Community Chat

[Icegoddess]

In my neck of the woods Weather is a big draw for the TV stations.  For years there has been a big competition to draw viewership based on the weather and who was doing the weather.  For many years it was "scare the heck out of everyone" every time there was a storm so they could break into programming and show off their latest weather gear.  People started complaining about it, and they finally changed to a format that was no longer "the sky is falling" all the time.  Then, the 2011 tornado outbreak happened, and I guess they decided they had gone too far in the other direction.  So, now there seems to be quite a discrepancy between the different stations and when they feel the need to go "wall-to-wall" coverage.  The weather people also get their own commercials.  I don't know that I have ever seen a commercial for the Sports person.  

I live in a town full of professors and engineers, so I see all the weather terms, and sometimes explanations, appropriate.  And if you're gonna rate a commercial spot, I guess you gotta have more than forecasted temps and precip.

[Sooner]

Weather is a big deal in Oklahoma because often lives depend on it.  

Our weather forecasters, men of all ages and a lot of younger people, especially womeon who arevery accomplished meterologists, give a lesson in weather dynamics every time they are on air.

It is important to understand what is going on, what the dynamics are, and how things can go one way or another.  Tornadoes are not unusual, 80 mph winds in storms, or as we recently had, softball sized hail.

If you listen and start to understand this, you have a far better idea of what might happen and what to look for in the course of the day in order to make better decisions about activities and safety.

And we have the National Severe Storms Lab and a great College of Weather down in Norman, OK, we we have the cream of the crop and the best radars and gear on local stations.

We are amazed when we travel and warnings are issued by county.  They are here, but they are by street too.  The last huge hail storm near Oklahoma City was concentrated in a 1 1/2 mile swath and they nailed it by street pretty much. 

[Spurt]

But with all the new technology and information they've learned about the weather, its amazing how often the local forecasters get it wrong......😄😄😄

I emailed one guy and asked why his forecast was always a bit different from the other meteorologist and he said he doesnt use the computer models he charts his own forecasts....and his is the most accurate...👍

[CrazyKittyLvr2]

@Sooner  Here in NEPA we have an occasional tornado. Several years ago a tornado in the next county killed two people.

Our local weather station is good about breaking in regular programs as well as extending the scheduled news/weather at 6 to keep everyone updated.

A couple years ago there was a tornado (did a lot of damage at a mall area) and the next night on the station's talk back segment an older woman reamed them for interrupting her soap opera.  Let's see...possibly your life or your soap.

[Sooner]

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@CrazyKittyLvr2 wrote:

@Sooner  Here in NEPA we have an occasional tornado. Several years ago a tornado in the next county killed two people.

Our local weather station is good about breaking in regular programs as well as extending the scheduled news/weather at 6 to keep everyone updated.

A couple years ago there was a tornado (did a lot of damage at a mall area) and the next night on the station's talk back segment an older woman reamed them for interrupting her soap opera.  Let's see...possibly your life or your soap.

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@CrazyKittyLvr2 I do hear you!  Sometimes our weather breaks aren't breaks but they might even pre-empt programming for more than 10 hours. Sometimes I get frustrated even, but it's better than the alternative! 

They have many trackers out, video, and helicopter shots, and track storms from the Texas Panhandle on into almost far eastern Oklahoma. 

They usually put programming on another channel.  During a recent hail storm they were on from about 4 p.m. until about midnight.  There is a whole team, but gosh that's a rough night for them! 

[lovesrecess]

Technology has come such a long way, they are able to see and predict the weather on a different timeline now…am sure it has saved many lives.  If you want more weather terms, the weather channel never disappoints! 

[Still Raining]

Different parts also have their own vocabulary.

Until I moved to the PNW I never knew there was a difference between "scattered showers" and "showers nearby".  Or "partly sunny" and "partly cloudy".

[SilleeMee]

A bomb cyclone was something new to me just a few years ago. 

[Tinkrbl44]

@CrazyKittyLvr2 

Wind chill factor has been around for several decades.

As a kid, I seem to recall that in dry areas airplanes would fly over land and "seed the clouds" to make it rain.    For some reason, I seem to think it must have worked.  Anyway, if this is still around, why haven't they been doing this in agricultural areas that are dealing with drought?  

Anyone here know anything about this?   

[shoesnbags]

@geezerette 

Our go to "weatherman" in the 1950s, 60s and 70s was indeed a meteorologist (I looked it up), but he wrote on a regular map with a black grease pencil!  And that man could forecast hurricanes like nobody's business.