VIDEO: Tornado SMASHES Into TV Station Live On Air!

A tornado with lightning strikes and debris in a stormy landscape

A tornado tore into a live television station in Alabama on Memorial Day, ripping off the roof while a meteorologist kept broadcasting and the news director narrowly escaped a lobby window exploding inward.

Story Snapshot

A suspected tornado, rated between EF0 and EF1, struck WDHN, an ABC affiliate in Dothan, Alabama, during live severe weather coverage on Memorial Day 2026.
Security footage captured the station’s news director narrowly missing the lobby window as glass was smashed and sucked out by the storm.
Chief meteorologist Jordan Ambrose stayed on air and continued reporting live as the tornado hit the building around him.
The station sustained roof damage, a destroyed awning, shattered windows, uprooted trees, a damaged station vehicle, and water pouring through the ceiling.

A Tornado Hits the People Covering the Tornado

There is something almost poetic about a storm chasing the people who track storms for a living. On the night of May 26, 2026, WDHN in Dothan, Alabama, was deep into live severe weather coverage when the weather stopped being something to report on and became something to survive. At least three tornadoes touched down overnight across Alabama, and one of them found the station itself. ^[1]

The damage was not minor. The roof was torn off. The awning was destroyed. Windows blew out. Trees around the property were uprooted. One station vehicle was damaged. Employees inside described the building shaking as water began pouring from the ceiling. Security footage showed a person, identified in multiple accounts as the station’s news director, narrowly missing the lobby window as glass shattered and was sucked outward by the storm. ^[2]

The Meteorologist Who Did Not Flinch

While the building came apart around him, chief meteorologist Jordan Ambrose kept broadcasting. That detail is not a footnote. It is the core of what made this moment resonate far beyond the Dothan viewing area. Broadcasting live during a tornado warning is standard procedure for local television meteorologists. Broadcasting live while your own station is being destroyed by the storm you are warning people about is something else entirely. Social media responses from other meteorologists and weather professionals reflected genuine admiration, not just viral curiosity. ^[2]

The storm was characterized as a suspected EF0 or EF1 tornado at the time of initial reporting, meaning it was on the lower end of the tornado intensity scale. That qualifier matters. A National Weather Service storm survey confirming the exact rating, path width, and whether the event was a confirmed tornado versus straight-line winds had not been included in the public record available at the time of this writing. What is clear from station footage and NBC News coverage is that whatever hit WDHN produced structural damage consistent with significant rotational wind. ^[1]

What the Cameras Captured and What They Did Not

The security footage is the anchor of this story, and also its most important gap. NBC News referenced the footage in its national broadcast, describing a person attempting to leave the building as glass was sucked outward. ^[1] Multiple secondary reports identified that person as the news director. However, no named, on-the-record statement from WDHN management appeared in the public record confirming that identification. The person’s role, the precise timing of the evacuation decision, and the full sequence of events inside the building remain partly dependent on reporter narration rather than primary documentation. That is not unusual for a fast-moving disaster story, but it is worth keeping in mind when the headline focuses on a specific person doing a specific thing. ^[2]

S/O to @JordanAmbrosewx. He maintained composure and continued reporting live on air as a tornado struck the station @WDHN. @NABJ @NABJYBJ @NABJWCTF https://t.co/EWhmzrnFEN

— Detroit NABJ (@DetroitNABJ) May 27, 2026

This is exactly how dramatic weather stories travel. The most visually striking seconds get clipped, shared, and summarized until the underlying event compresses into a single cinematic image. The image here, a tornado tearing the roof off a TV station while the meteorologist keeps talking, is accurate in its broad strokes. But the fuller picture includes a staff that stayed operational under genuine physical threat, a building that absorbed serious structural damage, and a community that was simultaneously dealing with tornado destruction across Henry County and the broader Wiregrass region.