baroclinic_instability Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 I am posting this here instead of OT because I am hoping for an On-Topic discussion. I wasn't very active on the Eastern boards for various reasons, but it really wasn't all that different there in terms of demographics. It is expected, of course, when the name of the previous weather forum was "Easternuswx" that most of the membership would consist of easterners as we transition over to this forum. I still find it unfortunate the number of forum members seems to fall of precipitously (I won't say exponential because I don't have the actual figures to make such a claim) as one heads west. I find our "central/western" forum to be a good group of members, but those members are dominated by various members spread through the northern/central/southern plains and OV. Considering that, in my opinion, intermountain west and west coast weather is some of the most exciting in the country, especially in terms of winter weather, that membership increases with time. I do not frequent other weather boards, but is this regional eastern specific demographic specific to all country wide weather forums? What can we do to possibly increase the membership of our western meteorologists and/or enthusiasts? Note: So I don't ruffle any feathers, which I have found can be done rather easily if statements are not made clear, I am not bashing the eastern constituent of the forums, nor am I calling into question the highly eastern specific demographics as such is expected with the origins of the forum and the eastern-centric US Population. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 I don't know if there is a heavy eastern bias at other weather forums. I've lurked at several forums that had a lot of members from other regions. As far as my particular progression of TWC-WWBB-Eastern, yeah, those have been dominated by people east of the Apps. There's a lot of work that is being done to spread the word about this board. I think we can all play a role in that. I'm hopeful that the name will attract more people from areas outside of the east coast with time (no disrespect to you guys). Given that most members came here from Eastern, it's not surprising that the demographics are heavily skewed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k*** Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 There just aren't nearly as many people living in the intermountain west and many of the most highly-populated areas in the west also have relatively fair/unexciting weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 There just aren't nearly as many people living in the intermountain west and many of the most highly-populated areas in the west also have relatively fair/unexciting weather. this is probably a major factor, though i think there are things that a u.s. focused (rather than east focused) site could tap into that eastern was not necessarily looking for. i would think the west of the apps stuff here could evolve more than the rest simply with a new name/url/etc. sure those folks were always welcome, but im sure some got caught up in the naming and whatnot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srain Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 The the areas covered under the Sub Forum provides excellent severe weather discussions, fwiw... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallow Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Ya, we don't have nearly as many members. There is a west-specific board that generally caters to Pac NW posters, so we do exist. Hope membership of westerners on American increases some more, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icebreaker5221 Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 I generally rather lurk than post, and usually when there's a significant storm threatening either coast, I'll read the forums to see what people are saying about it. I can always find more than I am looking for in the east, but usually the discussion is seriously lacking in the west. So I hear where you're coming from. Whether or not a new domain name will help? I don't know, but I hope so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southland Wx Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 There just aren't nearly as many people living in the intermountain west and many of the most highly-populated areas in the west also have relatively fair/unexciting weather. Have to agree with this. West of the Rockies, your biggest population centers (save for PDX and SEA) generally have incredibly boring weather. So it's difficult to generate enthusiasm. I can't even get too enthusiastic sometimes about systems out here. Just an unscientific observation I've made with where my colleagues are from...and the vast majority grew up either on the Plains, Midwest, or East. The weather out here just doesn't usually breed a lot of meteorologists/weenies. I do hope though that we get more Arizona/NM posters, maybe a few more people from SoCal, Northern California, the Salt Lake City area, and Denver. The name should help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baroclinic_instability Posted November 21, 2010 Author Share Posted November 21, 2010 Have to agree with this. West of the Rockies, your biggest population centers (save