Members please read (regarding potential subforum split)

[Harry]

Even though i voted i think the better option would be to just clean up the garbage. Do that and most of the problems go away.

[snowstormcanuck]

What precipitated this? There are squabbles once in a while but I've never read a thread in this SF and thought to myself...what a complete train wreck due to inter-regional trolling/flaming/etc.

 

Even what's going on in the April 13-14 thread can't reasonably be construed as a regional conflict.

[DAFF]

Ditch Ohio and Ontario (GTA), and  keep everything else the same.

 

Funny part is I'm closer to downtown Detroit than most of the SEMI crew and one of the few who can look north to the US. I say keep it all the same, were all family in a dysfunctional way.

[snowstormcanuck]

Ditch Ohio and Ontario (GTA), and  keep everything else the same.

 

lol. If there is an inchoate problem, how is ditching the smaller, self-contained sub-regions going to solve anything?

 

One problem I've noticed over the last couple of years, and maybe this has come with a changing/growing membership, is a decrease in analytical posts and an increase in what I'll call "self-indulgent" posts (posting pics/local obs/trivial comments) that don't really add much. We all do it from time to time (myself included) but for a lot that's their sole MO. Not sure how this problem is solved but that's what I've noticed more than any cross-regional strife.

[Hoosier]

What precipitated this? There are squabbles once in a while but I've never read a thread in this SF and thought to myself...what a complete train wreck due to inter-regional trolling/flaming/etc.

 

Even what's going on in the April 13-14 thread can't reasonably be construed as a regional conflict.

 

I guess various things over the years...from reading some comments to people contacting me.  Also seeing other subforum splits and wondering if our structure is ideal.  Regarding April 13-14, I guess the timing looks suspicious but it really doesn't have anything to do with that.

[jbcmh81]

This all seems rather petty to me. God forbid people have to interact with anyone who may disagree or have a competing interest in something.

[Harry]

I guess various things over the years...from reading some comments to people contacting me.  Also seeing other subforum splits and wondering if our structure is ideal.  Regarding April 13-14, I guess the timing looks suspicious but it really doesn't have anything to do with that.

 

Our subforum is a bit on the large side and covers too much. Back in the day when so few were posting it worked somewhat. I wont say it totally worked as it is plain obvious we still lack decent pro mets ( unlike say Mid Atlantic/New England etc sub forums ) who enjoy discussing this stuff. How many heavily populated areas are covered? Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Columbus, Cleveland, St. Louis, Cincy, Indianapolis, MSP.. That is far too many. Not like they are all aligned either from ssw to nne or whatever and or follows the typical storm track. The weather in Ohio is usually a bit different then say in MN/WI.. This could also be why we don't have as many pro mets posting as well. Too much to cover and most naturally feel better about discussing their own area they may work in or whatever. Coming in here they may feel obliged to have to discuss areas they would rather not and so instead they avoid all together. I would go as far to say the set up encourages alot of the problems we have. People feed off of the competitiveness for snowfall/severe wx or whatever it may be. 

 

The other problems wont vanish from splitting up the forum. They have to be dealt with individually..

[Stebo]

lol. If there is an inchoate problem, how is ditching the smaller, self-contained sub-regions going to solve anything?

 

One problem I've noticed over the last couple of years, and maybe this has come with a changing/growing membership, is a decrease in analytical posts and an increase in what I'll call "self-indulgent" posts (posting pics/local obs/trivial comments) that don't really add much. We all do it from time to time (myself included) but for a lot that's their sole MO. Not sure how this problem is solved but that's what I've noticed more than any cross-regional strife.

 

This is part of the issue, sure everyone isn't going to have same level of meteorological knowledge but coming in and adding nothing doesn't help. Hell I would consider all these 'punt' or 'not happening' posts actually take away from the discussion because then you have others focus on that nonsense and it deviates from the topic at hand. Plain and simple if the nonsense and bull**** is fixed then there isn't a problem. The thing is nothing gets fixed and so the same issue is allowed to fester on and on.

