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Feb 24th threat. Signal has been there for a while now


Typhoon Tip

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The weenie-ism on saying models show stuff they don't or the IMBY obsession with the R/S line which really doesn't matter that much since it goes back to heavy snow quickly. We are 84 hours out..stuff is going to oscillate.

Lets not clutter up the threads. We've already 5 posted people today.

Well after the way I was treated over the weekend and that nonsense. I should hope I'd get some fair treatment.

I'm not IMBY poster. I include all areas in the discussion. Noone should be left out.

We have a possible historic snowy period coming up over the next few weeks and I'm excited.

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Well that's the easy way out. Don't make a call yourself, but chuck what the GFS and Euro show to pump up ratings. If it busts, well you can't trust those models. If it hits, well you heard it here first.

 

It gets to me because people take those numbers and run. Then when it doesn't work out, you hear "Well they said a foot the other day...they blew that one.."

 

Perhaps if you want to play devil's advocate...it shows the potential amounts and impact for the viewing area so people can plan accordingly...but the general public doesn't always understand how fluid these situations can be.

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IMHO, there is absolutely nothing wrong with making a prediction at ANY point, as long as you make it clear that it is subject to change.  I can't stand meteorologists who simply refuse to make any predictions at all until like 12 hours before the storm starts.  What good is that?  Give me your best guess with what you have now, and do your best to communicate the confidence you have in that forecast.

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It gets to me because people take those numbers and run. Then when it doesn't work out, you hear "Well they said a foot the other day...they blew that one.."

 

Perhaps if you want to play devil's advocate...it shows the potential amounts and impact for the viewing area so people can plan accordingly...but the general public doesn't always understand how fluid these situations can be.

 

 

That's where we should probably move towards the probabilistic amounts, a la the graphs Ryan is trying on here. Instead of chucking 12+ on a map, tell people you have a 1 in 4 shot of a foot. Not out of the question, but not likely either.

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Ridiculous. Makes me want to get a job outside of forecasting as much as I enjoy it.

 

The big market TV mets are beholden to their producers.  I remeber talking to a Boston met (who I'll keep nameless) in the late 90's and he said there was a collective sigh among the mets when all the stations went to 5-7 day forecasts.  He called them the "chamber of commerce forecasts". lol

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It gets to me because people take those numbers and run. Then when it doesn't work out, you hear "Well they said a foot the other day...they blew that one.."

 

Perhaps if you want to play devil's advocate...it shows the potential amounts and impact for the viewing area so people can plan accordingly...but the general public doesn't always understand how fluid these situations can be.

Yeah but its a lose, lose. People don't understand the science and how it works to begin with. I heard complaining about people upping totals from 18" to 30" in the Blizz...I mean...who forecasts 30" 3 days out?

Another problem is the public doesn't usually measure snow...so honestly, even when we get a foot I've heard some people say "we got 18" easily" and later someone say "we got 7 and they said a foot"

 

It's just a lose, lose, lose scenario.

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IMHO, there is absolutely nothing wrong with making a prediction at ANY point, as long as you make it clear that it is subject to change.  I can't stand meteorologists who simply refuse to make any predictions at all until like 12 hours before the storm starts.  What good is that?  Give me your best guess with what you have now, and do your best to communicate the confidence you have in that forecast.

 

You don't get it.

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IMHO, there is absolutely nothing wrong with making a prediction at ANY point, as long as you make it clear that it is subject to change.  I can't stand meteorologists who simply refuse to make any predictions at all until like 12 hours before the storm starts.  What good is that?  Give me your best guess with what you have now, and do your best to communicate the confidence you have in that forecast.

 

dude, if you say 8-12" then say 25X after that that it is subject to change 95% of the public will run around and say "WE ARE GOING TO GET A FOOT OF SNOW".  Then through the telephone game all of a sudden that is 16-20".  You go from cautiously throwing out 8-12" to mass panic.  It is because people are stupid, not because mets are afraid.

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IMHO, there is absolutely nothing wrong with making a prediction at ANY point, as long as you make it clear that it is subject to change.  I can't stand meteorologists who simply refuse to make any predictions at all until like 12 hours before the storm starts.  What good is that?  Give me your best guess with what you have now, and do your best to communicate the confidence you have in that forecast.

 

 

I know that's what you want, but the fact is that people always (ALWAYS) latch onto the highest amounts regardless of the uncertainty or timing of that forecast.

 

We got lucky the blizzard was so well behaved. Had that deviated in the final 24 hours, the massive 24+, blizzard of '78 redux calls would have looked silly.