for PDX and SEA) generally have incredibly boring weather. So it's difficult to generate enthusiasm. I can't even get too enthusiastic sometimes about systems out here. Just an unscientific observation I've made with where my colleagues are from...and the vast majority grew up either on the Plains, Midwest, or East. The weather out here just doesn't usually breed a lot of meteorologists/weenies. I do hope though that we get more Arizona/NM posters, maybe a few more people from SoCal, Northern California, the Salt Lake City area, and Denver. The name should help. Salt Lake City and Denver, for instance, have quite the opposite. I disagree in that respect, but yes, all else being equal, there are less compared to east coast, but I think we can do better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HurricaneJosh Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 The wx in the W and Pacific-Coast states is just boring, for the most part. Not that it's that amazing in the Northeast, but at least they have occasional craziness-- a la the 1938 Long Island 'cane or the 1953 Worcester tornado. Except for the empty Rocky Mountain region (which has boring wx), generally interesting, sexy wx is a red-state thing. Grrrrr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 The wx in the W and Pacific-Coast states is just boring, for the most part. Not that it's that amazing in the Northeast, but at least they have occasional craziness-- a la the 1938 Long Island 'cane or the 1953 Worcester tornado. Except for the empty Rocky Mountain region (which has boring wx), generally interesting, sexy wx is a red-state thing. Grrrrr. this looks pretty good.. only 5 hrs from you ... Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 4 PM PST Sunday... A Winter Storm Warning for heavy snow and gusty winds remains in effect until 4 PM PST Sunday. * Timing: a second round of heavy snow will move in this evening and continue through Sunday. * Additional snow accumulations: 2 to 3 feet above 8000 feet... with 1 to 2 feet below 8000 feet. * Winds: southwest winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph. Gusts up to 45 mph tonight and Sunday morning. Ridge gusts up to 75 mph. * Considerable blowing snow and local blizzard conditions are possible tonight and Sunday morning. * Impacts: heavy snow and poor visibility will cause significant travel delays along Highway 395 and possible Road closures. Anyone traveling through Mono County should be prepared for dangerous winter driving conditions. Precautionary/preparedness actions... Conditions will deteriorate rapidly during winter storms... slow down and allow extra time when traveling. Carry tire chains... food... water... blankets and a flashlight in your car in case of an emergency. Check our website at weather.Gov/Reno or listen to NOAA Weather Radio for updates on this situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baroclinic_instability Posted November 21, 2010 Author Share Posted November 21, 2010 Wow, mountain west weather boring? Coastal storms boring? If you are looking for hurricanes, then yes, I guess it is very boring indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Smith Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Incredibly boring yes, but we have snow here -- so it can't be that bad. I used to live in the Great Lakes region so I have something to compare this to -- I wouldn't say it's boring, just subtle most of the time, then a few times a year we get something very interesting. But that's maybe four times a year on the average. There probably aren't thousands of weather weenies to be found in this time zone, but if we keep posting then our subject threads should make a random google search and maybe the numbers will grow -- from ten to twenty -- over the next decade. Whoo-eee. Hang on for the wild ride, dudes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k*** Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Wow, mountain west weather boring? Coastal storms boring? Mountain weather is far from boring and an under appreciation seems to come from a lack of understanding of mountain dynamics, perhaps. If you are looking for hurricanes, then yes, I guess it is very boring indeed. too many microclimates, not enough people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HurricaneJosh Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 this looks pretty good.. only 5 hrs from you ... Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 4 PM PST Sunday... A Winter Storm Warning for heavy snow and gusty winds remains in effect until 4 PM PST Sunday. * Timing: a second round of heavy snow will move in this evening and continue through Sunday. * Additional snow accumulations: 2 to 3 feet above 8000 feet... with 1 to 2 feet below 8000 feet. * Winds: southwest winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph. Gusts up to 45 mph tonight and Sunday morning. Ridge gusts up to 75 mph. * Considerable blowing snow and local blizzard conditions are possible tonight and Sunday morning. * Impacts: heavy snow and poor visibility will cause significant travel delays along Highway 395 and possible Road closures. Anyone traveling through Mono County should be prepared for dangerous winter driving conditions. Precautionary/preparedness actions... Conditions will deteriorate rapidly during