#23 James Spann and a Tesla

Summary

Podcast Summary: Bubba On the Lake
Episode #23: James Spann and a Tesla
Release Date: July 24, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode #23 of "Bubba On the Lake," host Bill "Bubba" Bussey delves into two main topics: his recent experience test-driving a Tesla Model Y and an in-depth conversation with renowned meteorologist James Spann about his new venture, the Alabama Weather Network. The episode seamlessly blends discussions on cutting-edge automotive technology with critical advancements in weather forecasting, offering listeners a comprehensive look at innovation both on the road and in the skies.

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Driving the Tesla Model Y

[08:54] Bubba Bussy kicks off the episode by introducing Hunter Bussey and Royce Emerson, owners of the Tesla Model Y that Bubba recently test-drove. The conversation centers around the vehicle's autonomous features and overall performance.

• Autopilot and Self-Parking:
  Hunter Bussey shares his enthusiasm, stating, “Tesla technology is very, very good. I want one now. The Bronco might have to be traded in” ([09:00]). He highlights the ease of engaging autopilot and the novelty of self-parking features.

• Safety and Control:
  Bubba raises concerns about the supervised driving mode, questioning the safety compared to human drivers. Royce Emerson responds confidently, “I would rather be in a Tesla than my previous car... they are very heavy and have a low center of gravity” ([14:10]). He emphasizes the enhanced safety features and robust build of the Tesla.

• Battery and Charging:
  The discussion shifts to the practicality of electric vehicles. Royce explains the minimal impact on his electric bill, “Our power bill actually hasn't moved an inch since we installed” ([20:42]), showcasing the economic benefits alongside environmental considerations.

• User Experience:
  Bubba and Royce discuss the overall driving experience, with Royce noting, “after you figure [out braking], it's smooth sailing from there” ([10:39]). They also touch on the car's infotainment system, including the integration of Bubba on the Lake radio, enhancing the driving experience with personalized content.

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James Spann and the Alabama Weather Network

The highlight of the episode is an extensive interview with James Spann, a legendary meteorologist known for his work with ABC 3340 in Birmingham, Alabama. Spann unveils his latest endeavor—the Alabama Weather Network—a statewide, 24/7 streaming service dedicated to comprehensive weather coverage.

Overview of the Alabama Weather Network

[23:25] Bubba Bussy introduces James Spann as an icon in meteorology, emphasizing his transition from traditional media to a more expansive, digital platform. James Spann elaborates on his vision:

“The Alabama Weather Network... every county, all 67 belong to us. And that's where the promise we're making to the people is that... we'll be there with live coverage” ([27:18]).

Technological Innovations

A significant portion of the discussion focuses on the technological advancements powering the network.

• Phased Array Radar:
  Spann explains the future integration of phased array radar, highlighting its real-time data capabilities:

  “Phased array... it's going to give us real-time data, real-time, all quadrants, all sectors, all tilts, real time. There's no delay” ([57:44]).

• User-Generated Content:
  Emphasizing community involvement, Spann mentions the influx of user-submitted photos and videos during weather events:

  “During an average tornado event... I'll have 10,000 photographs and videos... and make it happen” ([32:43]).

• Continuous Streaming:
  The network aims to provide around-the-clock coverage with the capability to focus on specific regions as needed:

  “We'll have a 24.7 stream going... but when there's impactful weather, we'll go live” ([27:51]).

Operational Strategy and Staff

James Spann discusses the robust team behind the network, including seasoned professionals like Drew McCombs and Ashley Brand, ensuring high-quality, reliable weather coverage.

• Simulations and Preparedness:
  To guarantee readiness, the network conducts rigorous simulations:

  “We will do simulations with everything and be sure that we can honor that commitment” ([37:42]).

• Backup Systems:
  Emphasizing resilience, Spann mentions having backup internet and power systems in place:

  “We have the bandwidth, we have the backup bandwidth, we have the backup power” ([42:06]).

Personal Insights and Stories

The interview also touches on Spann's personal experiences and dedication to the community.

• Impact of Tornadoes:
  Reflecting on past tragedies, Spann shares emotional stories, such as the devastating tornado in Ohachi:

  “On March 25, 2021, six people died” ([52:13]).

• Family Support:
  Spann acknowledges the support of his wife, Betty Lou, highlighting the personal sacrifices made in his role:

  “We’ve been married for 44 years... she’s understandable” ([50:07]).

• Community Engagement:
  Discussing community involvement, Spann underscores the importance of weather radios:

  “Everybody’s got to have a weather radio... it would have saved those kids' lives” ([62:12]).

Future Plans and Vision

Looking ahead, Spann is optimistic about the future of weather forecasting and technological integration:

“Once we get that data, the computer models will be much better and the weather forecast will be better” ([56:06]).

He envisions a more efficient, data-driven approach to weather alerts, aiming to reduce loss of life through enhanced predictive capabilities and real-time dissemination of critical information.

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Personal Touches and Light Moments

The episode also includes lighter moments, such as Spann's collection of crazy socks and his enthusiasm for incorporating fun elements into his professional image.

• Crazy Socks Collection:
  Spann humorously discusses his extensive sock collection, showcasing his personality beyond meteorology:

  “I probably got at least 300... Captain Crunch crossed it flakes” ([54:25]).

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Conclusion

Episode #23 of "Bubba On the Lake" offers a compelling mix of automotive innovation and groundbreaking developments in weather forecasting. Through Bubba's engaging conversation with James Spann, listeners gain valuable insights into the future of meteorological services and the role of technology in enhancing public safety. Simultaneously, the discussion about the Tesla Model Y provides a practical look at the advancements in electric vehicle technology and autonomous driving. This episode serves as both an informative and entertaining journey, capturing the essence of progress in diverse fields.

Notable Quotes:

• James Spann on Alabama Weather Network:

  “Every county, all 67 belong to us. And that's where the promise we're making to the people is that... we'll be there with live coverage” ([27:18]).

• Royce Emerson on Tesla Safety:

  “I would rather be in a Tesla than my previous car... they are very heavy and have a low center of gravity” ([14:10]).

• James Spann on Phased Array Radar:

  “Phased array... it's going to give us real-time data, real-time, all quadrants, all sectors, all tilts, real time. There's no delay” ([57:44]).

• James Spann on Weather Radios:

  “Everybody’s got to have a weather radio... it would have saved those kids' lives” ([62:12]).

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For more insights and updates, visit the podcast's website at bubbaonthelake.com.

Transcript

[Bubba Bussy]

This podcast is brought to you in part by Coke, Buffalo Wild Wings, Southern Immediate Care Guaranteed Labels, Central State Bank, Sunrise docks, bankers Bounty, Dr. Thomas Dudney and the Green Monster Fishing Light.

[Royce Emerson]

Now back to Bubba on the LA.

[James Spann]

Bubba on the lake Speaks through the air Voices rippling waters the world stops to stare News and the scores text spins on his wheel national renown the truth he reveals from the mellow yellow studio he sends the sound echoes through the nation where legends are found the lake holds the power Ripples don't l Bubba on the airwaves Riding waves that won't die Late night static stars hanging low Every turn of his voice the world seems to glow Microphone crackles like fire on stone Bubble carves the stories makes the air his throne from the mellow yellow studio he sends sound echoes through the nation where legends are found the lake holds the power ripples don't lie Bubba on the airwaves Riding waves that won't die Sports it flies fast Tech churns the tide News shakes the edge Bubble read listeners they gather like moths to his flame One man's voice rising never the same from the mellow yellow studio he sends the sound echoes through the nation where legends are found the lake holds the power Ripples don't lie Bubble on the airwaves Riding waves that won't die.

