Was Your Local Meteorologist Laid Off? Weather Channel Deal Leads to Cuts

[easyrider]

Maybe the wind was blowing at different speeds? In a tornado you will see some houses just leveled while a couple of houses away suffer no damage.

Maybe but I doubt it as they were pretty close.

Bill

 

[Rolltydr]

Maybe the wind was blowing at different speeds? In a tornado you will see some houses just leveled while a couple of houses away suffer no damage.

What is the purpose of the reporter standing in the wind telling everybody watching him/her stand in the wind, that they should not go out and stand in the wind?

 

[TolmiePeak]

What is the purpose of the reporter standing in the wind telling everybody watching him/her stand in the wind, that they should not go out and stand in the wind?

To show how good his toupee can withstand the wind.

 

[jp10558]

I just wish they would report what has happened, where the damage is, where the danger is, and not try to scare people so they will keep watching. In my mind, that is unnecessary and causes even more panic and anxiety. Just my humble opinion.

I will say, the NWS alerts that create the "Winter Storm Warnings" etc are extremely conservative. There'll be lake effect snow in Buffalo and they'll be calling for possible 4-8 inches halfway across the state where I live, but the local guy's app will say the reality, that we're getting a dusting to an inch. The "watch/warning" lines on the radar are a hundred miles out from the actual storm showing. So it's true, many many people discount many of the "alerts", especially with like snow or rainfall amounts cause they seem to all be multiplied by 4x or more what actually happens for at least the last 3 years. I'm sure it's possible for the most outlier model to get that event, but it sure seems like they're playing it up for clicks (though I don't know how that works for the warning zones exactly, I guess there they just want to give the worst possible event so no one blames them for not warning them - but then you get the people ignoring the evacuation orders for hurricanes etc cause they called wolf so often)...

 

[Timeshare Von]

Two of our local stations have their own Doppler radar that are very accurate. If we have severe weather warnings, I can watch their radar to see if/when it is likely to hit in our neighborhood. I've learned to recognize the hook echo signature of a tornado, so I have a better idea when I really need to herd our dogs and cat into our small basement.

That's great! I believe it is really important for folks to have a basic understanding of weather patterns and reading radar especially when living in areas prone to tornadoes, etc.

 

[Timeshare Von]

<<SNIPPED>>

I just wish they would report what has happened, where the damage is, where the danger is, and not try to scare people so they will keep watching. In my mind, that is unnecessary and causes even more panic and anxiety. Just my humble opinion.

Sometimes I think national weather outlets are more interested in sensationalizing and creating "entertainment" at the expense of victims.

 

[Timeshare Von]

100% they do. We were watching a major weather report from some well know reporter on ABC who was leaning and acting like the wind was blowing him over while a few people were in the background having no problems at all.

Bill

Reminds me of the time when some news outlet was doing the weather report from a canoe, making it look like the flood waters were deep and treacherous. About halfway through the piece, a couple of people walked by in what was obviously just ankle deep water.

 

[Timeshare Von]

100% they do. We were watching a major weather report from some well know reporter on ABC who was leaning and acting like the wind was blowing him over while a few people were in the background having no problems at all.

Bill

This was from Hurricane Florence.

 

[Timeshare Von]

Maybe the wind was blowing at different speeds? In a tornado you will see some houses just leveled while a couple of houses away suffer no damage.

Actually the explanation provided was that the grass was slippery and the people were walking on a paved road.

 

[Rolltydr]

Sometimes I think national weather outlets are more interested in sensationalizing and creating "entertainment" at the expense of victims.

It's not just national weather people, locals do it too. At least in Birmingham AL, they do.

 

[Greg G]

There was so much pushback from viewers of KWWL of the planned elimination of their local meteorologists that the TV station reversed their decision on that.

 

[TolmiePeak]

There was so much pushback from viewers of KWWL of the planned elimination of their local meteorologists that the TV station reversed their decision on that.

All 3 of them? Is there anyone under 60 that watches TV news now days? I mean when you dump cable how do you watch?

