three days prior to the newscast's premiere). Weather coverage WBMA+ has placed a significant emphasis on weather in its news coverage and has become known throughout central Alabama for its comprehensive severe weather coverage led by chief meteorologist James Spann, who joined WBMA+ in October 1996, after he chose to leave WBRC following disagreements with station management over Fox's edgier programming. WBMA+ has maintained a long-standing policy to preempt regular programming and run wall-to-wall, uninterrupted severe weather coverage in the event that the National Weather Service Birmingham office issues a tornado warning for any county within its viewing area. The station operates "StormChaser 33/40", a Jeep customized for storm chasing purposes, which is equipped with a dashcam and a computer programmed with software relaying data from several radar sources; and "AirLink 33/40", a helicopter that is normally used for newsgathering, but is also occasionally used to show the paths of violent and long-track tornadoes. WBMA+ also operates a network of "SkyCam" units throughout Alabama that provide live video as well as weather data from observation sites throughout the state, including downtown Birmingham, Tuscaloosa; Inverness, Gadsden, Jasper, Mount Cheaha, Cullman, Clanton, Gulf Shores, Hamilton, and Huntsville. It also operates a few SkyCam sites in Mississippi, including in Starkville and Columbus, based in locations that presently receive the station via WDBB-DT2 and previously received it through WCFT prior to September 2014. In the latter half of 2013, WBMA+ replaced many of its standard-definition-only SkyCam units with high-definition cameras, and additionally set up new HD SkyCams in the Riverchase Galleria complex (atop the Galleria Tower) in Hoover; atop the Alabama Power Headquarters Building in downtown Birmingham; atop DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa; and in several other locations around central Alabama. Despite being a relatively new station to the Birmingham market, WBMA+ achieved notice among central Alabama viewers as it has captured of several of the most significant weather events in recent state history through both its SkyCams and its tower cameras. On April 27, 2011, the Cullman SkyCam caught footage of a multiple-vortex EF4 tornado that struck the city's downtown area. Later that day, the SkyCam in Tuscaloosa (located atop the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse) captured footage of another EF4 tornado that produced incredible devastation across southeastern portions of that city. Footage of that same tornado as it tracked northeastward into western Jefferson County was captured by the Birmingham SkyCam (located atop the