[Stebo]

Our subforum is a bit on the large side and covers too much. Back in the day when so few were posting it worked somewhat. I wont say it totally worked as it is plain obvious we still lack decent pro mets ( unlike say Mid Atlantic/New England etc sub forums ) who enjoy discussing this stuff. How many heavily populated areas are covered? Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Columbus, Cleveland, St. Louis, Cincy, Indianapolis, MSP.. That is far too many. Not like they are all aligned either from ssw to nne or whatever and or follows the typical storm track. The weather in Ohio is usually a bit different then say in MN/WI.. This could also be why we don't have as many pro mets posting as well. Too much to cover and most naturally feel better about discussing their own area they may work in or whatever. Coming in here they may feel obliged to have to discuss areas they would rather not and so instead they avoid all together. I would go as far to say the set up encourages alot of the problems we have. People feed off of the competitiveness for snowfall/severe wx or whatever it may be. 

 

The other problems wont vanish from splitting up the forum. They have to be dealt with individually..

 

The geographical issue is a problem, I mean I'll be honest if a snowstorm is hitting the Twin Cities or Des Moines for example I probably won't be posting about it unless it is something incredible. Is that a bit IMBY, sure. The problem is this doesn't occur on the East Coast because their sub forums are more populated than this one so you are bound to have more mets just per population, plus they will constantly be posting because the geographical scope of their sub forums are very small.

[Hoosier]

This is part of the issue, sure everyone isn't going to have same level of meteorological knowledge but coming in and adding nothing doesn't help. Hell I would consider all these 'punt' or 'not happening' posts actually take away from the discussion because then you have others focus on that nonsense and it deviates from the topic at hand. Plain and simple if the nonsense and bull**** is fixed then there isn't a problem. The thing is nothing gets fixed and so the same issue is allowed to fester on and on.

 

The punt stuff comes off as a joke to me in many instances.  I don't really think that someone cancelling an entire season 3 months in advance is being serious but I understand that others may perceive it differently (it's the internet after all) and it does get old after a while especially since it pops up in other circumstances.  There are things that could be cleaned up but I usually tend to err on the lenient side with stuff in the gray area so to speak.  I've probably said it before but I'm really not interested in micromanaging the subforum, which means that the moderation isn't going to be strict enough for some.  Just being honest about that.

 

Anyway, thanks to all who have voted so far.       

[Stebo]

The punt stuff comes off as a joke to me in many instances.  I don't really think that someone cancelling an entire season 3 months in advance is being serious but I understand that others may perceive it differently (it's the internet after all) and it does get old after a while especially since it pops up in other circumstances.  There are things that could be cleaned up but I usually tend to err on the lenient side with stuff in the gray area so to speak.  I've probably said it before but I'm really not interested in micromanaging the subforum, which means that the moderation isn't going to be strict enough for some.  Just being honest about that.

 

Anyway, thanks to all who have voted so far.       

 

It would be a joke if it wasn't a daily occurrence, and it is this lenient moderation that leads to trolling of people and threads. Bottom line is that it adds nothing to the discussion and causes unnecessary conflict, so it should be removed. I am not saying remove the fun out of the forum or making this place a complete bore, but people having fun at the expense of others should be frowned upon.

[kevlon62]

lol. If there is an inchoate problem, how is ditching the smaller, self-contained sub-regions going to solve anything?

One problem I've noticed over the last couple of years, and maybe this has come with a changing/growing membership, is a decrease in analytical posts and an increase in what I'll call "self-indulgent" posts (posting pics/local obs/trivial comments) that don't really add much. We all do it from time to time (myself included) but for a lot that's their sole MO. Not sure how this problem is solved but that's what I've noticed more than any cross-regional strife.

It's been sweet following this board and Amwx's predecessors. I remember shooting a ka shelf cloud blasting down the northwest line into town maybe 6 years ago and getting a few hell yeahs. The parent mcs had fired the prior night in the Dalotas. I had a front page picture and I posted it here before it raked across Chicago.

I'd love to have the time to gain more knowledge so that I could provide analytical posts. Even went down to NIU AS program and met with them but life and time kept me from making it happen.

Not looking for Atta boys when I post a pic/ob and maybe a few dead snow pile pictures are outside our acceptable scope, but I figure that's for mods to decide. There is usually at least some banter to wade through from 90% of posters on here anyway.

