

I live in Warrior and I have a phobia of tornadoes. I was doing well with my fear until April 27. That day set me back five years and caused mass storm anxiety for nearly everyone in the state. Hundreds dead and nearly a year later and clean up is still going on.

[americansmark]

He mentions the Super Outbreak of 74. He called that perfectly. Looks like this is going to be happening here in Ohio tomorrow. Hopefully our meteorologists provide coverage like this.

:(

[BeneathTheVioletSky]

@americansmark Just have faith. I'll be praying for you.

[ackennedy159]

That day was awful. I remember watching this clip live and it was like everything stopped. A few hours after this coverage, the community two miles down the road was hit and a good portion was demolished by this same tornado. It very well could've been my family that lost everything. April 27, 2011 is a day I will NEVER forget.

[Petrasa]

10:26 he states that he wouldn't rule anybody out. He did very well...

[ROSE25275]

James Spann is so awesome! He is by far the best !

[yazz77owen]

well april 27 is comming and we are still standing... so we would like 2 thank GOD

[caligogreywings]

I still can't watch this without being sick. But I sat through as much as I could, because it covers what I heard but couldn't see, being in my basement.

[stormchaser12345]

Watched this LIVE!

Spann deserves some sort of award. I have NEVER seen coverage like this.

[sebenste]

@AndrewLLFrazier: First, he wasn't off by 2.5 or 4 miles. Not even closse. There was a camera from CBS 42 1/4 mile south of Skyland and it was just north of his location. Most importantly, what part of "if you are in the city limits of Tuscaloosa, take cover now" can't you understand? For 10 minutes beforehand and then some, he was saying this. Which is why he says he didn't want to get so specific, his description was "near" those locations, and they were. Frankly, your accusations are false.

[AndrewLLFrazier]

@sebenste my understanding of people is that if they think something of disaster is heading directly towards them, people will by instinct try to avoid it. but if they are led to believe that it will get somewhat close but pass them by they will want to look at it.

he tried his best and did a damn good job, but fucked up pretty bad nontheless.

[ILovestorms]

Why does he say not to pull over and get under a bridge?

[hoosierredneck1]

@ILovestorms A tornado has the compression to pull anything under a bride out from underneath it.

[ILovestorms]

@hoosierredneck1 But there was a famous video that came out about 20 years ago of a news crew about 30 miles northeast of Wichita, Kansas, where a tornado was chasing them and they were unable to outrun it, so they got up under an overpass and took cover and survived. That tornado was part of the infamous Andover outbreak in April 1991.

[hoosierredneck1]

@ILovestorms Yes I recall that video you are referring to. It just isnt recommended by any weather organization as a safe place to take cover during a violent tornado. You also have to factor in the possibility of being killed by flying debris.

[kloefdog]

I still can't believe they rate this tornado as a EF4! When I seen footage of the aftermath in Tuscaloosa, I would most definitively rate this as a EF5! 

[fgossage]

@kloefdog The rating crews found damage that could've possibly been EF5, but the buildings it happened two weren't anchored at all to their foundations. The houses were just sitting on cinder blocks. The problem is... the house can be swept CLEAN with significantly less than EF5-intensity winds... with construction like that. So, because of that, while the tornado may havbe been EF5 intensity... it can't be proven. So, we will never fully know. Still, it was rated a far upper-end EF4...

[sqirmals]

Even though james is my friend he saved my other friends lives

[Dusco25]

they made sure the Ford logo was on there

[ILovestorms]

This has to be the worst tornado ever to hit Tuscaloosa.

[boover3]

I live in VA, but watched this coverage live...IMO the most knowledgeable and compassionate meteorologist i have ever seen or heard. Hands down.

[hlslayer123]

I like how they didnt just cover the one big tuscaloosa tornado, but instead also covered the other 2 that were happening.

[ChristopherSaindon]

By the way..great job to everyone behind-the-scenes at 33/40 ready for all audio signals from James Spann quickly switching from radar to double-box and between both towers with great zooming and panning.

[BamaUAMS]

jason simpson was on it. he was more accurate at naming locations than spann. skyland was never in danger. we were on skyland that day

[jw870206]

It almost reminds me of the Super-8 video of the multiple vortices in Xenia, OH on April 3, 1974.

[TheCemetarian]

i live in southeast kansas where tornadoes are frequent. travis meyer in tulsa with kotv is awesome but this guy james spann is the man. does he have a fan club i can join

[talladegajunkie1439]

This is shades of December 16, 2000

[itsalleternal]

That was EPIC coverage. James Spann should be covering EVERY outbreak, EVERYWHERE (with a first focus on local coverage). He deserves an Emmy for that.

[Moose6340]

@itsalleternal Thumbs up for that. I was watching it on streaming from here in NC and he was absolutely amazing. Totally composed and yet very emphatic on getting the word out about how dangerous those storms were. And ABC 33/40's technical and Web hosting people deserve kudos as well, there were over 30,000 people hammering the livestream at the peak of the Tuscaloosa/Birmingham tornado and it never skipped a beat or stuttered once.

[AndrewLLFrazier]

@itsalleternal except reports show that James Spann got the location of the tornado wrong. 11:04 He warned that it would be coming along Skyland Boulevard, the Tornado was well north of there, between 2.5 to 4.5 miles off. Many people reported they almost lost their lives thinking the tornado was much further away than it was.

[SAndTGames]

@AndrewLLFrazier he can't predict everything right, dude. Being his son, I've watched him every single storm we have. He also warned everyone is Tuscaloosa.

[AndrewLLFrazier]

@SAndTGames It's just that I think he was focusing too much on the radar and not enough on the ground reports.

I got that that he warned everyone in Tuscaloosa, and fine for that, but like I said some people want to see the Tornado pass by them, and they look at the reports to determine how far away it is. Some people thought the tornado would be far enough away where they could watch it, only to find it was much closer. Their behavior is stupid, but it's pretty common among people.

[AndrewLLFrazier]

@SAndTGames I'm not saying he got blood on his hands, I am just saying that the radar isn't what you want to look at, reports on the ground are far more reliable IMO but then again I'm not a weatherman, I'm just a dude on the internet.

[alastormspotter5]

@AndrewLLFrazier And at 11:29 McFarland was mentioned. Not sure what you're smoking, but you obviously just got on here to troll.

[bil1228]

Spann is the Man!

[BoLatham]

This is absolutely breathtaking. These were the sounds I heard seconds before the power went out, the windows busted, and the walls came out. I've enjoyed James Spann's coverage for 20 years and the sound of his voice and that tornado passing by will forever be etched in my brain.

[bondsbw1]

Wallyworld30... you are wrong as well. It was in a completely straight line the entire time it was in Tuscaloosa, going approximately ENE. It was south of 15th Street until very close to McFarland Blvd. It was halfway between 15th and Skyland when it crossed I-359, putting it closer to Skyland than to the camera.

[cvfiregirl]

I dont know much about roads and what not in T'town but I agree they whole weather team did a great job. Yes he did get the streets wrong but he is trying to identify the area from a tower cam for goodness sakes. With that thing coming I think everyone in Tuscaloosa was holding on to anything they could find. So very sad!

[Wallyworld30]

He kept saying it is coming straight down Skyland blvd. It wasn't anywhere near skyland blvd. It came straight down 15th street until it got to McFarland and turned north toward alberta city.