OK, so this morning I got up and flip on the news while I was getting ready for work. Well guess what I saw? The end of the world! End of days! People, get out your Bibles because we're about to meet our maker.
War? Doom? Pestilence? No, just an ice storm.
Why is it that we have to sensationalize ordinary events? The weather is the freakin' weather people! Man, every time there is a hint of snow, ice, sleet or freezing rain the local news crews make it out to be Dick Clark's funeral. This morning every member of the local (Central Connecticut) news team talked about how dangerous it is to go outside, how travel on the roads will be tricky, and that people should stay home until at least noon when the "freezing rain" converts to "actual rain". Of course, what happens? People get freaked out and make stupid decisions. One of the worst - which is repeated in every town north of Richmond with every storm - is the delayed school openings. For REALLY bad storms we even cancel school a solid 12 hours before the storm hits!
So, as I was saying (writing?) the local news forecast this nasty ice storm for most of Connecticut. Won't change to rain until 3 or 4pm. Schools all close and parents are forced to scramble to find accommodations and supervision for their children. People put off driving in to work until later in the day, or simply work from home.
I decide to check out the driveway... ice, to be sure, but what I like to call "grippy" ice. You know, the ice that isn't actually slippery? It is ice with a bunch of snow/ice attached to the top which gives your vehicle something to grab on to... kinda like the ice they play hockey on in Central Florida. Anyway, we pile up in the AWD van and head out. Roads are fine! A little slick, a little slushy, but perfectly drivable. In fact, we were going 50 mph on Route 2.
How can these meteorologists be so wrong so often? I'm not talking about "it will be cold today" or " watch out, because it's gonna hit 90!" I'm talking about "watch out for 12 inches of snow" when we only get 4. People rely on these forecasts to make decisions about their day, about the safety of their children. These talking suits on TV just throw unsubstantiated data out on the airwaves and (to my knowledge) suffer no consequences. There was a cool marketing but done by a local channel a few years back in which they gauged the accuracy of their temperature predictions +/- 5 degrees. The station had a running average of hitting the mark. I thought it was a pretty cool idea, but then again, how hard is it to be within 10 degrees when you'd got the Doppler 1000 working for you?
Anyway, my big issue is the hysteria caused by these weather people, and the resulting actions taken by school and government entities. My God, my local golf course has radar for the weather and they don't close the course until they see physical lightening. I've played 18 holes through monsoons and rumbling thunder and the course remained open. Why? $$$$ ok, I'm totally rambling now. ( I just used "rumbling" and "rambling" in consecutive sentences)
While I'm sort of on the topic, what's up with the "traffic" reporters in the morning? Are you serious? We need Mark the Shark to tell me that traffic is slow on I-84 going into Hartford at 7:45 AM? Really? What purpose do these people serve? At least the meteorologists is CREATING A FORECAST before they give it to you. What is the traffic person doing? Talking on the phone and then telling you what they heard? And those "traffic cameras" they have set up showing you the roads... how do we know they didn't film 20 days of footage and just randomly show it to us each morning? These stations really went through the expense of setting up a camera to show people the traffic? Half the time the traffic people just tell you what the weather people just said anyway! "Well, as Mitch just explained, it is a little icy out there, so you'll want to make sure you take it slow on the roads. No major delays to report, but keep it slow because there is some ice in the forecast. Here is a live look at our New Haven camera. As you can see traffic is moving slowly, probably from that ice that may be on the road. Ok, back in a few."
Plus, in Connecticut there are no alternative routs ANYWHERE. You could tell me that Satan himself is sitting in the middle of Route 2 knocking every other car off the road and I be forced to take my chances if I wanted to get to work.
Ok, well I might need to leave early since I just heard that there might be rain coming this evening, and there is a possibility that it could be snow or ice if the temperature drop s below freezing, although that isn't forecasted, but it is always a possibility.
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2 comments:
I don't believe in the weather people's precipitation predictions until I actually see water in form or another falling in the sky.
And what is the deal with schools canceling every chance they got? When we were growing up, unless there was 6 inches of snow already on the ground they did not cancel school. I remember one winter day after it snowed, having to walk up a hill next to the school bus because it was too slippery for the bus to stop, pick me up and start up the hill again. There was no reason to delay or cancel school today in central Connecticut. Get the plows out there and throw some salt or sand down around the schools. You would think New England suddenly forgot after three centures how to live through minor snow/ice storms.
what you are doing here is helping the world, making it a better place. I commend you. There are these important issues, the talking about the weather but never really doing anything about it syndrome, which can provide such relief by doing just that, talking. Well, I must say I agree. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't. Meteorologists have the easiest job in the world. They can be wrong by 10 degrees and 12 inches and still be in front of you the next day telling you to bring your umbrella. And then you do. By the way, if you don't have kids, you don't care if schools close, close early, or open late. In fact you hope they do. It keeps a whole lot of people & cars off the roads during weather they can't drive in anyway. and if you do have kids, stay home! enjoy them. Pull a WAH day and remember when your school actually did close when horses roamed free but the pass was blocked by an avalanche and the school authorities had no choice. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth (OK - even I had enough of the horse references).
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