[Bubba Bussy]

Well hello again everybody and welcome to Bubba on the Lake. I am your semi retired, mostly washed up host, formerly the Rick and Bubba show and now proud to welcome you to our podcast Bubba on the Lake. We're broadcasting from the Meliella studio and of course Our website is bubbaonthelake.com Feel free to drop me an email there at Bubba at bubba on the lake dot com. Don't forget our message line 308 Big Lake. It's like a fancy electronic answering machine and if you leave a message it could be used on the air and we will try to get to some more of those during this particular podcast. Want to thank all of you for everything that you've done and hanging in there with us helping us to grow the podcast. Don't forget to subscribe, turn on notifications and of course hit all of our social media and like and subscribe all of that stuff that has to be done now in the new world order of the way things are done here on the Internet. Gotta have you. So we have a very interesting podcast, have several topics to cover. We got out and drove a Tesla that a friend of mine came by and had and it is one that will drive itself. So we got out and did that. We posted a little bit of that online. If you haven't seen it, you can look there. And we're going to talk to, to Hunter who drove it some and to the owner of that Tesla and maybe answer some questions that some of you have about that. Now we don't have Tesla stock per se that I know of, but I do like the technology and it's, it's a changing world out there. It's been a changing road at home for a long time and now it is changing even more so out on the road itself. So we'll bring you the update on that. Also. James Spann had big news this week as he is starting a full time online network. Now James Spann is a very well known meteorologist out of Birmingham, Alabama. He is a, he is a legend in the weather business in our state and he also does a lot of weather for radio stations outside of our state and he used to work in Texas for a while also. So we will get the very latest from him on what's going on with that And a lot to cover. Lot to cover. We have some more phone calls I'm going to try to get in, got some emails I'd like to answer if we have time and hopefully James will be along here with us shortly. We also need to catch you up on two or three other things going on in our life and things here on the podcast to look forward to. And man, we're just excited, a lot of things going on. Thank all of you for being there. Thank you for listening to the podcast and spreading the word about it. And of course now we have a streaming radio station called Bubba on the Lake Radio. I want you to check that out or I would ask for you to check that out. It's kind of part again of the changing landscape of how we get entertainment. So from our website we have on demand things like the podcast and we will also have streaming like what is Bubba on the Lake Radio? Now we're kind of playing around with that. I don't know if it'll stay around forever but we're, we're playing with it, trying to learn software and what applications are available and a lot of you seem to be enjoying it. We're, we're averaging about 3, 400 listeners a day which for a streaming station starting out I think is very good. But we want to grow that of course, if we stay with it. So give me your feedback on that too and maybe we can break down what we're doing there a little more Also in the future. So let's go ahead and get to our first break and then we're going to come back and I'm going to talk to Hunter and Royce Emerson who actually owns the Tesla we drove and we'll talk a little bit about that experience in just a minute. Thank you. And hang on.

[James Spann]

It's Bubba on the lake. Bubba on the lake. A lot of life can happen between sips of Dasani. You know, the life moments big and small that are worth getting thirsty for. Like organizing a family movie night under the stars or hearing an old favorite song and having an impromptu dance party or finding a new dinner recipe that the whole family loves. The crisp, clean taste of Dasani was made for all of life's thirst worthy moments Dasani. Because life happens between SIPs.

[Bubba Bussy]

Dr. Thomas Dudney has been my family's dentist for over 20 years and about that same time 20 years ago, he gave me a new smile with veneers. And let me tell you, it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I had no idea how people interacted with you so differently personally and professionally. If you had a nice smile and you could smile at them. Right now is a great time to check with Dr. Dudney about the possibilities of of upgrading your smile. 205-663-6545 or visit thomasdudney.com when you need.

[James Spann]

Urgent care, Southern Immediate Care is here for you. Illness doesn't follow a 9 to 5 schedule, so we offer support seven days a week at convenient locations throughout Birmingham and northeast Alabama. Dedicated to serving all ages from children to adults, Southern Immediate Care offers occupational medicine services including including dot physicals and testing at Southern Immediate Care. Your health is our top priority. Visit southern immediatecare.com or call 205-409-2794.

[Bubba Bussy]

Hey, this is Robbie McAlpine, aka Robbie from Roebuck. Aka the greatest marketing mind of our time.

[James Spann]

And you're listening to Bubba on the lake. Here is Bubba.

[Bubba Bussy]

We're talking to Hunter Bussey. He is just took a test drive and a Tesla Y. Hunter, what'd you think about Tesla technology? Tesla technology is very, very good. I want one now. The Bronco might have to be traded in. I'm going to go home and look at Carvana when I get home first thing. Did you, did you engage the autopilot? I did, yes. It was great. And we did the self parking. Yeah, that's kind of weird. I drove it earlier today on the highway and it's, it's definitely strange to be going down the road and not be in control and just letting a computer do it. It is, it is. But it's also funny too, that it has a light show. I don't know if you saw that that's what we were doing out there. And has a home theater system in there. We watched episode of Stranger Things in there and it sounded really good. Yeah, it's almost like that they've. It's been nerds on parade. I mean, they just put everything into it. You can even test the speaker system with farts. I learned earlier too, so. But that's kind of scary. So did you. Did it drive okay? Did you have any moments where you felt like you were out of control? No, not one time. Not one time at all. There's definitely a learning curve because you don't really use the brake. It kind of breaks itself. But after you figure that out, it's smooth sailing from there. Yeah. Even if you're driving in the manual mode, it's like a golf cart. You let your foot off the accelerator, you don't have to brake. It slows down on its own because it's engaging a generator that's charging the battery. And Royce Emerson is here. And we're actually driving your car, Royce. So that's pretty sharp, man. How long you had it?

[Royce Emerson]

Coming up on two years now. So I would call myself a Tesla enthusiast at this point.

[Bubba Bussy]

And you're a pretty conservative guy and I would think pretty critical of tech if it was not working. Well, tell us about the Y and your experience. Why did you get one to start with?

[Royce Emerson]

I'm a value guy and I looked at the Tesla Y and I said, that's value. And that's exactly what it's been for me. It's everything that I'm asking for as far as performance and nothing special, just delivers the goods. And I've been nothing but happy with it after almost two years now.

[Bubba Bussy]

Yeah, you're a good salesman of it. That was quite a tour we went on. We went to pick up some pizza and you drove it from Birmingham down to Lake Martin, which is, you know, hour and a half, probably where you started at. And you got plenty of battery life, right?

[Royce Emerson]

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, you say I'm pretty good salesman of it. If you notice, you never see a Tesla commercial because they don't promote it's self promoted from within. And that's one of the great things about it is a happy customer is worth $10,000 in advertising, as they say. Right.

[Bubba Bussy]

Yeah. It takes a lot of money to Fix that, will you? Let that dog out. That's whining, Hunter. I'm sure it's in the background of the audio here. Another advantage of doing a podcast at home. But Royce, what about, you know, you hear, you know, people are scared of the supervised driving mode, but honestly, I see a lot of idiots out there driving that computer. Can't be any worse than some of the people I've seen on the road or unfortunately some that I ride with.

[Royce Emerson]

Yeah, I mean, it'd be hard to disagree with your comments there, man. I just, I'd say having a 13 year old daughter, I could definitely see putting her on that, you know, for her first six months driving up and down the road from Greystone to Briarwood. I think it would give me comfort knowing that she could break it if she needed to. But all in all, she's not gonna, you know, make a bad decision looking at her phone and end up rear ending somebody on 119. So, yeah, I think it could only be, it could only be a positive with a 16 year old kid, you know, or in a lot of cases, 26 years old or 36 years old, you know, all depending on.

