Nobody’s happier to have the cat out of the bag about meteorologist Alan Sealls than Alan Sealls himself, who says official word about his return to coastal Alabama airwaves “makes it easier to move around.”

Sealls ended a 20-year run with WKRG-TV5 in June and speculation had abounded that he might wind up at WPMI-TV15. But it wasn’t until this week that WPMI confirmed it with an announcement that he’ll join its weeknight newscasts in January.

That was greeted with excitement by fans of Sealls’ distinctive calm demeanor, which has brought a measure of viral fame online. Following the announcement, Sealls took a few minutes to talk about his six-month sabbatical and his pending return to action:

Q: Has the break been a chance to re-evaluate your approach to your work?

Sealls: “Overall, not a big one. What I’ve purposely been trying to do, No. 1, I’ve been trying to enjoy life. Which is sort of like a temporary retirement. I’ve literally been catching up on a lot of dusty old projects that I’ve had either around the house or on the computer or just family genealogy, all sorts of stuff. I have purposely not been watching a lot of news, other than what I need as just a human being. I have not been watching a lot of weather folks, trying to let it get out of my system right now.

“Other than that, a couple of weeks before I get back – which, right now I’m scheduled for the second week of January – a couple of weeks beforehand I’d start easing back into the thinking mode of TV and broadcasting. But right now I’m actually really not doing it. Except, as I clean up files and go through stuff I find some of my older work and it makes me pause and look at it and kind of assess where I was. Not to say I’m going to change anything dramatically, but it reminds me of little things I still want to work on as a professional and as a communicator.”

Q: Has the excitement around your return been gratifying?

Sealls: “Yeah. I told some of my close friends, it’s bizarre and weird to think that people are making all this noise about me. Because I can’t see myself the way other people see myself. I just see myself as me, the same person who was once a little boy and then a teenager and then a young man, but it’s gratifying in part for me but also just to see all these different people positive and happy about something. Instead of fighting about something.”

Q: Do you have any hobbies you’ve been able to spend more time on?

Sealls: “My biggest hobby really is weather. It just kind of ties in. So, in a sense I haven’t really stopped what I’ve been doing. Especially since I’ve been continuing stuff on social media and continuing to speak at schools and clubs and all that sort of stuff. Even though my hobbies, on paper, are golf and photography, I haven’t played golf in over a year. Even though I’ll get in the back yard and swing the clubs just about every week. And the photography, it’s wherever I am, I’ve got the camera and I’m contantly still watching the sky.”

Q: Sometimes it seems like people have gotten more excitable about weather. Mobilians used to pride themselves on not being bothered by rain. Nowadays rain events can be big news. Have you seen a change?

Sealls: “There are a bunch of factors I think that play into that and to me they’re all rolled together. One is, I don’t know which one has come first, just the fact that there are so many more people in Mobile than before, traffic is heavier than it’s ever been, and apparently, and I don’t have statistics on this, our drainage is not as effective as it was before, probably because there are more people and more subdivisions. So, all that means the same storm that 40 years ago wouldn’t have been a big deal, now is a big deal, when it happens at rush hour. So that is a part of it.

“And I think from that, the media pick up on it, and people pick up on the media, and then everything kind of goes to the next level. Where in all honesty, a lot of times it doesn’t have to. And especially with tropical weather and winter weather … and this I’ll credit or discredit to the national outlets. Whereas when I was a kid there was no national weather 24 hours a day, and now you can watch it, it’s on your phone, so every little thing that happens is thrown right in front of you. And I know there are some people who do develop true phobias from seeing all of those negative images over and over and over. So, I think that also plays into how media covers weather now.

“Perfect example: Two and a half weeks ago I started getting questions about, is it going to snow? And almost every time I get that question, my gut answer is no, it’s not going to snow. And I always wonder where people get this. Apparently somebody posted on a social media outlet that there was a possibility of snow, like five days later. And the possibility as a percentage [was] two percent, three percent, maybe. But some people got so excited. And from that the media outlets pick up on it. So, it is a cycle and a circle and it’s not always good.”

Q: What big-picture issues do you see with tropical weather?

Sealls: “My first issue is concern that when we get another Ivan or Katrina, people really won’t know what to do. Because most hurricanes are not that bad, except for maybe a few neighborhoods, a few locations. But when those really big storms come, one is, so many people have never experienced it. The other is, for so many of our communities, the infrastructure is no better, and in a lot of cases it’s worse than it was during Ivan and Katrina. And to me what’s really fascinating as I talk to people and I ask people in groups, I say, ‘Well, who has a portable digital battery powered TV?’ And very few hands go up.

“We’ve made this big transition to cell phones and wireless and we rely on cell phone towers and cable and satellite. But the next big storm, really big storm, is going to do a number on people, and I think a lot of people are going to be so caught off guard by the fact that they can’t, in some cases, use their cell phone or watch TV or get any sort of information because they forgot the basics, which is radio and battery powered TV and weather radio.”

Q: WPMI’s announcement included some words of praise from fellow meteorologist James Spann, who’s both an authority and a celebrity to a lot of viewers. That must have felt good.

Sealls: “The feeling is mutual. I’ve known James for years, and we have a lot in common in how we approach weather and how we approach communicating weather and working with and for the public. But no doubt it’s overwhelming, again for me to stop and think, oh, they’re talking about me.”

Q: You’ve got nearly two months before you’re back on camera. You’re either wondering how you’ll pass the time, or worried it’s not enough time to get things done.

Sealls: “I’m the second one. I still have so many projects, so many things I need to do, want to do, have to do, and I know it’s not all going to get done. … I mean, the sun comes up, the next thing I know it’s going down and I still haven’t gotten through the list.”

Q: Is there anything you’ll like to say to your supporters?

Sealls: “Just truly, thank you from the bottom of my heart for being so supportive of who I am and what I do and how I do it.”