James Spann WBMA-LD, Bio, Wiki, Age, Height, Family, Wife, Salary, and Net Worth

James Spann Bio | Wiki

James  Spann ( Full name James Max Spann Jr) is an American meteorologist and podcast host. He currently serves as a weather forecaster at WBMA-LD ( ABC 33/40) based in Birmingham, Alabama. James has been working in the journalism field since 1978. He hosts the weekly podcast known as WeatherBrains which he began airing in 2006. James was invited to Birmingham to be the main weather anchor for WAPI (NBC 13). 

He began his new job at age 23 the same week that Hurricane Frederic entered Mobile Bay. After 5 years at Channel 13, James went to join KDFW-4 based in Dallas, Texas. There, he won the 1985 Katy Award for being the Best Weathercaster from the Dallas Press Club. In 1986, he resigned from his job and went back to Alabama. James is the founder of The Weather Factory (formerly The Weather Company).  The factory provides broadcast weather forecasts for numerous radio stations as well as weather data for industrial and business clients.

James became the 33rd person in America to receive the AMS distinction as a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist. On April 8, 1998, he remained on tv for ten hours during a tornado warning for western Jefferson County. An F5 tornado had struck Oak Grove High School before 8:00 that evening. On the following day, James spoke from a helicopter about the warning and the school’s damage. In 2004, James hosted a tv special about severe weather safety.

James Spann  Age

He was born on June 6, 1956, in Huntsville, Alabama, United States. James is 64 years old.

James Spann's photo
Spann’s photo

James Spann Height

He is a man of average height. James stands at a height of 5 ft 8 in ( Approx 1.73m).

James Spann  Family

He was born in Huntsville, Alabama to his father Max  Spann a lumber seller, and Carolyn Adkins a former secretary at Greenville High School. While still a child,  he and his family relocated to Greenville in Butler County. At seven years of age, his father, Max divorced his mother and left the family leaving Carolyn to raise James on her own. After he was done with his fourth grade, he and his mother relocated to Tuscaloosa, so that Carolyn could finish her education at the University of Alabama and start working as a schoolteacher. However, James has not disclosed any information about his siblings.

James Spann Wife

He shares his married life with his lovely wife called Karen Spann. The two exchanged their wedding vows on June 6, 1981, and have been together as husband and wife for 39 years. The couple is blessed with two sons namely James jr and Ryan.

James Spann Education

He completed 5th grade at Verner Elementary and then joined Eastwood Junior High School. Later on, James was transferred to  Tuscaloosa High School and graduated in 1974. While in Tuscaloosa High School,  James served as an amateur radio volunteer, there, he helped transmit information during the 1973 Brent tornado as well as the 1974 Superoutbreak. After high school, he proceeded to join the University of Alabama. While still studying electrical engineering at the University of Alabama, James started serving as a disc jockey at WTBC-AM based in Tuscaloosa.

James Spann Weather | Meteorologist

He started his broadcast career in Tuscaloosa in 1973 at WTBC radio. There, he served the night shift, while Dave Baird, a former ABC 33/40 anchor served the mornings. James volunteered many hours after the 1974 Alabama tornadoes in Jasper. He started his tv career in the summer of 1978 at 33/40 predecessor WCFT based in Tuscaloosa, the “33” in 33/40. In late 1978, James joined WSFA based in Montgomery to serve as a weekend sports anchor as well as a part-time weatherman.

After the summer of 1979 serving as an afternoon-drive announcer at  WHHY-FM (“Y102”) in Montgomery, James was hired at WAPI-TV  based in Birmingham to serve as a chief weatherman although he did not have formal weather education. At the age of 23, he became one of the youngest chief weathermen in Montgomery. When Channel 13 was sold to Times Mirror in 1980 and renamed WVTM-TV, James impressed his new bosses enough that they took him to their sister station KDFW based in Dallas in 1984. In 1985, he was chosen as the best weathercaster in the Metroplex by the Dallas Press Club and defeated great competitors such as  Harold Taft of KXAS-TV and Troy Dungan of WFAA-TV.

In 1996, James left WBRC after the station was purchased by News Corporation and started dropping its longtime affiliation with ABC so as to join Fox. Because James was unhappy with Fox’s diet of reality shows and other programmings, he followed some of his former WBRC colleagues to the newly formed ABC 33/40, which had been formed by merging WCFT and WJSU-TV based in Anniston and a new low-power repeater based in Birmingham. The newly formed station had replaced WBRC as Birmingham’s ABC affiliate. James has been serving ABC 33/40 ever since.

Jame’s colleagues at ABC include:

Chris Cristi-reporter

Marc Cota-Robles-reporter

Alex Cheney-reporter

Tony Cabrerageneral task columnist

Frankie Katafias-anchor

Ashley Gooden-anchor

Katherine Page-anchor

Brenda Ladun-anchor

James Spann Book

Apart from his journalist career, James is also a registered author. His book weathering life is the most known book. While growing up in rural South Alabama, his eyes were always on the sky with wonder. Going through challenging situations in his life as a child, James took the love of weather and turned it into a long and rewarding career as a professional meteorologist, he also became an author who always writes about the weather. Most of his fans know him from social media accounts, television, radio, as well as the weekly show for weather nerds called WeatherBrains.

James Spann Weather Radio

After two years at KDFW, James made a come back to Alabama and part-owned a small AM-FM radio station combo with Dave Baird in Demopolis. He then went back to television in October 1989 serving as a chief weatherman at WBRC-TV based in Birmingham. At the same time, he joined Mississippi State University for a meteorology program. James earned the NWA as well as AMS seals of approval upon his graduation.

James Spann Global Warming

In January 2007, James attracted worldwide publicity when he disputed the theory that atmospheric temperature increases, i.e global warming, observed in the 1930s and since the 1970s were man-made. Instead, he said that they are naturally caused, as part of the climate’s cyclical nature. James’s views have been widely criticized.

In a blog post for Inside Climate News, Katherine Bagley says that the short-term models used by many TV weather forecasters are too short-term to demonstrate long-term climate patterns, most meteorology degrees do not include any education on climate or climate change. James on the other side asserts that it is money from research grants and not genuine science that fuels support for the global warming hypothesis. According to him, billions of dollars of grant money go into the pockets of the man-made global warming bandwagon.

James Spann Salary

His main source of income is his role as a weather forecaster at WBMA-LD ( ABC 33/40). James’ average salary is $174,963 per year.

James Spann Net Worth

He started working and earning while still in high school, James has therefore been in a position to accumulate decent wealth. His estimated net worth is $3 million

Who Is James Spann

James is an American meteorologist and podcast host. He currently serves as a weather forecaster at WBMA-LD ( ABC 33/40) based in Birmingham, Alabama.

How Old Is James Spann

He is a 64-year-old American meteorologist who was born on June 6, 1956, in Huntsville, Alabama, United States.

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