Alan Sealls, a mainstay of Mobile television for nearly 25 years as a meteorologist at WKRG and WPMI, will retire from the airwaves in January.

Sealls was a fixture of WKRG for 20 years, where he was chief meteorologist before his departure in 2019. He gained a reputation at the Mobile CBS affiliate for his ability to calmly and clearly explain major weather events without feeding hysteria about any danger presented by them.

In November 2019, Sealls returned to the Mobile airwaves, joining WPMI as chief meteorologist.

“I’m so appreciative of the community support over the decades, as I’ve enjoyed supporting the community. While I’m exiting TV, I’m not exiting Mobile! This is home, now. I’ve got friends and neighbors who are like family,” Sealls said in a statement issued by the local NBC affiliate. “Aside from being on social media, I’ll keep on teaching at the University of South Alabama, visiting schools, and writing for Lagniappe Newspaper, with more time to do my other weather and life endeavors.”

Sealls’ calm demeanor caused him to go viral on social media as Reddit users appreciated how the meteorologist analyzed Hurricanes Irma, Jose, and Katia on Sept. 6, 2017 without sensationalizing the storms. That clip went on to rack up well over 5 million views on YouTube.

“I love how this guy makes a dangerous and scary situation so peaceful and calm,” one YouTube commenter wrote. “Other channels are like ‘OH NO WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE’ (exaggeration), but this guy doesn’t make my anxiety go berserk.”

Sealls told AL.com he put the clip on WKRG’s YouTube channel himself.

“I put it there as an archive of something that could be historic, and it took off,” he said. “I knew my post would get a few more views than typical, but nothing to this degree.”

Besides his work in Mobile, Sealls’ other high-profile television jobs included stints at NBC and WGN in Chicago and WTMJ-TV & Radio in Milwaukee.

“Alan is an incredibly accomplished, well-respected meteorologist and a beloved member of the community in Mobile. His contributions to the market, and to the industry as a whole, are legendary and he will be greatly missed. We wish him the very best in his next chapter,” said Cory Culleton, WPMI’s vice president/associate group manager.

Sealls has taught weather broadcasting at the University of South Alabama and has his own weather site, weatherthings.com.