Botched Story': Alabama Meteorologist Calls Out Diane Sawyer on Inaccurate Report

On Monday, ABC's "World News" host Diane Sawyer reported on the devastating tornadoes that tore through Alabama, stating that the residents had "no warning."

The local ABC 33/40 affiliate meteorologist James Spann is setting Sawyer straight. He says she got it wrong.

First, check out this clip of Sawyer's report on the tornadoes Monday evening:

Spann writes on the ABC 33/40 website:

NO WARNING? Get a clue. This event was forecast days in advance, and the average lead times for the entire event were 20 to 30 minutes. That is plenty of time to get to a safe place.

We were on the air non-stop from about midnight until almost 8 a.m. It has been our policy at ABC 33/40 to provide long form, uninterrupted severe weather coverage if ANY county in our market goes under a tornado warning.

Spann then goes on to record all the warnings residents were given, ending with this address to Sawyer:

So… Diane… the challenge I made to you last night on WeatherBrains stands. Let’s debate. My email is jspann@abc3340.com

I am not holding my breath.

Then, the next day, ABC News had more on the twisters. Sawyer leads the introduction to this report saying they wanted to know "why so many people knew what to do". Watch the clip:

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As you can see, Sawyer makes no clarification for her "no warning" statement the day before. In the clip, Media Bistro points out, there is coverage of how the warnings actually came early, giving residents enough time to take action. A soundbite from Spann about how he believes each home should have a NOAA radio as a warning system is also included in the report.

Spann wrote in another blog post that while he is "thankful to ABC News for producing the story", he didn't miss the fact that there was "no apology or mention of the botched story".