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Hype

2K views 16 replies 16 participants last post by  St Anna 
#1 ·
The Weather services were having us think Earl, is "the storm of the century" that's already down to a Cat 1

I'm all for changing the name of the Weather Channel to the "weather drama channel"

I hear the weather people now saying.. "however, may still increase, well off shore, Oh there are 85 mph winds in the eye!" (which is well off shore and moving NE)

OMG! look out! batten the hatches!! it "may increase" to a Cat 5!
:rolleyes:
 
#4 ·
lol. I always think its funny to see the weather peeps pee themselves with excitement at the prospect of a storm. I certainly have a healthy respect for storms and their unpredicatable nature but I do wonder about the intelligence of people - read weather media- who absolutely flip out and try to whip people up into a frenzy.

Keep Calm and Carry On.
 
#6 ·
A few winters ago, TWC sent one of their staff to our town to report on the huge snowstorm they had predicted for us.
NO SNOW!!!
The "live" shots had her standing in front of a parking lot snow pile, looking really stupid, almost apologizing for the lack of a horrific storm.
rockDAWG's observation hits it right on the head!!!
 
#7 ·
The problem is that they take there measurments at the top of the storm. It may be 150mph at 40,000 ft and a tropical storm at sea level but it's a CAT 5!!!!! Canaveral bouy maxed at 17.5, 120 miles out yesterday. The Stream get bigger than that with a north wind blowing for a couple of days. Waves here in Daytona were supposed to be 15 ft on shore yesterday.... na 4 to 8. I know I was out surfing.
 
#8 ·
I think some of you are starting to see what we in Florida have to put
up with every year.

It's the exact reason why so many people do NOT evacuate, and that if
a major storm ever hit Tampa Bay, the death toll would probably be
in the 6 digits. Most of us have gotten so accustomed to "Timmy crying wolf"
that when the 'wolf' comes, we won't believe it.

That's why we have so many, "Hurrican Parties"!
 
#10 ·
emoney, exactly.

On the Gulf Coast, we got complacent until Katrina. With memories of Katrina so recently etched in our memories, when Rita threatened everyone panicked and people died not because of the storm, but because of the traffic jams, escalation of violence( I saw first hand people getting physical to get the last bit of gasoline at a station)etc.

Then came Ike. People remembered the traffic jams and difficulties caused by the evacuation for Rita and decided to stay put. There are still people from Bolivar and Galveston whose bodies have not been recovered.

Have a healthy respect for the power of these storms, make a plan and prepare but please keep a cool head about you. This is one reason I really get annoyed at the media and their storm feeding frenzy.
 
#11 ·
Also, no other profession can still have a job after being wrong so many times???

regarding "no other profession can still have a job after being wrong so many times" please explain Jim Cramer and the rest of the money and economy guys. I'm amazed they weren't tarred, feathered and rolled out of town.
Then again, it is all entertainment driven by audience size and demographics.
My personal all time favorite was the breathless flooding liveshot from a canoe surrounded (ON ALL SIDES!!!) by water. As she signed off two kids strolled by behind the boat revealing the depth at about three inches.
 
#12 ·
Here's the thing, I think.

If the weather forecasters play down the intensity of a storm or hold back on warning people and then the storm strengthens up and starts killing people, the population that is effected by the storm will want to lynch them.

If on the other hand they say "This is going to be the MOTHER of all storms" and it turns out to be just a heavy-weight puff, everyone laughs and says "Oh look, those dumbos got it wrong again".

Most people would take criticism in preference to a lynch mob.

But I have to admit my blood boils when I cancel a weekend of sailing because of a seriously negative weather report and then it turns out to be exactly what I would have asked for given the choice.
 
#13 ·
Our local news is still hyping it up when there was far more damage from the storm we were cought in. I was keeping track of the web cams from Oriental and they didn't think it was anything so I'm sure my boat is fine.

I was tired of the hype 2 days before the storm was here.
 
#14 ·
I guess, I was not seeing what everyone else was seeing, this time.

I was primarily watching the track on Noaa's website, but listening to the local news in between. Noaa's tracking was pretty much on the money. My local news in NJ was saying all along that we'd be spared. I was skeptical..and prepared for worst...it turns out in my case the experts were correct.

But, it doesn't take that long to put the canvas back up...
 
#15 ·
TV and newspapers are very powerful media, the problem is, I think, that people pay too much attention to them. To get good ratings they need to give you bad news, otherwise nobody would pay any attention to them. So many times I have listened to them talking about bad snow storms coming in and at the end we got only a few inches. Here in the North East people are very dramatic and anything that the media throws at them they buy it, kind of sad.
I understand that predicting weather is not easy job, but with all the computer aids and report from other areas they should at least draw a pretty close conclusion, instead most times they just miss it all together.
I tend not to listen to them and just make up my own forecast.
Just my thought
 
#16 ·
I tend not to listen to them and just make up my own forecast.
A long, long time ago a buddy of mine and I used to examine the weather maps in detail constantly, discuss what we were seeing, and come up with our own forecasts. We were almost always more accurate than the weather people.

Personally I suspect that, these days, these guys just regurgitate whatever the computers say, rather than working it out for themselves and applying experience. I think they're disregarding the most powerful computers known to man: Their own brains.

As for the "news": It mostly ain't news, people. It's mostly low-budget entertainment for the masses. You're better-off largely ignoring it.

Jim
 
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