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dude, if you say 8-12" then say 25X after that that it is subject to change 95% of the public will run around and say "WE ARE GOING TO GET A FOOT OF SNOW".  Then through the telephone game all of a sudden that is 16-20".  You go from cautiously throwing out 8-12" to mass panic.  It is because people are stupid, not because mets are afraid.

THIS x1000 

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IMHO, there is absolutely nothing wrong with making a prediction at ANY point, as long as you make it clear that it is subject to change. I can't stand meteorologists who simply refuse to make any predictions at all until like 12 hours before the storm starts. What good is that? Give me your best guess with what you have now, and do your best to communicate the confidence you have in that forecast.

Violently agree. The public wants amounts and they want them ASAP. You've got to lay out numbers so folks know what the possibitues are and that has to be done early and hyped if need be. Like it or not that is the world we currently live in
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Yeah but its a lose, lose. People don't understand the science and how it works to begin with. I heard complaining about people upping totals from 18" to 30" in the Blizz...I mean...who forecasts 30" 3 days out?

Another problem is the public doesn't usually measure snow...so honestly, even when we get a foot I've heard some people say "we got 18" easily" and later someone say "we got 7" and they said a foot"

 

It's just a lose, lose, lose scenario.

 

But if you take a probalistic approach and state significant accumulations are possible, you are doing it in a responsible way of driving home the potential impact, without putting out numbers that likely will change. It's not like this is Friday night. You could say a widespread 6"+deal with the potential for over a foot in spots, especially the interior....that's plenty of material for people to comprehend. It's JMHO.

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But if you take a probalistic approach and state significant accumulations are possible, you are doing it in a responsible way of driving home the potential impact, without putting out numbers that likely will change. It's not like this is Friday night. You could say a widespread 6"+deal with the potential for over a foot in spots, especially the interior....that's plenty of material for people to comprehend. It's JMHO.

Oh yeah, I totally agree. I could see even not mentioning amounts, because saying a 1/4 chance of a foot will automatically register as "12+ likely."

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It gets to me because people take those numbers and run. Then when it doesn't work out, you hear "Well they said a foot the other day...they blew that one.."

 

Perhaps if you want to play devil's advocate...it shows the potential amounts and impact for the viewing area so people can plan accordingly...but the general public doesn't always understand how fluid these situations can be.

 

Why coddle the stupid people??  Let them complain about the "blown" forecast.  Who cares?  I want all of the info that the meteorologist currently has to be boiled down into a real forecast.  That's what it is - a forecast.  Anybody who expects a perfect forecast 3 or 4 days in advance deserves to be disappointed on a regular basis.

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Why coddle the stupid people??  Let them complain about the "blown" forecast.  Who cares?  I want all of the info that the meteorologist currently has to be boiled down into a real forecast.  That's what it is - a forecast.  Anybody who expects a perfect forecast 3 or 4 days in advance deserves to be disappointed on a regular basis.

 

If only that were true. It isn't reality though. The vast majority of the public is "stupid" when it comes to this stuff.

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It gets to me because people take those numbers and run. Then when it doesn't work out, you hear "Well they said a foot the other day...they blew that one.."

Perhaps if you want to play devil's advocate...it shows the potential amounts and impact for the viewing area so people can plan accordingly...but the general public doesn't always understand how fluid these situations can be.

Why coddle the stupid people?? Let them complain about the "blown" forecast. Who cares? I want all of the info that the meteorologist currently has to be boiled down into a real forecast. That's what it is - a forecast. Anybody who expects a perfect forecast 3 or 4 days in advance deserves to be disappointed on a regular basis.

Because that's about 99% of the viewer/listener/readers

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Violently agree. The public wants amounts and they want them ASAP. You've got to lay out numbers so folks know what the possibitues are and that has to be done early and hyped if need be. Like it or not that is the world we currently live in

 

In that case, for a large number of storms you can just go out with a forecast of "0-24" forecast so everyone can be prepared.  And, you'll never bust, either.

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But if you take a probalistic approach and state significant accumulations are possible, you are doing it in a responsible way of driving home the potential impact, without putting out numbers that likely will change. It's not like this is Friday night. You could say a widespread 6"+deal with the potential for over a foot in spots, especially the interior....that's plenty of material for people to comprehend. It's JMHO.

 

I would love a probabilistic approach to weather forecasting.  I love the maps that people post that show "probabilities of more than x inches of snow".

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Please stop.

Stop what? Expressing my opinion like you are doing? Why do you think they issue these maps days in advance? It's not because they are stupid. They are being pressured to get maps out because of ratings because the public wants them. You think Joe Smith wants to hear "well there's a chance of snow Saturday" but we aren't going to issue any thoughts in amounts . What good dies that do? People will tune out and tune in somewhere else. The Nws has now started issuing maps well in advance. It's reality.
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