 

[Greg G]

All 3 of them? Is there anyone under 60 that watches TV news now days? I mean when you dump cable how do you watch?

Yes, at least for now. Read it in the local paper and here is another link about that as well.

https://www.newspressnow.com/news/r...cle_72d62f0e-a194-5696-8642-e045878d790e.html

You can get local TV stations on the internet for free (at least in my area and I imagine most anywhere)

 

[Rolltydr]

I’m 70 and I couldn’t tell you anything about the local channels. We have them as part of youtubetv and DW watches some of the morning shows occasionally, but other than football/basketball games, I never have them on.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

when you dump cable how do you watch?

I don't watch them, but Roku has them. amzn Prime has some too I think. I've never bothered to figure out Roku's biz model, but the ad revs get split up somehow. I mean Roku with zero subscription. We bought the roku box yrs ago. 1-time cost. You can also watch the (have to almost choke using the word here) "news" shows from cable networks

 

[WaikikiFirst]

All 3 of them? Is there anyone under 60 that watches TV news now days? I mean when you dump cable how do you watch?

Bart Simpson's grandpa was irate

 

[DrQ]

With the streaming services and internet you can block most of the commercials. Cable TV subscriptions are collapsing and very few younger people subscribe anymore. Most people getting Cable are older and that doesn't not bode well for its survival.

You can get local TV stations on the internet for free (at least in my area and I imagine most anywhere)

I have an antenna and receive local stations OTA. Internet feeds of local stations have delays which span from 10 to 30 seconds and you are dependent on an ISP. I used to have DirecTV and it was subject to "rain fade" during storms which was frustrating. I cut the cable years ago but use a digital DVR to timeshift and skip commercials. I find that when weather APPS are not truly free as they harvest your personal information and they have delays of minutes and would not bet my life on them.

I used to have a rear projection DLP TV and since it used an arc lamp, I have a big a$$ UPS that would allow me to properly shut down the system during a power failure. I have since replaced it with an LED system, so that UPS now runs my Fiber router, network backbone, DVR and TV. It will run for about 30 minutes to an hour during a power outage. Local weather reports provide the best real-time information for storm path and timelines. The Weather Channel APP which is welded to my phone sucks rocks.

Compared to the real time radar reports on local TV, the delay can be minutes. They are fine if I want to know if it is going to be a "stormy" day and use it when we're traveling to choose travel routes, but their local, real-time value is limited.

Other parts of the country deal with large scale weather phenomenon which effect a huge number of people at a time. In tornado country, we're dancing around to avoid the "finger of God" which is a more individual activity.

When we make a decision to "hunker down", the best data available is from our local meteorologists.

 

[Greg G]

I have an antenna and receive local stations OTA. Internet feeds of local stations have delays which span from 10 to 30 seconds and you are dependent on an ISP.

Yes, I have an antenna as well to get local stations although haven't used it lately.

 

[jp10558]

Compared to the real time radar reports on local TV, the delay can be minutes. They are fine if I want to know if it is going to be a "stormy" day and use it when we're traveling to choose travel routes, but their local, real-time value is limited.

I find they have radar updated every 5 minutes to 10 minutes depending on the source. My local TV when I last watched it (granted out of date here, so maybe it's different) would have radar 2x a night, once around 5:25PM and once around 11:25PM. The 5 to 10 minute delay is a lot more "real time". No local station I'm aware of is going to just have a radar display as their broadcast even for 3 hours or so around a concerning severe thunderstorm or whatever because they get paid for the ads. And ad breaks are 3ish minutes long or more now too.

Maybe it depends on where you are, and maybe local TV has gotten way less worried about advertiser dollars in the last 25 years, but I'd doubt it.

 

[DrQ]

I find they have radar updated every 5 minutes to 10 minutes depending on the source. My local TV when I last watched it (granted out of date here, so maybe it's different) would have radar 2x a night, once around 5:25PM and once around 11:25PM. The 5 to 10 minute delay is a lot more "real time". No local station I'm aware of is going to just have a radar display as their broadcast even for 3 hours or so around a concerning severe thunderstorm or whatever because they get paid for the ads. And ad breaks are 3ish minutes long or more now too.

