Vendor/TV thread

[Central Illinois]

Central Illinois region I would say Best Meteorologist Currently Ric Kearbey out of Wics in Springfield IL before that he was in Peoria IL. Best Meteorologist from the past would be Lee Davis out of Wand in Decatur IL his live coverage of severe weather in the Spring/Summer was top notch.

[IWXwx]

Then of course there was this guy on WLWI in Indy:

 

Stay with it through the first part of the clip and you'll see why he became a late night talk show host rather than a TV weatherman.

 

[Jackstraw]

^^^ Lol.  Maybe a little off topic but yes, one of his first TV gigs was as a weatherman.  As a matter of fact, when he was still in college at Ball State he had a short stint as a DJ here at my little home towns local radio station WBMP, which consisted of a 100 ft. tower sticking out of a mobile home with about 3 watts of power lol.  I remember some years later after he became a TV personality, a friend of mine was a DJ there and I was running the board for him. There was a picture of Letterman on the wall autographed by the man himself thanking the owner/station manager for firing him.  From what I gathered, Letterman worked the 3rd shift there for some college credits. The station at the time mainly played classical music.  I guess Letterman couldn't take it anymore and played Pink Floyd's Meddle album over and over lol.  He was fired on the spot when the manager awoke and heard it playing on his clock radio.

  Sorry for off topic but some interesting trivia.  

[cyclone77]

After taking away the 9pm news, WGN America chopped away the noon broadcast as well.  What a shame, as we've been able to watch Skilling on TV since I can remember.  You can still see it on the website, but it's not quite the same for whatever reason.  Just another example of corporate morons ruining TV. 

[huronicane]

ABC7 has added Cheryl Scott.

 

Now on their roster:
 

Jerry Taft, BS Meteorology, Wisconsin

Mike Caplan, BS Mass Communications, Illinois State University // Certificate Broadcast Meteorology, Mississippi State University

Phil Schwartz, BS Meteorology, Penn State University

Tracy Butler, BS Broadcasting, Indiana University of Pennsylvania // Certificate Broadcast Meteorology, Mississippi State University

Troy Christensen, BS Meteorology, University of Oklahoma

Cheryl Scott, BS Geological Sciences, Brown University // Certificate Broadcast Meteorology, Mississippi State University

[buckeye]

I was thinking about hiring a professional meteorological service.  

Hmmm, I'll check out this WxRisk FB page and see what he's all about:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Baum]

I was thinking about hiring a professional meteorological service.  

Hmmm, I'll check out this WxRisk FB page and see what he's all about:

hired!

[buckeye]

hired!

 

[SchaumburgStormer]

I was thinking about hiring a professional meteorological service.

Hmmm, I'll check out this WxRisk FB page and see what he's all about:

The professionalism really shows with the crafty use of punctuation and caps lock.

[huronicane]

Off-topic of TV Weather, but on-topic of Chicago TV/ABC7Chicago:

 

Mark Giangreco tells viewers "Cut him (Cutler) or cut your wrists"

 

Giangreco is one of the lousiest sports personalities I've ever seen on TV.

[B-Rent]

Difficult to answer who is the "best" imo.  Skilling is probably most well known and apparently gets a lot of leeway in how he conducts the wx segment (time wise, etc)...that might equate to "best" in the eyes of some.

In my "eyes" it has to be Angela.

[buckeye]

interestingly, but not surprisingly,  JB doesn't seem too impressed with the grinch bomb.  In fact I don't even think he mentioned it directly in his morning vid.    He's more concerned how it will affect snow chances for the i-95 folks with follow-up storms

 

If the euro had a 970 low on the eastcoast day 6, he'd be analyzing and probing it worse than an alien with a fresh hillbilly.

 

I will say this, if it does become a triple-phaser....DT owns the meteorologist bragging rights for this one.

[Whitelakeroy]

interestingly, but not surprisingly,  JB doesn't seem too impressed with the grinch bomb.  In fact I don't even think he mentioned it directly in his morning vid.    He's more concerned how it will affect snow chances for the i-95 folks with follow-up storms

 

If the euro had a 970 low on the eastcoast day 6, he'd be analyzing and probing it worse than an alien with a fresh hillbilly.

 

I will say this, if it does become a triple-phaser....DT owns the meteorologist bragging rights for this one.

Remember the video he used to do on Accuweather with Ken Reeve ( RIP ) ... one of the questions of mine that Ken read on there basically got JB to admit he could careless about the GLs area.

[huronicane]

 

Weather Channel White Christmas Prediction

[buckeye]

10 day forecasting has been horrid.  Not to pick specifically on DT, because pretty much all the well-known mets are scraping some egg of their faces, but about a week ago, while touting the storm that never hit this weekend, he pointed to the xmas storm as one he felt had a better chance as an eastcoast snow storm...

...fast forward to today, even Chicago will see rain from this one.    

 

Again, DT is not the only met who has failed miserably on 7-10 day storm/pattern recognition, hell read LC's discussion last week about the xmas storm, JB was talking about a vast area of the country being snow covered for xmas. 