[Bubba Bussy]

So how long have you had that car?

[Royce Emerson]

Almost two years now.

[Bubba Bussy]

So what about the batteries being replaced? I always hear that's going to be a big expense when you have to do that. But how many miles do you have that?

[Royce Emerson]

Almost 30,000 miles on it now. And you know, Tesla's been on the road for so long now, they've got cars out there running on the first generation battery with over a million miles on them. So I think it's proved out to be pretty.

[James Spann]

Durable.

[Bubba Bussy]

What about the safety of it? We hear about, you know, fires because of batteries and all that stuff, but what about just the structure of it? Is it, is it built super light so that it can, you know, the batteries can last longer? Do you sacrifice, you know, the strength of the body? Can you survive a crash? What do you hear about all that? I mean, you hadn't crashed yours yet, obviously, but what do you think?

[Royce Emerson]

I would rather be in a Tesla than I think I would my previous car, which was a Mercedes and probably the safest car on the road. I mean, these things are reinforced with those batteries up underneath and they're very heavy and they have a very low center of gravity. And I mean, I just look at the news and I don't see, you know, too many instances of terrible accidents and death in Teslas.

[Bubba Bussy]

Well, and you know, you're always going to have some. And I mean it's not a perfect world out there on any stretch, but you know, they, they will make national headlines when you have them. But I mean if you look at the stats, we have what, 40, 50,000Americans that die in car crashes every year and you never hear anything about them on the news, but you let one Tesla run over, you know, somebody in the middle of the night and it's headline news. So you know, from a point to point, you know, if you, if you look at a fair comparison, I think it's way ahead of the curve. I, I was actually asking some of the AI a minute ago about the safety record and they said they're way ahead of just normal American driving.

[Royce Emerson]

And I have to admit that I am an Elon enthusiast as well and I can see a day and time in our lifetimes, God willing, where there'll be ultimately enough self driving vehicles on the road. The penetration is going to be to where, you know, the safety of drivers on the road and the deaths that you're talking about are going to be greatly reduced.

[Bubba Bussy]

You know, I would think too with all the AI and with the Tesla's wired in, you know, they communicate a lot of data back to Tesla and every mile that's driven by a Tesla car makes the next mile a little safer I would assume, right?

[Royce Emerson]

Yeah. And the computing technology that they have over at Tesla is second to none and it's a work in progress. But that's a guy who has a vision and it is pretty amazing to see it in action.

[Bubba Bussy]

Yeah, I would say he's pushed the tech curve just logarithmic steps forward, especially with the success of SpaceX. They're still working on Starship, trying to get it dialed in, but the Falcon 9 has at this point I think the most incredible safety and performance record of any rocket we've ever had. I think they did. I hear other day that they just passed their 500th launch or something to that. I mean they're shooting them off two and three times a week now. You know. Hunter, what are you on Carvana already? I am, I am. Get off of that. I'm sitting here drinking a ice cold Meliella from the Coca Cola company, looking at Carvana. Yeah, that was a can of worms that I didn't need to be witness to and I'm excited. Yeah. Well it had been brought up with the driving that I do, going to Jacksonville State that I needed to look at a, you know, a Tesla and I thought, you know, I don't know if I can get there and run around, get back on one charge. But I'll tell you that the. You still have to pay attention because. What is the mode we were in, Royce? It was called. What is that mode of driving. And it's not completely autonomous. You still have to kind of keep an eye on everything.

[Royce Emerson]

Yeah, it's. It's. What is that? Supervised?

[Bubba Bussy]

Yes, supervised. We're so. We're so relaxed here, we can't even remember after taking that drive. But, I mean, I don't know that I would ever want to drive and watch a movie or fool with a laptop or any other activities I've seen online in Teslas. I'd still want to keep an eye on the road. But you certainly are more relaxed when you're not having to sit there and just, you know, ride every bump and look at everything, you know, I'm sure I'd get nervous in some areas till I got used to it. But you said the learning curve is pretty quick on letting it go.

[Royce Emerson]

Yeah, yeah. Going up and down 280 in Birmingham every day from where I live into my office, I've learned to just clear my mind and think about my day and, of course, keep the eye on the road. But instead of just focused on the minute details of driving, I'm putting my.

[Bubba Bussy]

Morning together and I was pretty impressed. It had Tune in that app already in there. I don't know if that was already yours or not, Royce, but. And of course, he had bub on the lake radio pulled up. So it was a super driving experience. Hunter, what do you think? I mean, are you. Are you ready to trade cars right now? I mean, honestly, looking at the price. Yeah, a little bit. It's actually. You want to know what the price is? Yeah, I would. For a 2024 Tesla model. Huawei Carvana. It's 34,000. It's not bad. Now, that's got to be the base model, right, Royce? I mean, that. That has to be like some stripped down version, right?

[Royce Emerson]

That's a probably.

[Bubba Bussy]

Hang on, hang on, let me get to mic.

[Royce Emerson]

Yeah, you probably want to look at the long range model. That's. Yeah. So, yeah, if you say it is, I would think more like low 50s, 50, thousands, but still, that's.

[Bubba Bussy]

That's cheaper than most cars now. So, Royce, tell me about the charging station you got put in. How big of a hassle is that to get put in? What kind of cost and what kind of cost is it to actually charge it? Because you've given up the gas pump now. So what does it cost to actually charge it?

[Royce Emerson]

Yeah, Alabama Power actually was really good to us. They give a rebate on the installation of the home charging station, and I think we spent five or six hundred dollars and got a probably a $250 rebate from Alabama Power. And then they also provide a service to electric car owners who charge at home a discounted rate overnight. So from midnight to 6am When I schedule the car to charge, we're charged a lower rate. And our power bill actually hasn't moved an inch since we installed.

[Bubba Bussy]

So you can't track it. You can't see a big difference.

[Royce Emerson]

No, our bill has not changed at all.

[Bubba Bussy]

Well, that's impressive. Well, there you have it, folks. We're here on the cutting edge of technology, out driving the Tesla Y around, and I will tell you it is. I don't think you saved the world by driving a Tesla. I don't think you, you know, if you're, if you're trying to do that, I think you're. You're going to be sadly disappointed. But I think if you just want a dagum cool car to drive, that is the next level you in business. All right, folks, we'll turn it back now to the podcast live on location Bill Bubba Bussy.

[James Spann]

You're listening to Bubba Bubba on the Lake. You know one thing I love about Buffalo Wild Wings? You can get wings with any of their 26 sauces and dry rubs for takeout and delivery. That's like bringing an entire B dubs home with you, which you can't do. I tried. I've knocked down so many walls only.

[Royce Emerson]

To then be told to halt construction because I'm not zoned to be a sports bar.

[James Spann]

Kinda just looks like a big pergola or something. Because of the lack of walls, at least these 26 sauces and dry rubs are available to go. Buffalo Wild Wings. Let's go swimming. Sports bar. At Central State bank, we believe community banking is more than just transactions.

[Bubba Bussy]

It's about relationships.

[James Spann]

For over 100 years, we've been helping neighbors grow, businesses thrive and dreams become reality. Because when you bank local, you invest in your community. Central State Bank. Large enough to serve you, small enough to know you. Visit us today or learn [e-mail] Member FDIC. Another staff meeting, another push for cross selling. Another awkward silence. Then Banker Bounty happened. The first referral platform made just for banks. One app that empowers every employee, not just your top producers, to bring in business. No more spreadsheets, no more silos, just clarity culture and actual growth in real time. Banker Bounty fixes more than your referral program. It fixes your momentum. Go to bankerbounty.com, watch the video, book your free demo Banker Bounty create, manage and track referrals and free Real time.