[Whitelakeroy]

Just an idea similar to the idea shot down a few storms ago (I think March 12 storm).  I thought is would be best to have an actual storm thread for those who want to discuss the storm.  A separate storm thread for those who want to gripe, moan and post crap.

 

Storms should have an actual analytical tread:  one liners, pointless pictures or pictures with now discussion, posts with no words or completely lack any value just get deleted by the moderators (not moved ... just deleted).

 

Then have another storm thread where almost all is basically OK.  Post your crap posts there!!  If you don't want to read it don't go there.

 

It will take some time for people to get used to it but in the end it may help.

[hoosierwx]

_{How about an option to rejoin Central/Western?  I enjoyed when we were all together and could track these systems as the moved across sub-forum.  More Mets posted, even outside their particular area.  That helped those on the southern side as usually the came out of the sw if it was a whiff north of I-70.  As I understand the main problem was obs and model tracking interfering with each other but surely this could be fixed by separating into different threads.  Not much goes on in either place since the split, but together I thought we had one of the best sub-forums on this board.  Just my 2c.}

[Svrwx]

_{How about an option to rejoin Central/Western?  I enjoyed when we were all together and could track these systems as the moved across sub-forum.  More Mets posted, even outside their particular area.  That helped those on the southern side as usually the came out of the sw if it was a whiff north of I-70.  As I understand the main problem was obs and model tracking interfering with each other but surely this could be fixed by separating into different threads.  Not much goes on in either place since the split, but together I thought we had one of the best sub-forums on this board.  Just my 2c.}

+1

[hm8]

_{How about an option to rejoin Central/Western? I enjoyed when we were all together and could track these systems as the moved across sub-forum. More Mets posted, even outside their particular area. That helped those on the southern side as usually the came out of the sw if it was a whiff north of I-70. As I understand the main problem was obs and model tracking interfering with each other but surely this could be fixed by separating into different threads. Not much goes on in either place since the split, but together I thought we had one of the best sub-forums on this board. Just my 2c.}

I'd vote for that

[on_wx]

_{How about an option to rejoin Central/Western?  I enjoyed when we were all together and could track these systems as the moved across sub-forum.  More Mets posted, even outside their particular area.  That helped those on the southern side as usually the came out of the sw if it was a whiff north of I-70.  As I understand the main problem was obs and model tracking interfering with each other but surely this could be fixed by separating into different threads.  Not much goes on in either place since the split, but together I thought we had one of the best sub-forums on this board.  Just my 2c.}

 

Personally think this made a lot of sense especially during severe weather outbreaks which now overlap Central/Western and Lakes/Ohio Valley or become a thread in the main forum with two other threads in each regional forum. There used to be a lot of great discussion, which don't get me wrong there still is, but it's like the two forums have split the already minimal discussions into two smaller discussions. 

[Whitelakeroy]

_{How about an option to rejoin Central/Western?  I enjoyed when we were all together and could track these systems as the moved across sub-forum.  More Mets posted, even outside their particular area.  That helped those on the southern side as usually the came out of the sw if it was a whiff north of I-70.  As I understand the main problem was obs and model tracking interfering with each other but surely this could be fixed by separating into different threads.  Not much goes on in either place since the split, but together I thought we had one of the best sub-forums on this board.  Just my 2c.}

I am game for this too but still it would be nice to have 'cleaner' threads with more actual discussion and less BS.

[blizzardof96]

_{How about an option to rejoin Central/Western?  I enjoyed when we were all together and could track these systems as the moved across sub-forum.  More Mets posted, even outside their particular area.  That helped those on the southern side as usually the came out of the sw if it was a whiff north of I-70.  As I understand the main problem was obs and model tracking interfering with each other but surely this could be fixed by separating into different threads.  Not much goes on in either place since the split, but together I thought we had one of the best sub-forums on this board.  Just my 2c.}

Good idea. They've got some great mets over there who post some fantastic insight on a regular basis, especially during severe season.

