TV Weather People

HeavyMetal BankFisherman · 01-08-2004, 09:49 PM

Missed the new years snowfall

A day off on the latest storm

Storm lasts days longer than they say

I wish they could just say that they don't know what is going to happen.

Not to fault these people. They know much more than me about the weather. But they should know by now that it is very hard to predict winter weather in the pacific northwest. If they are not sure they should not sound so confident in thier predictions.

Some people make plans according to weather forcasts. I never do but I bet some of those people stranded at PDX did.

This stuff should have been gone yesterday according to them. Most of the year they do pretty good with the predictions but they blew it this time.

That pinpoint weather forcast is more like a railroad tie.

I edited this because as soon as I posted they reclosed I84.

[ 01-08-2004, 10:55 PM: Message edited by: HeavyMetal BankFisherman ]

Born to be Wild · 01-08-2004, 10:37 PM

Yea well I have to applaud them.
Nobody but God himself can accurately predict the weather 100% of the time.

They did give us advance notice that we were going to have this harsh weather ahead of time and I got somewhat prepared for it knowing I was going to be stranded.

When we had the big blow I believe in the late 90's (100+ wind gust), thanks to the metiorologist, I got prepared for that one also.
I was living in Depoe Bay at the time and it blew the roof off at Izzy's in nearby Newport.
Thought my roof was coming off also.

I've had plenty advance warnings over the years regarding wind, rain, snow & ice and excessive heat that have been real life savers so to speak.

People knock them all the time but the weather in the NW is too unpredictable to be right on consistently and I applaud them and it amazes me sometimes how a radical change in the weather can be predicted ahead of time with such accuracy in some cases like that awefull wind storm mentioned above.

Dano

1pump · 01-08-2004, 11:03 PM

IMHO, true Oregonians don't pay any attention to weather forecasts. Just assume the weather's gonna suck, and you'll be right 90% of the time. The local news geeks should just dump the weather portion of their broadcasts and report on something worthwhile. Like fishing.

HeavyMetal BankFisherman · 01-08-2004, 11:14 PM

I wouldn' go quite as far as Mr 1pump but I do agree that they should do more fishing and outdoor stories. I guess the corporate guru's don't see all of the audience.

I am not trying to knock weather people. It is just that they all seemed so sure on Monday about thier predictions. I don't think that they really knew what was going to happen. Knowbody can predict pacific northwest weather with 100% accuracy. But these people are giving us detailed timelines as to what was going to happen.

How could they know? That's my point. I didn't fall for that and was minimally affected. But some people watch the news and believe everything they see.

It just seems to me that the weather is becoming more and more entertainment than information. All the fancy graphics, doppler, radar, and everything else. These people all have just a slightly different stance as they make the usual hand gestures and motions as the video screen shows the weather front closing in on us creating a sense of doom.

The farmers almanac has been pretty accurate for a long time.

Channel two does the best job and they also have a good program early mornings on the weekend.

But anyone would have to admit that the pinpoint forcasts are not reality. I am just looking for a little more realistic delivery. Saying I dont know is not the end of the world.

[ 01-09-2004, 12:26 AM: Message edited by: HeavyMetal BankFisherman ]

Martin85 · 01-09-2004, 06:05 AM

I agree with 1pump they are guessing at best most of the time. I do like the fact that they have twenty guys per channel fifteen hrs. a day all saying pretty much the same thing over and over and over. Could I just get a half hr. of national news?

It is nice they have moved the soaps to the middle of the night

pdxkevin · 01-09-2004, 06:10 AM

TV weather people have one of the best jobs out there! How many companies would let you be be wrong that much and keep giving you raises? Than they are treated like celebs on top of it all!

Hoosier Daddy · 01-09-2004, 07:25 AM

I guess I figure that they can only do so much. It's impossible to PREDICT the weather. They just give us the most likely scenario. Still and all, I was a little irked that they were off so much this time. Not that they could have done any better.....

ooooh. Gotta go, 24-7 storm watch is still on......I can't get enough of the same news over and over.

ORoutdoorsman · 01-09-2004, 12:43 PM

I am also so glad they have 24 "storm coverage". If it wasnt for the weather people sliding their microphone accross the ice, I wouldn't have known it was slick! And that live coverage of I84 without cars on it, man I didn't believe it until I saw it! I'm glad I got to see for myself it was closed so I know they were not deceiving us by only saying it was closed!