James Spann is a legendary meteorologist, but his most refined skill may be putting social medial trolls in their place.
Trolling, which is defined as “making a deliberately offensive or provocative online posting with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them,” has become a favorite pastime of many individuals on the Internet, where anonymity breeds contempt.
On Christmas night, one particularly upset troll sent Spann an expletive-laden Facebook message because ABC 33/40 chose to interrupt the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors basketball game with an urgent weather update.
As severe weather, including tornados and deadly floods, swept across Alabama, Spann — as he always does — kept Alabamians apprised of the situation.
North Alabama resident David Chamblee just wanted to see LeBron James and Stephan Curry duke it out, so he let Spann have it. The Master Troll Deflector took it in stride.
Over 1,300 Twitter users retweeted Spann’s response to the troll, along with almost 3,000 “likes.”
This is not the first time Spann has taken on the “trolls, haters and know-it-alls.” Earlier this year he took to Facebook to school the ones who send him and his colleagues “hateful messages” about forecasts they believe are inaccurate, when in actuality they are just looking at outdated information.
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
If you haven’t seen Yellowhammer’s in-depth interviews with Spann, now might be a good time to check them out below.
Spann: ‘Alabama is my family, we’ve been through a lot together’
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Spann on global warming alarmists: ‘This stuff is so outrageous’
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Spann still feels the weight of lives lost during historic tornado outbreak
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