Do they shut down programming, and have a talking head taking calls from the
local area? "We have Joe from Bothell on the line, and he says that there is
a half-inch of snow out there!" "Chris, from Bellingham, is on the line. How
bad is it up there, Chris?" "It's snowing, but it's not sticking." "Now
let's switch live to our Mimi Linguini who is monitoring the freeway. Any
accidents yet, Mimi?" "No, but slush is beginning to collect on the road
surface." On and on ad infinitum. Urp.

Bob Gardner

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:CgZCd.620242$wV.514014@attbi_s54...
Is it just me, or does it seem like weather forecasting has gone off the
deep end?

Once again, we've been deluged with "Winter Storm Warnings" in the Midwest
that have turned out to produce a few inches of snow. As one station
(primarily the Weather Channel) starts to hype the coming "huge storm" all
the local stations feel compelled to jump on the bandwagon. They, in
turn, start running live segments of "Doppler Radar" and serious talking
heads showing all of us that it is -- *gasp!* -- actually SNOWING outside!

Imagine! In Iowa! In January!

Then, the inevitable school closings follow, as the head of the school
board is showed wringing his hands on live TV, pining for the "safety of
the kids." This is followed by dire warnings not to travel unless
"absolutely necessary"...

Meanwhile, the storm peters out after a few inches of snow, the kids play
outside all day, the malls are packed, and the adults laugh it off as just
another screwed up weather forecast.

Sorry, but this situation seems to have NOTHING to do with meteorology.
I took weather classes in college, and have been a keen observer of it all
my life. I was able to take one look at the radar and satellite pictures,
and knew immediately that they were blowing sunshine up our butts yet
again.

I think it's all about ratings, and the public is being misled on a grand
scale, at an annual cost of hundreds of millions of dollars in lost
productivity. Worst of all, NO ONE is taking their warnings seriously
anymore (except the schools, who love the paid time off), so when we
really DO get hit with a blizzard, no one will be prepared.

When I was a kid in Wisconsin, if they had closed school every time we got
3 inches of snow, we'd have had the whole winter off!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"