capitalweather Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Confessions of a winter weather expert http://wapo.st/ZwRXaH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eskimo Joe Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Awesome read, for some reason I especially find this paragraph funny: Last year’s derecho knocked my power out for a week. The sweltering heat had my wife and I roaming the house in our underwear (or less). When you’re in your 20s that might be exciting and result in a baby boomlet but in your mid 60s, it’s not a pretty sight and isn’t fun. I guess the prolonged outages from the ice storm in 1994 and last summer were a form Karmic payback for enjoying the storms in 1958. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozz Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Outstanding read. If I'd been his age, I can't imagine how I would've felt once the 70s hit and we started having crappy winters after the amazing 1960s. To me, January '96 and hurricane Floyd were pretty fascinating, but it wasn't until winter 01-02 that I seriously started following weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Mike Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Great read. I remember Louie Allen. There was one snow forecast that he busted on, and some fool threw his tire chains through Allen's picture window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishRob17 Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Confessions of a winter weather expert http://wapo.st/ZwRXaH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Loved it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravensrule Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Great stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disc Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Title says it all.. great read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastCoast NPZ Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 That is a great read. It spoke to me as a fellow snow weenie and with the description of the March 58 and '66 blizzard I could feel the same passion / infatuation I felt in Oct '79 and Feb '83 that has stuck with me for life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowlurker Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Absolutely loved it Wes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JERSEYSNOWROB Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Great article!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoreWXgal Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Loved it!!! Fantastic article! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Great read Wes. A met who's a weenie is nothing to be ashamed about. In fact, it shows you have the passion and drive for weather and this in turn can help out with forecasting success. I have no problem saying I'm a weenie..lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Druff Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Confessions of a winter weather expert http://wapo.st/ZwRXaH Loved it. +1... good stuff, Wes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Chill Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Great stuff Wes. I think all snow weenies had that "defining moment" as a child and had no idea that it would end up being an incurable lifetime affliction. Blizzard of 79 sealed the deal for me. I was bad before it but relentless after it. You are clearly one of the sickest on here though. HAHA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clueless Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Such a nice and sincere piece. I loved reading it. Thanks Wes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North Balti Zen Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Tremendous piece, Wes. My own weather weenieism (snow side) was cemented when I was 8 in Cincinnati during the Cleveland Superbomb storm in early 1978. So much winds, amazing drifts. I have been hooked ever since. http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/8_14650.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HM Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 I also liked the article and it was nice to learn about Wes. But, I hope this isn't some attempt to justify a forecast to the public that may or may not have been appropriate before the possible snowstorm last week. Part of me gets that and the other part of me almost would appreciate a giant middle finger to the public/hobbyist. Then underneath is a bold statement that says, "this is the best we could do at this time (despite the uncertainty) and this is the situation at hand with regard to money, research, modeling and knowledge. Deal with it." To perpetuate a myth that we are the only science that makes predictions or has failures at expectations does the community a disservice. Until we can properly model and diagnosis these convective processes in maturing cyclones and until we can better model in general, winter storms will continue to mess with us. Great busts like this that happen to our experts (Wes this time and Kocin in 2001 e.g.) only point out our limitations in our research/modeling to me, not a bias/poor forecasting. End of rant. Sorry about that. The thought of Wes having to write this piece so that the public gets less angry at him got me heated (I'm sure that wasn't the only motive to writing this). He's one of the best forecasters in the freakin' country and shouldn't have to talk about his nudity so the public becomes understanding. Just kidding Wes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlizzardNole Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Great read Wes! It was the Blizzard of 