[Bubba Bussy]

Hey, this is Dr. Travis Taylor from the Secret of Skinwalker Ranch on History Channel. I hope you guys enjoy season six.

[James Spann]

That just started and I hope you continue to keep listening to Bubba on Bubba on the Lake.

[Bubba Bussy]

Well, everybody, I have a lot of legends that I have interviewed on the podcast, but I have a gentleman now that I don't even think legend fully describes him. I think he has reached icon level which is a step above, you know him, if you've ever had to dodge a tornado in this part of the country, he is the James Spann. James, how are you doing, sir?

[James Spann]

Bubba, it is an absolute honor to be on this show. This is outstanding. My heart is warm and fuzzy.

[Bubba Bussy]

Well, I know you're warmed up. You've had a busy day, lot going on and I appreciate you taking time to talk to us. James, Normally people go in kind of a chronological order, but I'm going to start in the opposite direction. Tell us about your new venture and we have a lot of questions about that and then we'll, we'll get into some other things. But tell us about this new venture you've got going.

[James Spann]

Well, you know, listen Bubba, you know, I'm from Alabama. I was born here, I will die here, I'll be buried here. And these are my people and this is my state. I did live out of state very briefly for two years back in the 80s when I was transferred to Dallas and I'm thankful I did that. I think everybody needs to leave and get out and see the world for a brief time. But one of my dreams has always been to take care of the whole states when there are tornadoes flying around here and understand that this is nothing to knock any TV person or anything that's going on now. But I will just say there's some underserved parts of the state that I think could be treated better when there's dangerous life threatening weather. And you kind of know the deal. I'm from rural Alabama. I mean, I am from Butler county, middle of nowhere in south Alabama. My people are from places like Georgiana Chapman McKenzie, Ebenezer Industry. And I just love rural parts of the state and I know these places. I know this state, Bubba, better than anybody else. I'm not good at much, but I know this state. I can close my eyes and I've been there. I've been in the schools, I've been in the churches. I've been down that road. And I think that knowledge of geography of the state is very helpful when there are tornadoes flying around here. So what this thing's going to do, and it's called the Alabama Weather Network, we'll take care of the who. Whole state, every county, no part of the state will be ignored. We don't have to worry about television markets. We don't have to worry about DMAS or any of this stuff. Every county, all 67 belong to us. And so that really frees us up to do that. And I'm really thankful for the TV station. You know, they work with me on this. I've worked for the ABC affiliate in Birmingham for 29 years and I will still be the chief meteorologist and they will still take our coverage on 3340. And I'm thankful for that. But this will free me up. And if we do, let's say we have a tornado that's down in Dothan or Burnt Corn or Waterloo or Andalusia or east to Boga.

[Bubba Bussy]

I know where Waterloo is because I had to look it up yesterday. Top, northwest corner, just barely in the state.

[James Spann]

And that's a great school. I mean, I love that school. I love coming to Waterloo.

[Bubba Bussy]

Are you shocked that I even knew where it was?

[James Spann]

I will, quite frankly, yes. I'm not shocked. I'm impressed. I mean, come on. But you know, I don't have to do if it's during the five and the six o' clock news and I'll still be on in the evening, but. But if it's happening, I don't have to do the television newscast. We have Evan, who's going to come in and do it for me and I'll be doing the tornado coverage on the network. So I'm totally free to do what I think I've been, I was born to do. And for some reason, I don't know why me, but I think I was born to be standing in front of a green wall when there are tornadoes flying around here and to be able to do it statewide, it's just a dream come true.

[Bubba Bussy]

So, James, I'm trying to envision here the nuts and bolts of how this will happen. So you're still going to be doing the Birmingham Market, Birmingham DMA with ABC 3340. But. But you're also watching the whole state. So will your network, will it just focus on severe weather or how are you going to forecast 67 counties all at the same time. And how are people going to see or hear this new service?

[James Spann]

Well, basically, I'm part time at 3340. I'm still the chief meteorologist, but I'm part time. I'm full time with the Alabama Weather Network and I'm the chief meteorologist there. And again, if there's a tornado in Huntsville or Mobile when I'm scheduled to be on tv, I won't be on the newscast. I'll be doing the tornado coverage on the network. And when it's in the Birmingham market, 3340 will take it live. They'll just take it and we'll be on television. And for those that are not in the Birmingham market, we'll have apps for phones, tablets and TVs, just the way you watch Netflix or Hulu and Amazon Prime. That's what people watch when they go home, YouTube. And we'll stream it live on all the social platforms. YouTube, all of them, X, Facebook, Instagram, the whole thing. And we'll. We'll have a 24.7stream going. And that's the one thing you're asking about, bub, is what happens when there's no tornadoes flying around here, like, you know, in the summer. We don't have tornadoes. There'll be a 24. 7 stream. And within that stream, there will be specific forecasts for different parts of the state that we'll be doing. And I'll still work the evening shift. We've got a staff of really big, good staff that will handle the other day parts. And on top of that, we'll throw in some fun features like spanning Alabama. There's so many stories, so many stories. You know it. You've told so many on your show over the years. And I'll be telling a lot of stories of the cool people, places and things I know about. And I love that. And, and again, all that will be chopped up and put on the social platforms. And that's how most people consume media. They're not going to sit and watch a 24.7stream. They'll go and pick what they want to see on the social platform. So you'll watch it on YouTube, shorts or YouTube or Facebook or, or TikTok or whatever turns you on, whatever makes you happy. The content will be over there. But there will be a 24.7stream that's always going. And there's some older people that will watch that. They'll sit down and watch that. And that's great. We'll. We'll be. We'll be there. But that will be the stream when there's tornadoes flying. And again, that stream will be up on the apps and the socials and everything else. And that's how people consume media. Times have changed, bubby. You know that.

[Bubba Bussy]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[James Spann]

You know, we.

[Bubba Bussy]

We.

[James Spann]

Listen, I've been on the Ron burgundy horse for 47 years. You know. Good, good. Good evening. Here is the news, and it's. And it's been a good ride. But people are consuming media in a different way. Nationally, when there's tornadoes flying, who has the highest audience? Not the Weather Channel, not Fox Weather, but Ryan Hall, y', all, and Max Velocity. Youtubers, they beat the traditional media by far, hands down. It's not even close.

[Bubba Bussy]

And that's how people consume that. Is it their presentation of it? Is it the delivery?

[James Spann]

Yeah, sure. It's the presentation. They're doing it the way that people want to see. They're doing what people want to see. They are always there. They've got multiple chasers in the field. It's like watching a car chase in Los Angeles, except instead of just one camera and one chase, you've got multiple streams up on their screen. And they put so much up there that there's something for everybody. And again, a lot of the traditional television meteorologists, the old school guys like me, they're offended. They get. They're jealous. What's the matter with you? Here's an idea. Maybe we should learn from these people. They're doing something right that we're not doing. So my encouragement to old school people, you better learn from these folks, or else you're going away. And so what we're going to bring to the table, it's the best of what I've done for 47 years, and the best of the new world, what Ryan hall and Max Velocity have been doing. And. And. And we're gonna have cameras everywhere, fixed cameras, and that's the one thing. But people want to see the weather, right? So many times now with traditional broadcasters, they just stand in front of radar for hours and hours, and that's dull. Nobody wants to see that. The people want to see. So we're going to have all these cameras, and we're going to. We've got an agreement with Brett Adair. I don't know if you know Brett. He's one of the premier chaser guys in the country, and he's from Alabama. And we've got to deal with Brett and his chasers, where we'll have the live streams going every Time this tornado is flying and understand this is Alabama. Most of our tornadoes are rain wrapped, most of them happen at night. But there are times when you will be able to see them on these streams and, and the other thing too that I bring to the table that other folks don't have. It's user generated content. Since, let's see, 4 o' clock today, how many pictures and videos do you think I've received? And for those we're recording this at 7:20. This is the last three hours and 30 minutes.

