The Madison County Record

• Latest Stories

  • Madison, Huntsville, Madison Co. schools to have identical calendar
  • Rotary Club awards city’s top employees
  • Johnson re-appointed to school board, MCDAB gives out awards
  • Local grocery store raided for selling Spice
  • YMCA pushing people ‘over the edge’

Simpson area’s newest meteorologist

BY LORETTA GILLESPIE

Chief Meteorologist Jason Simpson is the newest addition to the WHNT News 19 Weather team. He is excited to be coming to Huntsville for several reasons.

Simpson

“I’m looking forward to helping keep the viewers here in the Tennessee Valley informed about our weather,” said Simpson. “I intend to carry on the high standards for which WHNT is noted.  Maintaining the trust of our viewers is of uppermost importance for any weathercaster, and I intend to exceed those expectations.”

Simpson comes to Huntsville from Birmingham’s ABC 33/40, where he worked with Chief Meteorologist James Spann for seven years. A native of Holly Pond in Cullman County, Simpson is delighted to be closer to home, especially since he and his wife Lacey have just had their first child, Walter Hayden Simpson, now nine weeks old. Lacey’s parents are residents of Huntsville, and are also delighted with the move.

“I’m extremely impressed with the WHNT facility. It’s a great working environment. The news and weather team are a great group of people and very professional,” said Simpson. “They have already made me feel right at home.”

Both Simpson and WHNT 19 Meteorologist Christina Meeks attended college at Mississippi State, so there was a familiar face to greet him right away. He will officially start his new position in January.

“I’ll be on the air at 5, 6 and 10 p.m., unless there is bad weather and then, of course, I’ll be there whatever the time.”

“Weather forecasts are different for every location,” he said. “This is a very challenging area, often times we experience temps in the 70’s and snow in the same week.”

He won’t go out on a limb in predicting snow for the holidays, but says that his best guess is that we won’t have a repeat of last year’s white Christmas.

“This year, our weather is a La Nina pattern. Of course things can always slip in, but for the most part, that means that there will be a high over the Gulf, preventing long-term periods of cold weather. I predict that our temps will be near normal for most of this winter.”

Simpson loves the science of Meteorology.

“I’ve been fascinated by weather since I was a child,” he said.

A 1998 graduate of Holly Pond High School, Simpson attended Wallace State Community College for a year before moving on to get his degree in Broadcast Meteorology from Mississippi State University.

After graduating at the top of his class, Simpson moved to KMIZ-TV in Columbia, Missouri to anchor the morning weather. A year later he returned to Meridian where he worked as the Chief Meteorologist.

Simpson has covered many important weather events including the fatal tornado in Tuscaloosa on December 16, 2000. He was in the field during the tornado outbreak November 24, 2004 which produced large twisters in Alabama and Mississippi. He also spent two weeks in the Great Plains studying severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.

In 2004, Simpson was awarded the American Meteorological Society Seal of Approval for Excellence in Television Weather. 2007 garnered Simpson the American Meteorological Society’s Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal. In 2008, he won the Associated Press, ’Best Weathercaster’ in Alabama award.