Weather Forecasters... LOL.

[Gardener123]

OK, I worked for Fox TV for 19 years before being let go. I was friends with many of the weather people over the years. I know that they get told to over-hype stuff in the name of ratings. Especially snow. News Directors love fear. Fear creates more viewers. To that point, and some people in the PA, NJ, NY, DE areas might know of a weather guy named John Bolaris. When he worked for NBC, he once predicted the "Blizzard of the Century" was on the way.... Almost a week before the actual storm was due to arrive, the TV station was running weather crawls at the bottom of the programming to warn viewers of the impending doom. Even the day the storm was supposed to arrive, he was still calling for massive amounts of snow.

Guess what?

Not a single snow flake fell.

Over the years I have seen many a weather person predict yearly forecasts, or seasonal forecasts, and I just laugh my butt off. How about just getting the proper forecast right for the next 3 days?

Anyway, in Philly, at least 2 of the big name weather folks have predicted a dry spring and summer.... one even said it would make last year look "wet" ( last year we had close to a drought all summer long ). Well, I happen to know one of these people VERY WELL. We're friends. And I told her when she said that, that weather people ought to stop making these long term forecasts, as IMO, it only ruins any credibility they may have, as they are so frequently wrong.

OK, so since late April, we have probably had rain for 40% of the days, and with SEVERAL massive rains.....

Ya gotta love, and by love, I mean hate, weather folks if you count on them to get the weather right. It is so wet, and has been, that I am starting to worry about my veggie garden.

How about you? Are you getting the weather your weather people have predicted?

I meant last year look "wet", LOL... and it surely was not.

[webmaster]

Nice inside information! This is one of the many reasons I no longer watch television.

[Charlie MV]

From the movie "The Shipping News"

Editor was training a reporter on how to present the news.

Billy: It's finding the center of your story, the beating heart of it, that's what makes a reporter. You have to start by making up some headlines. You know: short, punchy, dramatic headlines. Now, have a look, what do you see?

[Points at dark clouds at the horizon]

Billy: Tell me the headline.

Quoyle: Horizon Fills With Dark Clouds?

Billy: Imminent Storm Threatens Village.

Quoyle: But what if no storm comes?

Billy: Village Spared From Deadly Storm.

[!potatoes!]

I don't have a tv. the website I get weather from does quite well (though I need to adjust their temperature forecasts somewhat for elevation differences).

[digitS']

So, you think that the recent injuries and deaths of several tornado chasers doesn't lend credibility to the profession, Gardener123?

No, I wasn't left with that idea. Rather, it seemed like personal tragedies that were, once again, sensationalized as news stories.

I certainly see the Weather Channel and others trying to generate as much excitement and "viewership" as possible. I have also wondered about weekend forecasts and how they seem a little more optimistic than reality. It could just be my cynical nature but I can imagine a local Chamber of Commerce calling up the TV station and Raising Cain about a personality raining on their parade. "What are you Doing?! Trying to discourage people from coming into town to see the Big Event?!!"

I seldom turn to the commercial outlets, wherever they are. My day starts out by checking the Weather Service. I pay a lot of attention to the weather because I'm outside so much. With gardens at some distance from my home, it isn't so great to blow half a day driving out and then turning around immediately because of bad weather. Also, we often sell at a farmers' market -- it is an awfully good idea to be prepared for the day with wind gusts above 30mph rather than to just stand there and watch things blow away. Or, take a ton of stuff and see miserable weather keep the customers indoors and at home.

I trust the WS meteorologists more than I trust my own guesses. It seems pretty obvious to me that, whatever the forecast is for the next few days, by the time you get out into the 5 to 7 day range and beyond, they are trending back to the averages. That's fine. Personally, I am inclined to over-react and expecting "near normal conditions" keeps my feet a little more firmly planted on the ground.

Steve

[tomf]

Weather where I live can be hard to predict as there is so much affecting it. For the most part I think they are not to far off on most days. Two of the local weather men are skiers and I have met them up on the mountain, I told one of them about my weather rock. He said they get weather rocks mailed to them all the time. For me the weather is the most important part of the news.

[Gardener123]

Well, I can tell you this story from 1996 or 1997... Our TV guy also worked for a radio station, and in his contract there was a clause that gave him $5 for each time he used the word "blizzard". He easily made an extra $10,000 for just one week when there was a huge blizzard and he was on the air almost non stop for several days. Between our TV station and the radio station - located a block away - he never saw his house for almost a week.

I think that incentives to use the word blizzard ruin credibility.

The $5 was at the radio station, not the TV station.

[gumbo2176]

In 2012 when Hurricane Isaac passed SW of New Orleans with winds in the 80 mph range, there was a reporter that was giving a live report from downtown N.O. He appeared to be getting blown about and having a very difficult time holding his stance while telling all who would listen how terrible the winds were and to remain inside lest flying debris would seriously injure or kill you. In the background there were 2 men in business suits walking side by side down the street going about their business talking to each other and making this guy look like a total buffoon.

I knew it wasn't a bad storm just by the fact we still had power to watch the news on TV. It's never taken long for power to go out in this city from even moderate rainstorms.

[Cola82]

I use Yahoo weather, because it's already on my phone, but I have watched forecasts for 80F+ for the next day go down to 50- in just a few hours. Blurgh.