1979 that really got me. I was 12 and living in northern Calvert County, which was the hardest hit in the area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravensrule Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 I also liked the article and it was nice to learn about Wes. But, I hope this isn't some attempt to justify a forecast to the public that may or may not have been appropriate before the possible snowstorm last week. Part of me gets that and the other part of me almost would appreciate a giant middle finger to the public/hobbyist. Then underneath is a bold statement that says, "this is the best we could do at this time (despite the uncertainty) and this is the situation at hand with regard to money, research, modeling and knowledge. Deal with it." To perpetuate a myth that we are the only science that makes predictions or has failures at expectations does the community a disservice. Until we can properly model and diagnosis these convective processes in maturing cyclones and until we can better model in general, winter storms will continue to mess with us. Great busts like this that happen to our experts (Wes this time and Kocin in 2001 e.g.) only point out our limitations in our research/modeling to me, not a bias/poor forecasting. End of rant. Sorry about that. The thought of Wes having to write this piece so that the public gets less angry at him got me heated (I'm sure that wasn't the only motive to writing this). He's one of the best forecasters in the freakin' country and shouldn't have to talk about his nudity so the public becomes understanding. Just kidding Wes! I am not even going to discuss what that did to my lunch . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usedtobe Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 I also liked the article and it was nice to learn about Wes. But, I hope this isn't some attempt to justify a forecast to the public that may or may not have been appropriate before the possible snowstorm last week. Part of me gets that and the other part of me almost would appreciate a giant middle finger to the public/hobbyist. Then underneath is a bold statement that says, "this is the best we could do at this time (despite the uncertainty) and this is the situation at hand with regard to money, research, modeling and knowledge. Deal with it." To perpetuate a myth that we are the only science that makes predictions or has failures at expectations does the community a disservice. Until we can properly model and diagnosis these convective processes in maturing cyclones and until we can better model in general, winter storms will continue to mess with us. Great busts like this that happen to our experts (Wes this time and Kocin in 2001 e.g.) only point out our limitations in our research/modeling to me, not a bias/poor forecasting. End of rant. Sorry about that. The thought of Wes having to write this piece so that the public gets less angry at him got me heated (I'm sure that wasn't the only motive to writing this). He's one of the best forecasters in the freakin' country and shouldn't have to talk about his nudity so the public becomes understanding. Just kidding Wes! No, I had started the article before the storm or non-storm and had it half written. The comments from Ian, Bob Chill and others were the motivation as others obviously have been bitten by the same bug and I thought i could write something that would be funny, entertaining and let people know a little about how I got into weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usedtobe Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Great stuff Wes. I think all snow weenies had that "defining moment" as a child and had no idea that it would end up being an incurable lifetime affliction. Blizzard of 79 sealed the deal for me. I was bad before it but relentless after it. You are clearly one of the sickest on here though. HAHA Bob, some of your, Ians, Matts and others comments spurred me to write the piece. I had a lot of fun writing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravensrule Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Bob, some of your, Ians, Matts and others comments spurred me to write the piece. I had a lot of fun writing it. Great write up like usual, but you did give up your age which might bring merciless teasing from me in the future . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Chill Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Bob, some of your, Ians, Matts and others comments spurred me to write the piece. I had a lot of fun writing it. You brilliantly used a redemption technique too. NOBODY holds a grudge against and EVERYBODY forgives an intellectually honest, down to earth, and overall likeable guy. Anyone who read the article took those three things away when they finished reading. Good thing you haven't been reading the boards as much lately. The tone of many comments (including my own) aren't very inspiring to do anything meaningful except to maybe laugh a little or want to break stuff. Moreso the latter than the former. