• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, 3 hours ago

Demonstrating once again that courageous TV journalism can be found all over the United States in markets large and small, a meteorologist in Alabama stayed on the air even as a tornado he was tracking was hitting the station’s building.

It happened May 25 on WDHN, the ABC affiliate in Dothan, Alabama. 

Dothan -- located in the southeast corner of Alabama -- is ranked 170th in market size in the U.S. with an estimated 108,770 TV households.

As the tornado struck the station, meteorologist Jordan Ambrose stayed live on the air as colleagues off-camera kept the broadcast going (screenshot above).

They did so while glass was heard shattering someplace else in the building, and the facility was sustaining damage to the roof.  

Fortunately, no one was injured, but the tornado’s 105-mph winds were forceful enough to destroy part of the station’s sign outside and completely rip off an aluminum awning and throw it hundreds of yards away.

Later, Ambrose talked about the tornado broadcast on a new show called “News Classroom.” 

The show is seen on YouTube; WLJT, the PBS station in Jackson, Tennessee; and a local cable channel in Jackson known as EPlusTV 6.

Premiering two months ago, the half-hour show is produced and anchored by two long-time veterans of local TV news -- Steve Beverly and Steve Bowers.

The concept of “News Classroom” came out of their experiences engaging with viewers. “One thing we found out is that you ask questions about journalism, and how decisions are made about what is news and what is not,” said Bowers in the introduction to their first show posted two months ago on YouTube.

“And that is what we hope to answer for you here on ‘News Classroom,’ a concept to try to give you the viewers at home an opportunity to look behind the curtain and see how decisions have been made through the years including right now today,” Beverly said.

The show’s format includes throwing the spotlight on outstanding local TV journalism such as the tornado report Jordan Ambrose gave on May 25.

Ambrose, 25, has been a meteorologist for three years, having graduated from Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, in 2023 with a Bachelor in the Science of Meteorology degree. He joined WDHN in 2025 as chief meteorologist.

In the"News Classroom” interview -- which includes footage of the tornado broadcast -- Ambrose credited mentors with instilling in him a sense of responsibility to stay calm on the air during emergencies for the benefit of the community unless he and his colleagues were in imminent peril.

“I said a quick little prayer in my head and said, OK, I know this is not going to be my last situation, but if I handle this well, this can help other people to prepare,” Ambrose said.

“The main thing I’m going to take away is … now that I’ve actually been in a tornado, I can communicate to viewers [that] your meteorologist is not lying to you. This is something I have personally experienced,” he said.