March 18, 2022

Are TV Weathercasters Meteorologists? And Another Atmospheric River Coming Our Way.

I am often asked about TV weathercasters.  Are they really meteorologists?  How good are their forecasts?      I answer these questions and more in my podcast.

Western Washington has been lucky to have exceptionally talented and knowledgeable TV weathercasters, such as Steve Pool (left) and Shannon O'Donnell (right)

And then this is ANOTHER atmospheric river coming our way later on Sunday.  Here is the forecast map of atmospheric moisture at 2 AM Monday.  The red and whitish colors indicate large amounts of moisture--headed our way.


The bulk of the moisture will hit the northwest part of Washington and southwestern BC as shown by the accumulated precipitation through 5 PM Monday.  Very wet on Vancouver Island!


More on the forecast in my podcast, as well as my discussion of TV weather.


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4 comments:

  1. Gone are the pre-satellite days of cartooning weathermen such as Seattle's Bob Hale and Bob Cram who were forced to give weather predictions without the vast supply of data available now.

    I looked up the histories of 20 recent Seattle tv weathercasters. I could find only six with a college degree in meteorology, but nine with certificates from Mississippi St whose curriculum includes 17 courses for 53 credit hours plus a summer workshop.

    The key is to understand the data that is coming from various sources and to be able to clearly communicate it to the watching public. And . . . not fall prey to the latest catch phrase in use, e.g., enough with using the term "bomb" when talking about weather.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And out with the term "heat dome"

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    2. Good points, but your forget that the MSM is not interested in presenting objective facts, only memes that promote panic and disorder - all the better to rake in the dollars. The old adage from the 70's MSM that "if it bleeds it leads," has become all - consuming.

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