[Bubba Bussy]

I bet you got 50 pictures if.

[James Spann]

You got 1 2, 200.

[Bubba Bussy]

Wow. How do you even filter through that?

[James Spann]

I can't. And that's what's so sad. I cannot see them all. And there's gold in here. We had thunderstorms at Panama city beach along 30A and the shelf clouds were just stunning. And everybody at Panama City beach they're going to send a picture to me and I am honored that they've done, they've chosen me, I really am. We've had thunderstorms in Alabama, shelf clouds, heavy rain, thunder, lightning and a gazillion rainbows. They're going to send that rainbow picture to me and I am honored that they chose me. Please keep them coming. And what this new entity is going to do, it's going to give me the staff and the people to be able to process all this and it becomes critical in real time tornado events. Understand? You know for example during an average tornado event in a 24 hour stretch I'll have 10,000 photographs and videos and I'll have the people to go through that. And within those 10,000 you're going to see some unbelievable tornado videos, damage video. Critical, critical elements that need to be on the air. And they're going to get it to me and we're going to make it happen. I will have more people in that room than I've ever had before and it's going to be so good. And not only tornadoes Bubba, but goodness, you know what we have here? We have hurricanes on the go.

[Bubba Bussy]

What about the S word, James?

[James Spann]

Well we have that too. And listen, you know if we have a, we've not had a crippling ice storm here since 1982. We are way overdue. The 82 ice storm was devastating. Three quarters of a million people had no power. We had severe loss of life. This was a catastrophe. And for something like that we might stay on the air for five days in a row, non stop. Five days, non stop. Let's say we have a hurricane coming up on the Alabama Gulf coast in September. We could stay on the air two or three days leading up to it and the days after it. And I will have the staff and the resources to do it right. And that's what the people want and that's what they deserve. And I think we're going to deliver what we're promising here and also listen to with all this content I get. For example, Right now, Interstate 65 is pretty much shut down at Fort Deposit. You've been to Fort Deposit?

[Bubba Bussy]

I have. I've passed through there many a day.

[James Spann]

So you're not from Greenville, just down the road. I will have right now in my possession dozens of photographs and video. What's got this interstate shut down. We will probably put that live on the stream. That's the one thing about this stream. You never know what you're going to get. I mean, we will have the segments with the different weather segments for different parts of the state. But if we got a major interstate shutdown, we just might go live and we might go with Adair and some of his drone people. They'll put a drone up and we will be able to do what the local stations just can't. And quite frankly, a lot of them don't have the resources they used to have is the. Is the media changes. And we will have that if there's some type of explosion, some type of aircraft crash or anything like that, we might become breaking news. We will never do, you know, news in the traditional sense. Politics, no. Politics, zero, none. But if there's something where an interstate shut down, we'll be able to do that. And the thing is, I've just got the staff to do it right. I love the people I'm working with, you know, you know, old shoe. Old shoes. One of them.

[Bubba Bussy]

Well, I was going to ask you. And we're talking to James Spann, who is now starting the Alabama Weather Network. Many of you know him from his time at ABC 3340, which he'll still be doing. Also. Tell us who are some of the other people involved? Are we going to see them on the air or are they going to be behind. Behind the scenes 24 7. You got to have a little help.

[James Spann]

No, no, man.

[Bubba Bussy]

We.

[James Spann]

Oh, shoe will be seen. And John was one of my. John was my first intern back in the 90s when he was a student in Mississippi State. So John and I go back a long way. And John lives on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay.

[Bubba Bussy]

Right.

[James Spann]

And so. And again, we're a statewide operation. We're going to have people everywhere. So having John down there, that's going to be really, really helpful. And I'm delighted that Bill Murray's gonna get back on the air. You know I think you know Bill.

[Bubba Bussy]

Oh yeah, real well.

[James Spann]

Bill is. We've been doing weather together for. Since the 90s but Bill is. He's just been brilliant in putting this whole technical thing together. And we've hired some just incredible people like Drew McCombs. You probably don't know Drew but Drew's a meteorologist, seasoned veteran. And Drew has worked for Baron Weather in Huntsville, Bob Barron's company. In fact we'll be using Baron equipment and I love the fact that we're using equipment from an Alabama company. How cool is that real to get this stuff on the air. In fact if you watch us on 3340 that's Baron equipment. They've got stations, networks all over the country in the world using their graphics equipment and they're based in Huntsville. Bob is an old.

[Bubba Bussy]

Yeah, right.

[James Spann]

Bob. Weather in motion. Bob Barron. In fact here's a trivia question about the thing about Bob. Bob used to do radio. He was on WHHY in Montgomery really with Larry Stevens way back in the early to mid-70s. And then he did radio in Huntsville at 50000 watt wa a y Huntsville. He's got a great voice, great voice. And Bob shifted into television and got into weather and the Tornado event in 89 and Huntsville November 15th of 89 it killed 23 people. There was no warning on a Wednesday afternoon. Horrible tragedy. And that changed Bob and Bob started his company soon after that and he has done so well and Bob's doing fine. In fact I'll see him here in September for a big weather conference up there in Huntsville. But anyway, having said all that, Drew McCombs worked for Barron Services and we've hired him away from Barron and some of the older folks. I say older. That's not. Let me rephrase that. The veterans that I used to work with are going to be coming back to some degree like Ashley Brand. Ashley's another former intern, Charles Daniel. Charles is great.

[Bubba Bussy]

We love old Charles. I still talk to him every now and then.

[James Spann]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bubba Bussy]

Well it.

[James Spann]

And you know these are just really really good veterans that are level headed that understand the science, they understand the culture, the people and the geography. And I just think it's going to work out really, really well. So we'll start August 11th and you know we're going to go through Sims next week simulations. We're going to go through a simulated high end tornado event. And let me tell you what, Bubba, I'm going to be brutal in there. I'm going to throw everything at them to see how they handle it. And of course this is not on the air. This is all, it's a simulation right as we prep for opening day. But I will have built in equipment failures during the event where we lose vital pieces of equipment, we lose cameras, we lose Internet links. And I want to try and get them flustered. I want to see if I can just make them get it. I want everything to go wrong and see how they respond to that. And let's look at it and number one, be sure that it doesn't go wrong. Let's be sure this doesn't happen when we're on the air. But if anything does happen, let's look at plan A, plan B, have a backup to the backup. But we're going to do sims for a major tornado outbreak, major hurricane on the Gulf Coast. We are going to do a sim for a winter storm and like a Snowmageddon. And we're also going to do some sims for unexpected events. Bubba, you know, it's easy when we know a big day's coming, you know, four or five days in advance. But what about that rogue storm at 2am that's coming through Monroe county and you got a tornado warning in effect at 2:02am and it's after midnight Thursday night, early Friday morning. We're going to simulate surprise middle of the night events to be sure that we don't miss anything. Because the promise we're making to the people is that, that if there's a tornado warning for any county in this state, that's 67 counties, no matter what hour of the day or night, weekend, weekday, we'll be there with live coverage. And if you break that promise once, your promise is no good. And we just have to be sure that we can honor that commitment. So we're going to simulate some surprise middle of the night tornado warnings in Frisco City and URI and places like that in the middle of the night. And, and that's the one thing we have to be sure that we can do. And like we're doing now, we're home. And the nice thing about it now with the technology and the bandwidth we have, we can broadcast from home. And we, we might not be at the main studio, the Alabama Weather Network studio. I just need to be able to be sure that I can get on that live stream at 2:02am from my house, which again, we've tested it, it seems to work just fine. But we're going to do simulations with it and be sure that it, it's okay next week. So instead of the late July vacation, it's simulation week at the Alabama Weather Network.

