Andalusia Star News

WSFA, the NBC affiliate in Montgomery, debuted its new weather camera – located atop the historic First National Building downtown – by featuring Andalusia in its Hometown Spotlight Monday morning.

The City of Andalusia entered an agreement with WSFA in June in which the city agreed to purchase a camera that WSFA placed on top of the building and will use to do live shots.

The WSFA First Alert Storm Team will use the camera to provide live feed from Andalusia.

The full HD resolution camera with a 36x zoom can provide a 360-degree view of the surrounding area.

“Our camera can see for miles, allowing us to track storms in Covington, Crenshaw, Escambia, and Butler counties,” WSFA’s statement said. “The camera’s progressive scan CMOS image sensor provides unparalleled clarity, and the ‘ultra low illumination’ mode will allow us to track nighttime storms when they track across south Alabama.”

The station has also positioned the same camera atop the RSA Tower in downtown Montgomery, providing a view of almost all of central Alabama, and atop the Wind Creek Casino and Hotel in downtown Wetumpka.

Monday’s Hometown Spotlight featured segments with City Clerk John Thompson, Chamber Executive Director Chrissie Duffy, Mayor Earl Johnson and AHS head coach Trent Taylor.

The feature included live shots of the square – almost completely decorated for Candyland, which opens Dec. 1, and footage of last year’s Candyland event.

“Working really hard for past 10 years to revitalize our downtown area,” Johnson told WSFA. “It was not deserted, but not as inhabited as we would like for it to be. WSFA’s weather camera is going to be a great benefit for WSFA TV and for the citizens of Covington County.”

Andalusia Star News