 

So the question is, what are these guys missing???

[pondo1000]

10 day forecasting has been horrid. Not to pick specifically on DT, because pretty much all the well-known mets are scraping some egg of their faces, but about a week ago, while touting the storm that never hit this weekend, he pointed to the xmas storm as one he felt had a better chance as an eastcoast snow storm...

...fast forward to today, even Chicago will see rain from this one.

Again, DT is not the only met who has failed miserably on 7-10 day storm/pattern recognition, hell read LC's discussion last week about the xmas storm, JB was talking about a vast area of the country being snow covered for xmas.

So the question is, what are these guys missing???

One of the harrdest professions out there imo. Trying to predict mother nature.

[buckeye]

2011-12 and 2013-14 are the easiest winters to forecast for. This year is going to be tougher. Just watching the indice ensembles on the NCEP side gives me a headache lol

 

I agree, I think a realization is setting in that this year is going to be tougher than originally thought.  But back in October when these winter outlooks were being put together it seemed like the thinking was this would be a no-brainer winter forecast....colder and snowier for most areas in general.   How else do you explain almost unanimous agreement, (in general), among forecasts?    NWS was the only outlet going with a seasonal to slightly above seasonal winter.

 

All that being said, the winter has yet to be written...all forecasts are still technically on target.....I just wonder how many, if any, would secretly wish for a do-over with what they are seeing now.

[jdrenken]

Central Illinois region I would say Best Meteorologist Currently Ric Kearbey out of Wics in Springfield IL before that he was in Peoria IL. Best Meteorologist from the past would be Lee Davis out of Wand in Decatur IL his live coverage of severe weather in the Spring/Summer was top notch.

 

 

Bill Houlahan was a fixture of Peoria, IL for years on WEEK-TV25!  

 

It was a battle between him and Mike McClelland.

http://www.centralillinoisproud.com/story/mike-mcclellan-wmbd-weather-1994-1999/d/story/Zzu8f9gcQUi2AybZum5CjA

[buckeye]

first crack in the armor?

 

DT/WxRisk:  

 

Finally let me state that I do have some concerns but the cold pattern is NOT going to last past Mid january over the eastern third of the country. There are couple reasons for this. FIRST the QBO is NOT weakening at all. The latest data from ESRL shows that if anything the QBO is still at -25.5. This is a very bad sign for those counting on sustained cold winter patterns over the eastern half of country.

[pondo1000]

first crack in the armor?

DT/WxRisk:

Finally let me state that I do have some concerns but the cold pattern is NOT going to last past Mid january over the eastern third of the country. There are couple reasons for this. FIRST the QBO is NOT weakening at all. The latest data from ESRL shows that if anything the QBO is still at -25.5. This is a very bad sign for those counting on sustained cold winter patterns over the eastern half of country.

Read that. Very disconcerting. Hopefully those long range MJO forecasts are unreliable. I knew this winter would not touch last winter, but man, i'll b disappointed if it doesn't give us a little something something.

[buckeye]

Read that. Very disconcerting. Hopefully those long range MJO forecasts are unreliable. I knew this winter would not touch last winter, but man, i'll b disappointed if it doesn't give us a little something something.

 

yea, we've had the temps, we just can't get any storms to move in the right direction or not fall apart when the long range turns to short range.   Very frustrating season so far...storm-wise

[michsnowfreak]

 

first crack in the armor?

 

DT/WxRisk:  

 

Finally let me state that I do have some concerns but the cold pattern is NOT going to last past Mid january over the eastern third of the country. There are couple reasons for this. FIRST the QBO is NOT weakening at all. The latest data from ESRL shows that if anything the QBO is still at -25.5. This is a very bad sign for those counting on sustained cold winter patterns over the eastern half of country.

 

Meh, Im not worried about a month down the road....we are having MORE than enough trouble trying to get accurate weather patterns down in the near-term.

 

I will say this though...DT is certainly much better than JB at including areas outside the east coast in his discussions, but do not forget where his base audience is. A pattern that THEY want isnt necessarily one WE want. A well below normal temperature pattern heading towards the dead of winter (mid-Jan to mid-Feb) screams suppression. Of course you could get some NW flow, and I wouldnt mind it one bit (if we had a snowpack), but that is generally not what makes for the most exciting times. A torch signal would be worrisome, but that is not what was stated. Maybe seasonable temps, or even better roller coaster, would shake up the pattern for some snowstorms. Lord knows nothing else has so far.

[DAFF]

Statistically, A cold and snowy November does not usually transfer to a good winter. Josh had a good post about this in October.

[michsnowfreak]

Statistically, A cold and snowy November does not usually transfer to a good winter. Josh had a good post about this in October.

Some of the more infamously crappy winters here had a period of winter in Nov, but when I originally looked at that, I was looking more at snow (and thinking of a few of the more extreme examples, most recently 1997-98).