[Bubba Bussy]

So you'll have backup Internet, I guess. I get. You probably have some of Elon's downlink stuck around as backup, I guess. And where, where actually is the, the headquarters going to be?

[James Spann]

It's going to be at an undisclosed location. I can't really announce it publicly, but I'll just say that we will be able to. We have the bandwidth, we have the backup bandwidth, we have the backup power, everything we need to stay on in case of a true, true catastrophe, like a crippling 1982 ice storm. And most people, this is way before they were born. But that, that 82 thing was just a total, total debacle. So anyway, it's an undisclosed location, but it's a darn good location.

[Bubba Bussy]

You got a bunker, in other words.

[James Spann]

It'S basically a bunker. And again, if we need to, like where I am right now, I'm home.

[Bubba Bussy]

It doesn't matter where you are, as long as you are communicating.

[James Spann]

Right. I've got a really nice green. Yeah, got a really nice green wall and I've got, you know, gigabit fiber and I have done a lot of live stuff from the house here. I mean, it's fairly routine. I'm on the TV every morning on Good Morning Alabama, the ABC 3340 morning show. I'm on every morning and sometimes I'll do the newscast here. But I just want to be sure that we can handle that in the middle of the night. And those are the tricky ones. I tell people all the time. You look at April 27, 2011, you know that day? Well, yeah, we had, for those that don't know, we had 62 tornadoes in one day. 252 people died. It was horrific. That's inexcusable. Inexcusable for anybody, any of us weather professionals or the public. But the warnings, it was easy, bubba.

[Bubba Bussy]

Yeah. You guys told us days ahead that, that that day was coming, right?

[James Spann]

And during the event, the signatures were so good and strong and clear and that many of the tornadoes were visible on the cameras. I'm telling you, I could get a third grader could have issued warnings on April 27, 2011. It was easy. The hard ones are the middle of the night squall line tornadoes and you get a little spinner a little spin up tornado that gets in there and it's down for four or five, six minutes and it goes away. And those suckers can cause a lot of damage and they can blow a tree onto a mobile home and kill somebody and it's like whack a mole. That's the hardest thing to deal with. And you know that, that's. We're going to have to look at our philosophy on that. And every weather service office is different, but that's where it gets hard. And I want us to be at the top of our game and, and people expect us to be there during impactful weather, maybe when there's not even a warning in effect. Sometimes we'll just need to go live. If there's impactful weather that's affecting people where they're starting to grow concerned and they're getting a little nervous and we just need to talk to them for a few minutes and we might do some of that as well. But the promise is for tornado warnings.

[Bubba Bussy]

Well, other things we learned pretty well, James. And an F1 can do a lot of damage. So we saw that firsthand and I'm a believer.

[James Spann]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we, we. Let me tell you, an EF0 is dangerous. It doesn't matter what number it is. People get hung up in these fours and fives. But you know, we had a three hit this house in four years ago.

[Bubba Bussy]

Yeah.

[James Spann]

And you've, we've all had, we've all, we all can testify that tornadoes happen to real people at a real place, a real time. But, but the other thing too, I wanted to mention, bub, is we're going to promise this. We're not going to be a bunch of hypers. It's gotten out of hand. It's lunacy, absolute lunacy with weather now. And this is across not only the socials, but also within some of the traditional broadcast communities where everything is dangerous, everything is going to kill you, everything is horrible. You know, code red weather emergency. And they'll do this when the high is 90. Dangerous, life threatening heat every year when temperatures are like below average. And I'm thinking what is. And it's not the local meteorologists, they're under a mandate to do this from their corporate overlords thinking that's going to bring people back to traditional Ron Burgundy newscasts. I believe it's driving people away. If you go hang out with real people like I do, go to Dollar General, hang out with them. Go to Dollar General in reform and talk to people, they'll tell you they're sick of it. They're sick of the non stop hype. Every time there's a chance of a thunderstorm. Code red weather emergency. First alarm impact to stick your head between your legs. We're all gonna die. This is nonsense. It's just constant, constant, constant hype. And I promise we will not do that at this new entity. If you hear us using serious words, it's serious. So that that's the one thing we're going to stay away from.

[Bubba Bussy]

We're talking to James Spann, meteorologist, now the founder of the Alabama Weather Network. James, gonna take a quick break. We'll be right back. Want to talk some weather tech with you and some personal things that people are wanting to know about. And we'll be right back in just a minute.

[James Spann]

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[Bubba Bussy]

We're back with James Spann, weather icon who is now starting the Alabama Weather Network. He is explaining that to us how that's going to work. He's still going to be on the air at ABC 3340 in Birmingham where so many of you have seen him over the years and James, we're just. We're happy for you, man. We've known you a long time. And I went to the first storm spotter class. I think that it was you that put it on. And around 82, somewhere in there when I got into ham radio. But I wanted to know. And Betty was here, and she wanted to know, too. She's such a fan of Karen. But Karen misses you. A lot of times you're gone when these things are happening. How. How does that affect, you know, with the Mrs. Being left at home and you're out there, you know, trying to get the information out, but you're still gone. Does she get tired of that, or does she maybe like Betty, she might appreciate the break.

[James Spann]

Yeah, she's probably glad to have me out of the house during COVID I had to do the weather at home for a long time, and I think she was ready for me to go back to work. Yeah. But no, we've been married for 44 years.

[Bubba Bussy]

Wow. Congratulations.

[James Spann]

She is just great. I mean, I would be a nobody without her. A total nobody. She is the wind beneath my wings, and she's just great. And she's gotten used to it. I mean, she's basically a weather widow. You know, when there are tornadoes flying around here, she knows I'm going to be doing my thing. That's what I'm called to do. I was born to do that. And she's just been great to give me the freedom to do that. And it was so hard the day we got hit by that tornado. Of course, we got a shelter rated for an EF5 tornado. So I know she was in it, and I know she was okay, but you don't know if you have a house. And she's had to ride that thing out by herself, which is terrifying, and I hate that. But, James, talk a little bit about that.

[Bubba Bussy]

You were live on the air, and you. You literally had to step away for a second to let her know and be sure she was. She was in her safe place.

[James Spann]

Yeah. Yeah. And then I texted her, you have to be a wicked multitasker to do what I do, you know, you got to be a wicked multitasking guy.

[Bubba Bussy]

Pull your shoe off.

[James Spann]

Oh, yeah, you got that right. But. But I texted her, and she immediately texted back that she was in the shelter.

[Bubba Bussy]

But.

[James Spann]

But, you know, your mind just starts to race. And Eric Land, who was our general manager at the time, and Eric is just great. He. I saw him in the studio, and he was kind of waving a phone, and I knew that I Knew that's what it was. And of course, Taylor Siralo was with me back then, and she's great. Goodness that she is so good. But Taylor took it, and Eric got me out in the hall, and they had been talking with her, Eric and Pam Huff, you know, staying on the phone with her. But it gave me a chance to talk with her and, you know, again, just to reassure me that she was okay. And the house was not destroyed. The roof stayed on the house. You know, we had trees on top of the house, and it was a whole bunch of damage. It was horrible. But that was a very comforting phone call. But I was so distracted that day. And we. And Bubba, six people died that day. A lot of people forgot that six people were killed on March 25, 2021, in Ohachi. And I know you've been to Ohachi.

