As Hurricane Milton surged east across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida’s western shoreline, Leigh Spann, similar to numerous inhabitants of the Tampa Bay region, roamed her residence clutching a large Rubbermaid bin.

She had to make a swift choice regarding which belongings she would preserve.

“This is a photo I’d like to keep. Here is a book. I suppose everything else can go,” she remembrances.

Spann BS ’01 resides in South Tampa, an area that inundates during just a mild summer rain shower. Milton unleashed winds exceeding 100 MPH and a potential storm surge of over 15 feet.

Perhaps more than many, Spann recognized the threats. For the past 17 years, she has served as the morning meteorologist for WFLA, Tampa Bay’s NBC partner. A storm like Milton could devastate vast sections of a metropolitan region with a population of 3 million.

“I try to keep that notion in my mind when discussing severe weather,” Spann states. “I understand it’s terrifying. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but we will get through this.”

In the hours leading up to Milton making landfall, Spann remained on emergency call and did not depart the station. Responding to the alerts conveyed by Spann and other forecasters, millions of Floridians evacuated before the storm struck. In the aftermath, although property destruction in Florida was extensive, there was minimal loss of life.

It’s not an exaggeration to credit Spann’s efforts, along with those of other local meteorologists, with saving lives. After the storm made landfall south of the region and moved out of the state, Spann finally left her workplace and headed home. The neighborhood was unscathed. She unpacked her Rubbermaid.

Clear Skies Ahead

Spann was raised in Hazlehurst, Georgia, a small town in the southeastern part of the state with a population of approximately 4,000. She was the valedictorian of her high school graduating class of around 120, and the University of Georgia was the sole institution she aspired to attend. What to major in was another dilemma.

From fifth grade onward, she participated in—and triumphed at—public speaking competitions. She also had a passion for math and science. Thus, after taking a weather and climate course at UGA, Spann realized that a career in meteorology might be perfect for her. She opted for a major in geography and completed the atmospheric sciences certificate program, interned as a meteorologist at WMAZ in Macon during her senior year, and secured a permanent position at the station the next spring.

What I consistently share with students when I go to speak is how fortunate I am to have discovered a profession that merged two passions I didn’t believe were connected: math and science, and public speaking. And I got to combine them.” — Leigh Spann, morning meteorologist at WFLA-TV in Tampa-St. Petersburg from 2007 to 2024

Spann spent two years in Macon before transitioning to a station in Charleston, South Carolina. Since her arrival at WFLA in 2007, Spann has filled the morning slot—initially on weekends, then from Monday to Friday. She arrives at 2 a.m., reviews the projections, designs the graphics, and formulates a rough narrative in her mind about what she will communicate. The first broadcast begins at 4:30 a.m.

Throughout her professional journey, Spann has carried a piece of UGA with her. She maintains one of her UGA textbooks, Atmospheric Physics, with its highlights and margin annotations still as vivid as the day they were written, in her desk at WFLA. On football Fridays, she consistently dons red and black.

“What I consistently communicate with students when I go to speak is how fortunate I am to have found a career that combined two passions I didn’t think were related: math and science, and public speaking. And I got to merge them,” Spann states. “And now I’ve enjoyed an almost 25-year career.”

Furthermore, it’s a profession that has recently shifted in a new direction. In the fall of 2024, she announced her retirement from broadcasting. Following a celebratory period that involved station acknowledgments and even a public meet-and-greet, Spann’s final on-air appearance was on Nov. 8. At the end of that month, she relocated to northern Ohio to join her husband, who manages a TV station there.

She’ll be transitioning to a role as an agent for meteorologists and other television journalists. This is a shift related to the work she has always cherished but represents a new and thrilling challenge.

“If I can assist someone in discovering what I found in my career—how contented I’ve been—it would be worthwhile,” she expresses. “Hopefully, I’ll enjoy another 25-year career.”

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