[The_Global_Warmer]

_{How about an option to rejoin Central/Western? I enjoyed when we were all together and could track these systems as the moved across sub-forum. More Mets posted, even outside their particular area. That helped those on the southern side as usually the came out of the sw if it was a whiff north of I-70. As I understand the main problem was obs and model tracking interfering with each other but surely this could be fixed by separating into different threads. Not much goes on in either place since the split, but together I thought we had one of the best sub-forums on this board. Just my 2c.}

+1000

[Jonger]

_{How about an option to rejoin Central/Western? I enjoyed when we were all together and could track these systems as the moved across sub-forum. More Mets posted, even outside their particular area. That helped those on the southern side as usually the came out of the sw if it was a whiff north of I-70. As I understand the main problem was obs and model tracking interfering with each other but surely this could be fixed by separating into different threads. Not much goes on in either place since the split, but together I thought we had one of the best sub-forums on this board. Just my 2c.}

No thank you.

That harkens back to the days of everyone west of the apps being dumped into a catch-all bin of discussion. I like discussion with just great lakes posters, I could care less about western areas.

[buckeye]

This all seems rather petty to me. God forbid people have to interact with anyone who may disagree or have a competing interest in something.

 

lol...I agree with you and I'm inclined to go with no split.   But what you said still happens and let's face it we know what the most likely scenario is.  It's usually in a forum-wide storm thread, 4+ days out from a potential storm coming up from the south.   Someone from the southeastern flanks of the forum, (Ohio), posts a legit model run showing the storm path trending south and east and out come the flames, rolling eyes, and smartazz posts from the usual characters.  Suddenly it turns into a competition that no one has control over anyways lol.   

 

Everyone here first needs to admit they are weenies...including myself.  I don't care if you live in Wisconsin, Ontario, or northern KY, we're all weenies with an illogical fascination for snow, geography does not exempt us.

 

All that being said, I really like the spin-off threads we've done in OH.  Both the Ohio 'Let's talk winter thread' and the northeast OH thread, (which mostly handles lake effect).   That works well.  My only complaint is that sometimes all the good action on a potential storm threat collects in the main storm forum, so the Ohio thread gets rather lonely, unless an imminent storm is on our doorstep.

[A-L-E-K]

rejoin central western, ditch OH and MI

[Thundersnow12]

rejoin central western, ditch OH and MI

 

This. 

 

Get more/better posters/post with this route during big events. 

[Hoosier]

Rejoin idea is interesting...and something I really hadn't thought of.  That subforum already covers a huge area though and not sure if they would want us back.   

[Roger Smith]

As a non-resident I would not presume to vote, but will say that I enjoy the sub-forum and would not want to see it divided, perhaps if it attracted a bit more attention from MO, wIA and wMN posters in some situations that would be an improvement. Not everybody happens to live in a location that would cause them to post exclusively in one sub-forum. I would say leave it flexible to the demand of the larger forum and let weather events determine who comes into the sub-forum. It is going to remain anchored by Chicago area weather and posters for reasons of location and population. The Ontario thread was a good idea and should keep the dreaded metric references in quarantine. I tend to hang out here because I used to live in Ontario, but check several of the other sub-forums when they have active weather. Anyway, it will be five years until the next winter.

[Stebo]

rejoin central western, ditch OH and MI

Doesn't make sense to ditch MI considering we are directly above almost all of IN. Moving OH to PA and Upstate NY sub forum does although NW OH should stay with the rest.

[KokomoWX]

<snip> Blah, Blah, Blah </snip> Anyway, it will be five years until the next winter.

 

Say what?  

I am fine the way it is or also don't mind rejoining the Western sub forum.  I do appreciate small regional threads for localized banter.  Derailing a storm thread for local banter is annoying from the aspect where you see a dozen new posts and think something good happened with a potential storm only to find out it was banter.  

[Thunder Road]

Was there some sort of drama that sparked this?

 

I'm always open to being convinced otherwise, but looking at the proposal without any prior knowledge of what's been going on here in the last month or so, I don't see any reason to split us up even more.

 

Every region has whiny posters, but who's whining and who's winning just depends on the season.  You can't really split us up enough to eliminate the problem of winners and losers sharing a subforum since we don't have the number of posters that SNE/NYC/Philly/MA has.

[andyhb]

No thank you.

That harkens back to the days of everyone west of the apps being dumped into a catch-all bin of discussion. I like discussion with just great lakes posters, I could care less about western areas.

 

*couldn't

 

And good, you can stay.