[Bubba Bussy]

Oh, yeah, Many times. The creek bank.

[James Spann]

And. Yeah. And, you know, I look back on it, and it was. It was such a distraction. I just don't. I was not at the top of my game on that day because of the distraction, and I hate that. We had loss of life that day, and that's the only metric we use to measure our success, is loss of life. If you get through a tornado day with no loss of life, you've done your job. But on that day, we lost six. And. But again, that. That. Yeah. And that's just a stark reminder that in a lot of people where we live down here that it's in a valley. And. Yeah. I've heard all my life that tornadoes won't cross that mountain over there. I've always heard that we're down here in this valley, and we never have tornadoes here. Well, that's nonsense. Everybody's got it.

[Bubba Bussy]

Sure. In our neighborhood, didn't we?

[James Spann]

Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's total nonsense. Everybody's got a reason why tornado. Tornadoes don't happen where they live. And it's based on something they heard from their grandmama or, you know, some mountain or. I was speaking to us one time, and some guy said, well, ever since they built the eastern bypass, we quit having tornadoes here. Well, let's just build a bypass around the whole country, and that way we won't have any tornadoes about that.

[Bubba Bussy]

So we have relatives.

[James Spann]

Got to be ready.

[Bubba Bussy]

James. That thought the space shuttle caused tornadoes. Now, it had no.

[James Spann]

Wow.

[Bubba Bussy]

It had nothing to do. You know, it disrupted the air, and. And that was the beginning of it. Now, it had nothing to do with. They launched a lot of space shuttles in the spring and. And that's also when we have tornadoes. They kind of looked over that fact. But no, no correlation. Right. Just so on set the record straight. No correlation between rockets and tornadoes.

[James Spann]

No. And I think the favorite one I've seen when they started building roundabouts, the traffic roundabouts that started tornado activity a definite increase.

[Bubba Bussy]

I kind of wish I thought of that one. That was. Looks good. That.

[James Spann]

That was a great tick tock video and like. But I think we're safe to say that the roundabouts have nothing to do with it.

[Bubba Bussy]

So James, I know your wife post about your crazy socks and that's what Betty wanted me to ask you about. She loves crazy sock pictures. Tell me. Tell everybody about your crazy socks.

[James Spann]

I wish this was video. You ought to see what I'm wearing right now. I've got one. What One is Smuckers and the other is Jif. It's peanut butter and jelly. That's yesterday I wore the dumpster fire socks. Those are outstanding.

[Bubba Bussy]

I mean so how many whenever you have like that?

[James Spann]

I think I probably got at least 300. And what's happened? Schools have started to give me these crazy socks now. So. So you know, I go to a school. Used to get a cookie or a cake and now you'll get socks, which is great. What's funny, when you're a kid you hate it. You couldn't stand the thought of getting socks in my old age. I can't wait. Give me some crazy socks. I'm all in. I've. I was wearing goodness Green Green Valley School gave me a James Span. It's got my head all over the socks which is terrifying. But yeah, I was wearing. I've got every cereal known to man. Captain Crunch crossed it flakes. I've got socks for almost every cereal brand. You name it, I've got it. And of course the Christmas socks are so good. In fact, I'll start wearing my Christmas socks next month.

[Bubba Bussy]

Well, you have to get them all in, right?

[James Spann]

Yeah, I do. I mean come on. Tis the season. I think. I think Hobby Lobby's got their Christmas stuff out already. Let's go. Let's start the season.

[Bubba Bussy]

Come on, James. Let's talk a little about the technology of weather. A lot has changed since we had old Nimbus one up there taking pictures. I believe that was the name of it. One of the first. First weather satellites. We've come such a long way. Tell us a little bit about radar now and how good that is and where are we headed and are there things out there we don't even know about yet?

[James Spann]

Yeah, so. So obviously the big change was in the 90s when Doppler radar came online. And that's when you could start to see wind velocity within a storm. That's like going from being blind to having your eyes open. Yeah, that changed everything. And if you notice there's a big spike in the number of tornadoes. We weren't having any more tornadoes. We just knew about them in the 90s because of the Doppler processing. And then the next big thing came along in about 2011-2015, dual polarization. And with dual polarization, we could see that the radar beam was coming back off something. That's not a hydrometeor, it's not a raindrop, it's not a hailstone. It's different. And there's a lowered correlation coefficient for those things. And you know what that is? That's debris from the ground being lofted into a tornado. So. And we never had any idea that product would be that good. We knew that it existed, but holy cow. So now we can confirm that there's a tornado down. Confirm there's a tornado down when debris is being lofted using correlation coefficients. So that product came along locally here. It came online about 2012, 2013, I think. We didn't have it in 2011. So the next big thing, it's going to be called phased array radar. And for those that don't know the way it works, if you drive by a radar installation, you see this big ball, like a soccer ball sitting on top of a tower. And if you didn't know any better, you might think it's a water tower. But inside the ball there's a parabolic antenna. And it spins around. It's mechanical. Spins around all day.

[Bubba Bussy]

Yeah, like a D. Yes, right.

[James Spann]

Shooting out beams of electromagnetic energy. And it takes a while, bubba. This thing's a big old, about 20 foot dish. Takes a while to get that thing all the way around. And think of all the things that can happen in the time it's spinning around. What phased array will do. It's going to give us real time data. Real time, all quadrants, all sectors, all tilts, real time. There's no delay. There's a series of flat plates that's not moving. There's no motion whatsoever. And that's the other thing. These things break down. They're mechanical. With phased array, there's no moving parts and you've got, I forget the exact number, but dozens and dozens and dozens of these little antennas and transmitters and receivers and that's Going to be a game changer. The resolution, real time, and it might not be operational in my lifetime. You know, I'm old as dirt. But if I had to guess, we'll probably start to see the first ones coming online maybe 20, 35, maybe 10 years from now, 10 to 15 years from now. But I think that's really the next big thing. And the big thing we've got to figure out is replacing weather balloons. We're still launching weather balloons like they did in World War I. And here we are in 2025. We have to have a better way of getting real time upper air data. And there's a lot of drone experiments that are happening and other things, and they'll get that cracked too. But once we get that data, the computer models will be much better and the weather forecast will be better. But that's still probably 10 years off.

[Bubba Bussy]

You know, you were talking about phased arrays, and I think that's so interesting because being ham guys, you know, we're used to dealing with RF and antennas and all that, but, you know, phased arrays actually have been around a long time, like with AM stations that are directional, you know, at night and all this. But we've never used them in the high frequencies like we are now. And I mentioned Starlink a minute ago. You know, Elon has his downlink. It doesn't have to track those moving satellites. They do it with a phased array. So they electronically tilt that antenna as opposed to physically moving it. And it's a game changer, like you said, because when things move, they break. And that is really cool technology that they're going to be able to work that into the weather radar and, you know, with more computing power, like the debris ball, you know, when I see that purple ball, like you said, we know something's up. But that data was there. They just didn't know how to manipulate it with the programming to get it like it is now. And once that software was updated and, and, and groomed to do that, man, that is a, that is a tremendous weapon.