winter storms... slow down and allow extra time when traveling. Carry tire chains... food... water... blankets and a flashlight in your car in case of an emergency. Check our website at weather.Gov/Reno or listen to NOAA Weather Radio for updates on this situation. Yeah, much of the West is getting this. My yoga teacher was heading home to Reno after class yesterday and he mentioned they were in for it. It feels like winter wx here in the city-- rainy and gross and in the 50s. Ugh!1! Wow, mountain west weather boring? Coastal storms boring? Mountain weather is far from boring and an under appreciation seems to come from a lack of understanding of mountain dynamics, perhaps. If you are looking for hurricanes, then yes, I guess it is very boring indeed. I has nothing to do with a lack of understanding of anything. It's called "personal taste". Granted, some folks might find L.A.'s marine-layer phenomenon or wind augmentation in mountain passes fascinating. Me-- I'll take hurricanes, tornadoes, and microbursts over such things. To each his own, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewxmann Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Wow, mountain west weather boring? Coastal storms boring? Mountain weather is far from boring and an under appreciation seems to come from a lack of understanding of mountain dynamics, perhaps. If you are looking for hurricanes, then yes, I guess it is very boring indeed. The weather here CAN be very exciting. But mountain weather, while exciting, doesn't typically affect too many people besides transient travelers. I get incredibly excited over rain and storms (like today's), but the winter storms here are usually not enough to generate lively discussion when such stuff occurs on a daily basis east of the Rockies. For the most part, I am a lurker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha5 Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Wow, mountain west weather boring? Coastal storms boring? Mountain weather is far from boring and an under appreciation seems to come from a lack of understanding of mountain dynamics, perhaps. If you are looking for hurricanes, then yes, I guess it is very boring indeed. Well thats just the thing...while mountain weather may be exciting, as a previous poster stated the main population centers in the west have very boring weather..and consequently are not located in the mountains. Look at the intermountain west: Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico (throw in AZ if you want too) All of those states populations combined don't come close to the NYC metro areas population of 21 million. LA has 3 million people, but lets be honest, the weather there is pretty boring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HurricaneJosh Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Well thats just the thing...while mountain weather may be exciting, as a previous poster stated the main population centers in the west have very boring weather..and consequently are not located in the mountains. Look at the intermountain west: Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico (throw in AZ if you want too) All of those states populations combined don't come close to the NYC metro areas population of 21 million. LA has 3 million people, but lets be honest, the weather there is pretty boring I can confirm that! The funny thing is that one of the main pluses to living here is the weather, and I honestly really like it. The health/fitness/wellness nazi in me totally digs SoCal wx. I just kind of accept that I'm never going to enjoy my wx drugs-- tropical cyclones and other scary, violent windstorms-- at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJW155 Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Yea it's too bad there aren't a lot of people out west where the crazy weather is. I've driven across the country a few times in the last 10 years and anything west the Missouri River was just insane at times in the mountains. 80 degrees and sunny to 25 degrees with snow squalls back to 80 degrees and sunny. All in a matter of 45 minutes and maybe 5-10 miles of highway travel. Wyoming was the craziest by far. For me at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somethingfunny Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 I visited Sacramento last December and was treated to their first snowfall in 30 years. It was pretty freaking sweet. Then we drove into San Francisco for a day and I saw sea spray induced rainbows during periods of sunshine, and then came a passing shower that dropped a freak load of sleet on the city although it melted quickly being mixed with rain. During the same trip we saw family on the Mendocino Coast where they were experiencing record low temperatures and frosts right up to the shoreline. I didn't experience any of those massive West Coast bomber storms like the one that just came into BC the other day, but you could see from the way the trees leaned and the buildings were constructed that this place experiences a hell of a lot of weather. It's not that the weather is boring out West, far from it. I think it's because out west there's more of a sense of "it's normal, we'll deal with it and keep moving" whereas here in the east we freak out because interesting weather actually doesn't happen all that often. The average resident of the Pacific West Coast would look at any tropical system below a Cat3 and say "....really???" