James Spann Goes After Internet Trolls / The February 25th Major Snow Event In Alabama

By Nathan Young on February 24, 2015

Yes! Alabama is going to see snow tomorrow! The question is where and how much? Before I talk about the snow chances, I wanted to share this post James Spann made on his social media feeds. Yes, Mr. Spann went after the trolls, haters, and know-it-alls who goes after him and other meteorologists on social media. He said:

Dear Trolls, Haters, and Know-It-Alls:

The next few days will be very challenging due to a complex winter weather situation here in the great state of Alabama.

Okay first off just a reminder; I have nothing to do with school closing decisions. They are made by men and women in school administration that have a very difficult job, just like me. They are doing the best they can with the information they have. But I don’t know when schools will close or when decisions will be made.

I am also totally cognizant of the fact that our forecasts can be wrong. Forecast mistakes have always happened, and always will. Especially with dealing with winter weather. And that is true for any part of the United States, not just Alabama.

We spend long hours away from our families writing forecast products and discussions that give a very clear explanation of what we expect… Far beyond beyond looking at a simple phone app. If you honestly take the time to read what we write, you will understand uncertainty, and forecast specifics you won’t find anywhere else.

I have learned most of the time when you send the hateful messages to us, you have not even read our products, or checked our latest forecast discussion. During winter weather events, the forecast will always be changing. If you don’t constantly check for updates, you are using old information that will not help you very much.

Before you post that hate message, please read the latest discussion on the blog. I have been doing this a very long time, and can handle the vitriol. But you don’t want to look foolish complaining about a forecast was actually correct.

Let’s all take a big deep breath, and we will get through the week together just fine.

See you on the blog. http://www.alabamawx.com

Love,

Your Pal James

Right on James Spann! And now to the snow event in Alabama. For starters, Governor Bentley has declared a state of emergency.

Governor Bentley has declared a state of emergency for Alabama tomorrow #alwx

— James Spann (@spann) February 24, 2015

And here is what I think will happen. The snow event will begin starting as early as 9 am Wednesday morning across the northern half of Alabama. This could begin as some rain, but it will quickly changeover to snow. The challenge with this event is two questions. One, where will the southern boundary set up between the snow and rain? And two, where will the heaviest snow fall? As of right now, I think the heaviest snow will fall in between Gadsden and Anniston. Areas along and north of I-20 can expect 3-5 inches of snow and areas south of I-20 and near the Tennessee state line can see 1-4 inches.

Let me stress, this will probably change! It could be a set up where Piedmont sees 8 inches of snow and Oxford only sees around 1 inch. Here are what some of the models are showing.