 

But when looking at the top 20 coldest Novembers on record, 7 had mild winters, 12 had cold winters, and 2014-15 is TBD.

 

While this November was snowy, some 267% of 30-year norm, it wasnt top 20 type snowy (only 153% of the longterm avg) because November was the one month in our increasingly snowy climate that was showing a noted decrease.

 

So theres a lot of ways you can look at this. HOPEFULLY this is one of those years where cold, wintry November takes a huge hiatus in December then winter roars back in in Jan-Mar. And yes, there have been several of those . A cold, dry winter wouldnt surprise me either, as several of those were seen in years with cold Novembers and cold winters. Not what we want, but just give me some white already!

 

To tie it in with this thread...while JB will be barking, im sure, about how severe the winter that lies ahead will be, and how he expected this in Dec....blah blah...local retired met Deedler, in his winter outlook, specifically called for December to be the mildest month of the winter, with a tendency towards a backloaded winter.

[Powerball]

Maybe seasonable temps, or even better roller coaster, would shake up the pattern for some snowstorms. Lord knows nothing else has so far.

 

We've had that since November quite frankly, and it hasn't led to anything of the sort yet for most (other than LES and a weak clipper or two).

[michsnowfreak]

We've had that since November quite frankly, and it hasn't led to anything of the sort yet for most (other than LES and a weak clipper or two).

very true...but seasonal temps in the dead of winter are different than seasonal temps in Nov and mid-Dec, frankly the difference between everyones dreaded cold rain and a snowstorm. Of course, the weather in general has been total dullsville.

 

[Ottawa Blizzard]

Some of the more infamously crappy winters here had a period of winter in Nov, but when I originally looked at that, I was looking more at snow (and thinking of a few of the more extreme examples, most recently 1997-98).

 

But when looking at the top 20 coldest Novembers on record, 7 had mild winters, 12 had cold winters, and 2014-15 is TBD.

 

While this November was snowy, some 267% of 30-year norm, it wasnt top 20 type snowy (only 153% of the longterm avg) because November was the one month in our increasingly snowy climate that was showing a noted decrease.

 

So theres a lot of ways you can look at this. HOPEFULLY this is one of those years where cold, wintry November takes a huge hiatus in December then winter roars back in in Jan-Mar. And yes, there have been several of those . A cold, dry winter wouldnt surprise me either, as several of those were seen in years with cold Novembers and cold winters. Not what we want, but just give me some white already!

 

To tie it in with this thread...while JB will be barking, im sure, about how severe the winter that lies ahead will be, and how he expected this in Dec....blah blah...local retired met Deedler, in his winter outlook, specifically called for December to be the mildest month of the winter, with a tendency towards a backloaded winter.

JB pretty much came out today and admitted that his call for December will be a bust, specifically his belief that there would be a lot of snow on the ground at Christmas. He's also more subdued about the cold this morning, due to the latest run of the European. Essentially, he says that the European was right about the weather this upcoming week meaning he can't rule out that it will be right in keeping most of the cold in the Rockies and out west in general.

[buckeye]

LC's latest storm centered around xmas, (sounds tasty for our area so of course i'm posting it  )

 

Wave cyclogenesis will occur over the western Gulf Coast once again, but this time with a difference. That is, a northern stream shortwave is expected to dig through the Upper Midwest, eventually phasing with the disturbance as it starts to move out of Texas on Tuesday and Christmas Eve.

This system, especially its track and structure, is critical to the evolution of the jet stream configuration that sets up in the last week of December through (probably) the first ten days of January. I cannot be sure, but the betting money appears to be on a very intense mid-latitude cyclone that follows climatology for a "Galveston Bay Spin-Up". That is, a rapidly deepening area of low pressure that moves up along the western slopes of the Appalachian Mountains into the St. Lawrence Valley. If it is as strong as I think it will be, most of the Eastern Seaboard cities will see mainly heavy rain, while snow and ice threats emerge as far south as the Tennessee Valley and expand through the Ohio River watershed and the central/lower Great Lakes. Bottom line: once the storm moves through I expect a cAk vortex to form from it over James Bay or western Quebec. That, and with blocking signature rearing up from Alaska to Greenland suggests some very cold changes along and eats of the Continental Divide as we head into the last days of 2014 and welcome 2015 to the fold.  

 

this is almost a painful read.....for so many reasons

[michsnowfreak]

JB pretty much came out today and admitted that his call for December will be a bust, specifically his belief that there would be a lot of snow on the ground at Christmas. He's also more subdued about the cold this morning, due to the latest run of the European. Essentially, he says that the European was right about the weather this upcoming week meaning he can't rule out that it will be right in keeping most of the cold in the Rockies and out west in general.

The European is cold though, at least after about the 27th.  These mets need to pipe down about the long range lol, we are having enough problems with the short range.

[huronicane]

Rayno with an interesting forecast that is going against much of the guidance:

 

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-video/rain-and-snow-to-produce-lengt/3901417444001?channel=top_story