Come down here during a tornado warning and get an education.

Down here, the local station use private Doppler radar in addition to NWS to get high resolution images. They are also online with the NWS (multiple meteorologists on duty during a warning) to stay up to date.

Before these products were available, 30 years ago, some storm spotters used aviation radar on their vehicles to help them spot storms. I used to monitor the RACES frequencies that storm spotters used. Now Doppler products give much improved resolution and prediction.

ETA: Real Time has a hysteresis of a minute or so for the radar dish to make a revolution of the area and rescan the area.

 

[Greg G]

Down here, the local station use private Doppler radar in addition to NWS to get high resolution images. They are also online with the NWS (multiple meteorologists on duty during a warning) to stay up to date.

Yep, same where I live.

 

[Talent312]

I've getting a lot of freeze and cold warnings, both
from NWS and County EMS... like I don't know that
it's been damn cold outside.... just stick your nose
out the door.
----------------------
Why do local stations hire anybody to do anything.
Any AI-generated bot or dolt can read press releases.
I guess it's really about that "community" connection.

 

[Rolltydr]

I have an antenna and receive local stations OTA. Internet feeds of local stations have delays which span from 10 to 30 seconds and you are dependent on an ISP. I used to have DirecTV and it was subject to "rain fade" during storms which was frustrating. I cut the cable years ago but use a digital DVR to timeshift and skip commercials. I find that when weather APPS are not truly free as they harvest your personal information and they have delays of minutes and would not bet my life on them.

I used to have a rear projection DLP TV and since it used an arc lamp, I have a big a$$ UPS that would allow me to properly shut down the system during a power failure. I have since replaced it with an LED system, so that UPS now runs my Fiber router, network backbone, DVR and TV. It will run for about 30 minutes to an hour during a power outage. Local weather reports provide the best real-time information for storm path and timelines. The Weather Channel APP which is welded to my phone sucks rocks.

Compared to the real time radar reports on local TV, the delay can be minutes. They are fine if I want to know if it is going to be a "stormy" day and use it when we're traveling to choose travel routes, but their local, real-time value is limited.

Other parts of the country deal with large scale weather phenomenon which effect a huge number of people at a time. In tornado country, we're dancing around to avoid the "finger of God" which is a more individual activity.

When we make a decision to "hunker down", the best data available is from our local meteorologists.

Is it that they have the brst data, or the fact they sre more familiar with the area and can better specify local communities, schools, churches, parks, etc. that may be in harms’ way? Maybe I’m wrong, but I think they are all working with the same data.

 

[DrQ]

Is it that they have the brst data, or the fact they sre more familiar with the area and can better specify local communities, schools, churches, parks, etc. that may be in harms’ way? Maybe I’m wrong, but I think they are all working with the same data.

Does it make any difference?

NWS has the job of coordinating all the resources (spotters, law enforcement, emergency response, broadcasting ...) with what is happening. Local stations take this information and disseminate it to the community in a manner that they can relate. This requires the scientific knowledge as well the communities and landmarks in the path(s) of the storm(s). The local private radar service allows for specialized forecasting products (hail, high wind, flash flooding, wind shear ...) on-demand for the warned areas.

NWS has its eye on the big picture defining warning polygons. Local media has the job of disseminating the warning to the masses in a clear manner. The two work in concert. If you just listen to NWS, you are just going to get the geographic boundaries and the communities in the warned area. Watch local stations and the major ones will provide the graphical picture, forecast of wind, rain and hail and a timeline of when you will be affected.

 

[easyrider]

All 3 of them? Is there anyone under 60 that watches TV news now days? I mean when you dump cable how do you watch?

For us it's YouTube premium and occasionally the ota local news. My kids are the same. Probably more pod casts than actual news. The different viewpoints from MSM are usually closer to the truth. Eventually, the local news will be a podcast in many places. I watched a guys pod cast in Puerto Vallarta for the local news there and it was pretty informative because of viewers asking questions about local events.

Bill