Former Houston meteorologist Gene Norman has joined WIAT in Birmingham, AL, as chief meteorologist.

Norman, whose bio is already on the CBS affiliate’s website wrote, “I’m looking forward to working with a strong team committed to giving Alabama viewers life-saving information when the skies grow dark.  When it’s time to get out and enjoy a sunny day, I’ll tell you that too.”

WIAT news director Bill Payer told TVSpy, Norman goes on-air Monday. He will anchor the 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. newscasts.

Norman last worked as chief meteorologist at Houston CBS affiliate KHOU. He left the station November 2012.

According to Houston media blogger Mike McGuff, WIAT has seen recent staff changes.  The station recently lost morning meteorologist Kalee Dionne to Kansas City NBC affiliate KSHB.

[Mike McGuff] [Houston Chronicle]

The effects of severe weather in Birmingham, Alabama added a dramatic punctuation mark to an interview being conducted by WIAT photographer Scott MacDowell.

The photographer for the CBS affiliate was talking to local resident Clint Thornton about a tornado that tore through a North Birmingham neighborhood when the roof of Thornton’s house collapsed.

In the video (which can be seen after the jump) Thornton describes how he and his wife escaped injury during the tornado.  He is suddenly distracted by shouts coming from inside the house which are quickly followed by the sounds of the roof collapsing.

“Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God,” said Thornton as the camera captured the tail end of debris falling.  “Ya’ll OK?” asks Thornton a few times before what sounded like women in the house telling him they’re fine.

“Your roof just collapsed!” said MacDowell.  “It just collapsed,” replied Thornton who added, “These things can be replaced.”  Watch the video inside. Read more

ABC 33/40 the ABC affiliate for Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Anniston, AL, has pulled stories about ABC weatherman Sam Champion‘s engagement from its website and its facebook page, according to blogger Jim Romenesko.

Romenesko quotes a viewer who says,

“This is the link to the FB thread that was pulled. This is where the “Sam Champion Engaged!” story was on ABC 33/40’s website. On this Facebook thread, you can see the link to the “Sam Champion Engaged!” story worked at one point, and Facebook is still pulling the proper thumbnail for that story. But if you click the link, it goes to a ‘Page not found’ error page on the ABC 33/40 website.”

Champion announced his engagement to boyfriend Rubem Robierb last week and sat down with his Good Morning America co-anchors to talk about the engagement.  You can watch the video of the discussion after the jump.

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Kalee Dionne, the morning meteorologist at Birmingham CBS-affiliate WIAT, was struck with a case of the hiccups during her weather report this morning.

“Sorry, I have the hiccups,” Dionne cautioned viewers at the beginning of her forecast.

Dionne got through to the end of the report before asking, “Does anyone know a cure for hiccups?” Video inside… Read more

Birmingham Fox-affiliate WBRC has named Mike Dubberly morning co-anchor.

Dubberly, who is currently a sports reporter at the station, has worked at WBRC for the past 16 years. He replaces Rick Journey, who announced his departure from the television business in April. Dubberly officially takes over on July 23.

“When this door came open, I wasn’t sure it would be the right fit for me,” Dubberly said in a statement. “But after filling in for Rick [Journey] for a couple of days, I just realized it was almost like my next calling.”

Pam Huff, along with James Spann, took time during a recent ABC 33/40 newscast to remember longtime Birmingham newsman Wendell Harris, who passed away Tuesday morning.

Harris hired Huff and Spann during his time as news director at Birmingham’s WVTM, giving them both the first big breaks of their careers. When Huff was 24, Harris decided to give up his spot on the WVTM anchor desk and made her the first female nightly news anchor in the state of Alabama. Read more

Wendell Harris, a longtime Birmingham anchor and news director, died this morning after a long hospital stay, according to the Birmingham News. He was 78.

Harris was hired at the Birmingham NBC-affiliate, which was then known as WAPI, in 1960. In his 21 years at the station, he worked as a reporter, assignment editor, news anchor and news director. In 1981, Harris left Birmingham for Austin, where he became general manager of KTBC. After three years, he took over as vice president and news director of KDFW in Dallas. He retired from television in 1996, according to the Birmingham News.

WBMA meteorologist James Spann remembered Harris in a post on his blog this morning. Read more

WBRC morning anchor Rick Journey announced today that he is leaving the television business.

“For some time I have thought about using the skills and contacts developed through a career in journalism to enter a new stage of my life,” he said in a statement. “I am blessed to have those opportunities before me.”

Journey has worked at the Birmingham Fox-affiliate for 20 years, and has been the morning anchor for the past 13 years. His last day at the anchor desk will be June 29, but he will continue to contribute to WBRC on television and online, according to a station statement.

“Follow along with this,” Jimmy Kimmel told his audience on Thursday night, “because you’re about to see a man dig himself into hole, after hole, after hole.”

Kimmel couldn’t contain his laughter as he played a video of veteran WBRC weathercaster Mickey Ferguson having an awkward exchange with two young girls outside of a Walgreens (video above).

In an interview with NPR, veteran meteorologist James Spann, who has become something of a severe weather pundit during his time at ABC 33/40, highlighted the limitations he and his colleagues face when covering tornadoes.

“We’re not as good as we think we are, and we have to accept that and work on it and be better, and admit the warning process has some work to do,” Spann said, referring to the public’s over-reliance on typical tornado warnings, such as sirens.

Spann has long been an outspoken critic of the warning process. Read more