I remember when I was a kid the weather forecast rain 20% and it almost always rain all day lol
What Changed?
- Thread starter ATeam
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I remember when I was a kid the weather forecast rain 20% and it almost always rain all day lol
Media treatment of the weather is gone beyond ridiculous. It was a storm that produced heavy snow. We were treated to dire descriptions (blockbuster, killer, deadly, massive, paralyzing, etc.). Some of the news outlets teed up their coverage with horror music and scary graphics. Al all-out effort was made to create fear and thereby attract attention.
When talking about the traffic deaths, did anyone stop to think that the fatalities may have been lower than on a normal day because so many people stayed off the roads? Did anyone bother to mention the millions of people who showed good sense by preparing ahead of time and hunkering down at home to enjoy time with family as they let the storm pass? Where were the stories about the helpful neighbors who cleared the sidewalk of the elderly people next door? Where were the man-on-the-street interviews featuring confident people who smiled in the midst of the storm and said we'll get through this easy enough? Where were the stories featuring the snow plow drivers clearing the roads and truckers moving the goods talking about just another day at the office?
Governors held hour-long press conferences followed by mayors doing the same. Come on, people! It's a snow storm. The world is not coming to an end. The sun will shine. The snow will melt. And even in places like Minnesota where the snow will linger for a while, life goes on.
What if instead of creating and buying into fear, society spoke instead of due care and pride in human accomplishment?
When talking about the traffic deaths, did anyone stop to think that the fatalities may have been lower than on a normal day because so many people stayed off the roads? Did anyone bother to mention the millions of people who showed good sense by preparing ahead of time and hunkering down at home to enjoy time with family as they let the storm pass? Where were the stories about the helpful neighbors who cleared the sidewalk of the elderly people next door? Where were the man-on-the-street interviews featuring confident people who smiled in the midst of the storm and said we'll get through this easy enough? Where were the stories featuring the snow plow drivers clearing the roads and truckers moving the goods talking about just another day at the office?
Governors held hour-long press conferences followed by mayors doing the same. Come on, people! It's a snow storm. The world is not coming to an end. The sun will shine. The snow will melt. And even in places like Minnesota where the snow will linger for a while, life goes on.
What if instead of creating and buying into fear, society spoke instead of due care and pride in human accomplishment?
This Chicken Little/ Boy Who Cried Wolf thing has gone too far too. It has happened at least three times since Diane and I started our new endeavor in Florida that the National Weather Service issued tornado warnings when no tornado existed. It happened again just two days ago. They saw patterns on radar that suggested rotation and on that basis sounded the warning.
TV programming got interrupted. That awful screeching sound came on the radio and cell phones. TORNADO WARNING! TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. In our community, the homes have no basements. The thing to do is move to the clubhouses and shelter there. Well, being wise to false alarms, I sat happily in our manufactured home that has zero chance of surviving a tornado as did everyone else in the neighborhood. Not a single person moved to shelter in response to the warning. An hour later, I happened to drive through the exact spot that was referenced in the warning. There was no damage whatsoever giving people all the more reason to laugh off the next warning that comes.
It makes perfect sense to issue a tornado watch in such conditions and to report on what is going on. But it is counterproductive to issue a warning when no tornado exists.
TV programming got interrupted. That awful screeching sound came on the radio and cell phones. TORNADO WARNING! TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. In our community, the homes have no basements. The thing to do is move to the clubhouses and shelter there. Well, being wise to false alarms, I sat happily in our manufactured home that has zero chance of surviving a tornado as did everyone else in the neighborhood. Not a single person moved to shelter in response to the warning. An hour later, I happened to drive through the exact spot that was referenced in the warning. There was no damage whatsoever giving people all the more reason to laugh off the next warning that comes.
It makes perfect sense to issue a tornado watch in such conditions and to report on what is going on. But it is counterproductive to issue a warning when no tornado exists.
You are correct. Part of it is the totally false tornado warning they put out here a couple days ago. Part of it was the elderly-woman gym member (in Port Orange Florida) who cam in yesterday swearing she saw snow flurries out her window that morning. And part of it is the spirit of fear and defeatism that floods the airwaves and halls of power in our national and state capitols.
Expediters are entrepreneurs and can-do people. They live and work on the road, which is itself no small thing. They prepare for the weather and make wise choices when storms lie ahead. As business people, they put it all on the line, believing they can apply themselves and get ahead. Due care in the face of hazards makes good sense. But this prevailing mood of fear just pisses me off.
A tornado watch is an early warning. A tornado warning issued when there is no tornado turns the warning into a joke, thereby reducing the usefulness of a real warning of a real tornado in the future.
I am aware of the difference and have been a first responder (vol) for over 20 years. A warning indicates a sighting of a real event that may have dissipated as fast as it materialized. My point is that if the event progressed absent a warning or alert system, there would be hell to pay on the opinion front.
I had a coin bank replica of the N.W. Weather Ball. It was heavy plastic made to resemble bronze.
I'm with Phil on this one. A Watch means conditions are favorable for an event, and one could develop at any time and without warning. An actual Warning means the event is occurring and you should stop watching for it, and you should take the appropriate actions immediately..
Invented in 1999 and Issued more rarely, though it is becoming more frequently issued, is the enhanced version of the tornado Warning, the Tornado Emergency. This is a no-doubter. It is used when a spotter-confirmed tornado poses a significant threat to life and property in a populated area.
Over the last couple of years I've noticed that too many times the Tornado Warning is becoming the new Tornado Watch. And Tornado Emergency is being used for "Whoops, too late. Shoulda listened to the Warning."
Invented in 1999 and Issued more rarely, though it is becoming more frequently issued, is the enhanced version of the tornado Warning, the Tornado Emergency. This is a no-doubter. It is used when a spotter-confirmed tornado poses a significant threat to life and property in a populated area.
Over the last couple of years I've noticed that too many times the Tornado Warning is becoming the new Tornado Watch. And Tornado Emergency is being used for "Whoops, too late. Shoulda listened to the Warning."
What changed? More competition for our attention [by advertisers], and thus, louder and louder shouting to obtain it.
I don't feel one bit sorry for the advertisers who are whining about [software] programs such as Ad Block [which I've used for years], because if they hadn't gone overboard, people wouldn't be determined to turn them off. I can't focus on what I'm reading when there's something blinking & flashing beside it, so what do they expect?
News and weather are both succumbing to the 'louder' syndrome, now, too. We can't use Ad Block, but we can choose the source of our news & weather, and turn off the loudmouths.
I don't feel one bit sorry for the advertisers who are whining about [software] programs such as Ad Block [which I've used for years], because if they hadn't gone overboard, people wouldn't be determined to turn them off. I can't focus on what I'm reading when there's something blinking & flashing beside it, so what do they expect?
News and weather are both succumbing to the 'louder' syndrome, now, too. We can't use Ad Block, but we can choose the source of our news & weather, and turn off the loudmouths.
In the same vane (vane, get it? vane) of weather, global warming and all that... and of the truths of the Graphtoons ...