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravensrule Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 You brilliantly used a redemption technique too. NOBODY holds a grudge against and EVERYBODY forgives an intellectually honest, down to earth, and overall likeable guy. Anyone who read the article took those three things away when they finished reading. Good thing you haven't been reading the boards as much lately. The tone of many comments (including my own) aren't very inspiring to do anything meaningful except to maybe laugh a little or want to break stuff. Moreso the latter than the former. More shockingly he admitted in public to being your friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Chill Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 More shockingly he admitted in public to being your friend. Brilliant people get along really well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HM Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 No, I had started the article before the storm or non-storm and had it half written. The comments from Ian, Bob Chill and others were the motivation as others obviously have been bitten by the same bug and I thought i could write something that would be funny, entertaining and let people know a little about how I got into weather. Okay good. Again, I enjoyed the article and felt frustrated when I thought that it was possible the public/your readers were mad at you for a "busted" forecast. It just gets on my nerves and I know there's nothing I can do about that kind of ignorance. It really doesn't get much better than a few of those forecasts I read from you in advance of the storm and how you stated the possibilities and their probabilities. I continue to learn from you and that probabilistic methodology so I can prevent looking like a giant, you know what, in LR forecasting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#NoPoles Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Okay good. Again, I enjoyed the article and felt frustrated when I thought that it was possible the public/your readers were mad at you for a "busted" forecast. It just gets on my nerves and I know there's nothing I can do about that kind of ignorance. It really doesn't get much better than a few of those forecasts I read from you in advance of the storm and how you stated the possibilities and their probabilities. I continue to learn from you and that probabilistic methodology so I can prevent looking like a giant, you know what, in LR forecasting. I don't think looking like a giant Reese's PB Egg would be so bad at all Wes, what a great read! I have a snowfall rate fetish...light snow is nice, and can be pretty...but i live for those storms that go ballistic dropping more than an inch/hr! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravensrule Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Brilliant people get along really well So in other words you don't get along with anyone really well . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidude Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Love your stories Wes. Our family moved from SE Wash. in Oct. 1959 to Burtonsville. It began to snow in December and didn't stop until the end of January. We got around 2' of snow which drifted over our road so that no one in a two mile stretch on our road could get out. The next year was epic.....it snowed almost a foot of snow in Dec., a foot in Jan. and a foot in Feb. by the end of Feb. at age 8, we could only see the top of our car sticking out from the drifts. The electricity was out for two weeks and mom had to put a wool army blanket over the doorway in the kitchen to the rest of the house and we lived in the kitchen with the windows cracked open and the gas stove on low to keep us from freezing. I remember my mother screaming at that final moment of terminal cabin fever.....get out! All of you kids put on your snowsuits and get out! Poor thing.....I can't imagine living for two weeks in a 10 x 12 kitchen with three snow crazed children. She would bundle us up in those silly suits that were wider than we were tall and send us out to play for hours in the snow building tunnels, forts, eating snow and hiking for miles into the woods that we knew so well. We never worried about getting lost or frozen.....we just loved the quiet world that feet of snow creates.... Now anyone who grew up in the sixties is convinced that there is global warming because there hasn't been a winter decade like that and probably never will be again. Footnote: Being a skiier automatically makes you a snow weenie. Snow is to skiiers as waves are to surfers. We live for every wisp of hope that the next one will be the "big dump"....the one to remember....the next BECS! Last year riding up the lift at Whitetail, there was an old gentlemen sitting next to me with very old straight skis on, obviously he was not an expert skiier like me. I felt very superior. We engaged in the usual pleasantries that strangers on a lift generally use to open the conversation. Comments like, the snow is good today, maybe we'll ski well into late March this year.....it sure is cold today and so on. The old gentlemen made some passing comment about it being way too cold for anyone to believe in global warming. Being the smartass, know-it-all weather geek that I am, I wanted to display my amazing weather insight to this gentlemen, so I pulled out a gem from my global warming arsenal. I queried: "Do you know the single biggest cause of global warming?" to which he replied: "No" Beaming with my impending display of wisdom and knowledge, I replied: "The breakup of the Soviet Union" He thought about it for a minute and then mused: "What makes you say that....?" "When the Soviet Union broke up, they closed 6 recording stations in Siberia and all future global temperature averages were without the benefit of the cold Siberian weather stations", I proudly responded. He thought about that for a minute and then asked me: "Are you a meteorologist?" To which I replied: "NO NO, I am just a weather enthusiast, why, what do you do for a living?" He replied: "I am the professor of climatology at Johns Hopkins University" I groaned and sunk in the chair lift mortified and he laughed out loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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