[James Spann]

Oh, it's, it's outstanding. And you're right, that, the phased array thing, it's fascinating for old ham radio geeks. And if you ever drive by an old AM transmitter site where you got three, four, five towers out in the field, that's a phased array. That's what that is. And with phased array, and it'll be C band. C band radar is 4 to 8 gigahertz. And it's basically the same concept, but with not just, you know, three, four Five antennas. You're going to have dozens and dozens and dozens of these suckers with no moving parts. And it, it'll be a game changer. And, and again, all that matters is mitigating loss of life. That, that's the big deal. And we've still. The loss of life is too high for events. The Texas thing was horrible, horrible. There were good warnings. The kids never heard it. Counselors apparently never heard it. And this, there'll be a study and we'll know more later. And I still think now is not the time to really get into that too much. But that's an example of the loss of life that we just cannot accept, that we can't. You look at these kids faces, you know, one of those eight year old girls went to school at Cherokee Bend Elementary School here in Mountain Brook. And that, that's all that matters. It's how it affects people in mitigating loss, loss of life. And all these tools, they're just tools and we have to understand them and use them in the right way and we'll get it done. I'm very, very, very excited about the future.

[Bubba Bussy]

James, I know you're not a big proponent of sirens. Some folks still are. You want to talk about that a little bit and especially in the flooding in Texas because you would think all of these kids had their cell phone with them. I mean my gosh, they're glued to them all the time. How did they not get that warning? Or was it a nighttime thing and people asleep? Where was the failure in that?

[James Spann]

Well, part of it, it was the middle of the night. This was after midnight, about 1, 2am actually closer to 3, 4am and these were younger children. These are 6, 7, 8, 9 year old kids. And so they're not teenagers. They don't have, they don't have phones. The counselors, I understand it that they were not allowed to have them. And the ones that did the cell service was horrible. And apparently the greatest failure here was the fact that they didn't have a weather radio that would have alarmed them four hours in advance for the first flash flood warning. The flash flood watch came out the day before. There was a flash flood warning four hours in advance, a flash flood emergency one hour in advance. And the weather radio would have gone off for each one of those and it would have wakened them up. Up in considering the history of that, Bubba understand this ain't the first rodeo for this river. This is the Texas hill country. This happened in 1987. Horrible loss of life with kids. It's happened over and over and over and over and over. The things on a floodplain and out there, it's different. Most people that die in flash floods here, people drive through flash floods out there, it's different. These are basically dry washes, these riverbeds. And when you get a foot of rain that comes down, you're going to get basically a wall of water that comes down. And considering the past and where they are, I cannot believe they did not have weather radios in every camp house, every structure there. I just don't understand that. And again, we'll find out more later. But that's a, a failure of people not getting the warning. And we all have responsibility in that. We in the weather enterprise, but the people do too. And that's why we say everybody has to have a weather radio. I don't care where you live, what kind of Fancy iPhone, Samsung, PQ Pro Max you have, or whatever, that phone could become a brick during an emergency. And sirens, forget it. You're sleeping at three in the morning during a raging storm and you think you're going to hear some siren five miles away. That's lunacy, absolute lunacy. So everybody's got to have a weather radio. It would have saved those kids lives. And it's critical. So that, that's, and I've been preaching this for years. And you know, weather radio, Bubba, has nothing to do with cell phones. It's good old RF technology, baby. 162.55 MHz, about 5 or 6, you.

[Bubba Bussy]

Know, channels there, right?

[James Spann]

That's it, man. And you got these suckers up on big towers running big power and they cover Dixie like the dew. And they work. They're old school, but they're good schools. So just something to think about as we, you know, and we'll start preaching it soon. Tornado season begins in November, November through May. We're in hurricane season now. But again, they come in for all types of hazards. So now's a good time to get.

[Bubba Bussy]

I know you have seen so much destruction in your time and you can begin to correlate things like you always talk about get on the lowest floor, get in the middle of the house. If you can't get underground, you know, bathrooms, the plumbing fixtures help to hold the walls together, the, the, the pipes inside. But the number one thing, and we've talked about this many, many times, even back on, on the radio show, is to protect your head. The majority of fatalities are due to head injuries, correct?

[James Spann]

Yeah. And you know what's funny? 20 years ago, I took a volunteer job at a hospital because I wanted to talk with ER docs and learn how people are hurt and how they die in tornadoes. I'm still doing that job 20 years later. I never expected this to morph into something like this, and it's a marvelous ministry. But I will tell you, after 20 years of volunteering at a high level in healthcare and talking to so many ER docs and clinicians, that by putting on a simple, cheap bicycle helmet, motorcycle helmet, football helmet, batting helmet, that will increase your chance of survivability in some cases by over 60, 70% during a tornado. And it's not that hard to do. And we've got to. We have to do a better job of communicating that message. And this is not just for kids. My position. Every human life is Precious, whether you're nine or 90. And so everybody's got to wear one of these. Now, if you're in a. In a, you know, shelter rated for an EF5 tornado, that's fine. But most people don't have that. They're in a closet, a bathroom, an interior hallway. That's when you put that helmet on. So as part of the safe plan, everybody's got to have helmet that does include the adults, not just the kids.

[Bubba Bussy]

And, James, I don't think a lot of people realize the, the physics. If you have a nail that is flying through the air at 200 miles an hour, it is more deadly than a bullet hitting your head. And a simple helmet will deflect it. That's what's so crazy about it.

[James Spann]

It's blunt force trauma above the shoulders from shrapnel, and that's how most people die. And, and again, it's not nice to talk about, but it's. It is what it is. During a strong, violent tornado, let's say there's an EF4, EF5, there's a good chance you could be lofted. And when you're aloft, you will be hit by shrapnel, hit hard, and there's a good chance you can survive if that shrapnel hits an arm or a leg. But if that thing hits your skull, you won't survive. And by putting on a helmet, if you are lofted, that's. You have to have that to survive it. I can count the number of people on one hand that I know that have been lofted and that have survived without one. So that's just another reason to put that sucker on and to have them out there for everybody in your safe place.

[Bubba Bussy]

James, we really appreciate you taking time to talk about your new venture and once you're up and going, we want to get you back, find out how it's going and see how we can help. You know, we love the technology and I know the, the ability and we really didn't talk about this. The ability to get storm spotters video in and get those on now is amazing technology. The quality of the video and there's just so many more things we want to cover. But I appreciate your time and good luck to you on this venture. I know you're going to be successful and we want to have you back again to, to talk a little more about this. But best of luck to you my friend and we certainly appreciate appreciate you.

[James Spann]

You're the greatest. Bubba. You're a legend. It's an honor to be here.

[Bubba Bussy]

Ah, you're too kind. James Spann, weather icon and now the founder of the Alabama Weather Network. Coming to a streaming device near you soon. We'll be right back.

[James Spann]

You're listening to Bubba on the Lake. Hit me Bad. A production of intergalactic pants and teas. All right. Rights reserved. A lot of life can happen between sips of Dasani. You know the life moments big and small that are worth getting thirsty for. Like organizing a family movie night under the stars. Or hearing an old favorite song and having an impromptu dance party. Or finding a new dinner recipe that the whole family loves. The crisp, clean taste of Dasani was made for all of life's thirst worthy moments. The sunny because life happens between sips.

[Bubba Bussy]

Alright folks, we are way over on our time so we're going to wrap it right there. I want to thank James Spann for being with us. We want to thank you for being with us. And remember that website bubbaonthelake.com you can get all the latest information there and included please check out Bubba on the Lake radio. We got a button for it right there. Let me know what you think. Catch you next time. Thank you. Help us spread the word about this podcast. We still got to get out there and knock on doors and get the word out. And remember, being on the lake is not necessarily a location but a state of mind. Peace. Love you. See you next time. This podcast is brought to you in part by Coke Buffalo Wild Wings Southern Immediate Care Guaranteed Labels, Central State Bank Lake Sunrise docks, banker's bounty, Dr. Thomas Dudney and the Green Monster Fishing Light.