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cory Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Incredibly boring yes, but we have snow here -- so it can't be that bad. I used to live in the Great Lakes region so I have something to compare this to -- I wouldn't say it's boring, just subtle most of the time, then a few times a year we get something very interesting. But that's maybe four times a year on the average. There probably aren't thousands of weather weenies to be found in this time zone, but if we keep posting then our subject threads should make a random google search and maybe the numbers will grow -- from ten to twenty -- over the next decade. Whoo-eee. Hang on for the wild ride, dudes. Up here in Juneau, I go through month-long stretches of YAAAAWWWNNN punctuated by 2 days of excitement, then back to boredom again. I'm generally not interested in any weather west of 100W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HurricaneJosh Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Up here in Juneau, I go through month-long stretches of YAAAAWWWNNN punctuated by 2 days of excitement, then back to boredom again. I'm generally not interested in any weather west of 100W. Totally. Da Professa is right as usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baroclinic_instability Posted November 21, 2010 Author Share Posted November 21, 2010 Totally. Da Professa is right as usual. Well I guess I am in the minority then with regards to western weather. Regardless though, hoping americanwx can increase the presence amongst that demographic. It has to be less than 1% based on the number of posts I generally see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aslkahuna Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 The Mendocino Coast most certainly gets some bodacious Winter storms but it's generally a low population area. In the Summer, though, the NoCA coast has one kind of weather-foggy and a bit on the breezy side and not very warm until you get up above 2000 ft elevation-then it's usually warm and dry. Last Winter, AZ had some really interesting weather but this coming one looks to be Booorrriiinnnggg what with La Niña and a -PDO. The monsoon in SE AZ can be really exciting but that's only a 2-3 month period. For those who live around the GSL in UT, the Lake Effect can be interesting. We were starting to see more people coming into the Western Section on Eastern, but I'm not sure that all got the word about here. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HurricaneJosh Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 The Mendocino Coast most certainly gets some bodacious Winter storms but it's generally a low population area. In the Summer, though, the NoCA coast has one kind of weather-foggy and a bit on the breezy side and not very warm until you get up above 2000 ft elevation-then it's usually warm and dry. Last Winter, AZ had some really interesting weather but this coming one looks to be Booorrriiinnnggg what with La Niña and a -PDO. The monsoon in SE AZ can be really exciting but that's only a 2-3 month period. For those who live around the GSL in UT, the Lake Effect can be interesting. We were starting to see more people coming into the Western Section on Eastern, but I'm not sure that all got the word about here. Steve Hey, Steve. I hope you visit the Aussie Cyclone thread this season. Pleeeez? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIC Airport Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Ya, we don't have nearly as many members. There is a west-specific board that generally caters to Pac NW posters, so we do exist. Hope membership of westerners on American increases some more, though. what happened to westernusawx, Mallow? I went there and apparently it doesn't exist anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallow Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 what happened to westernusawx, Mallow? I went there and apparently it doesn't exist anymore. It does, but it has an odd URL: http://westernusawx.info/forums/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HurricaneJosh Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 what happened to westernusawx, Mallow? I went there and apparently it doesn't exist anymore. The only two topics of conversation are drizzle in the NW and droughts in the SW-- so they just ran out of things to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsman Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 I love the mountain weather (front range CO), namely the microclimates and the sharp differences high altitude brings to the game. I guess I'm the opposite from people above, where I found east coast weather to be boring. I think we'll get more western posters in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha5 Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 I visited Sacramento last December and was treated to their first snowfall in 30 years. It was pretty freaking sweet. Then we drove into San Francisco for a day and I saw sea spray induced rainbows during periods of sunshine, and then came a passing shower that dropped a freak load of sleet on the city although it melted quickly being mixed with rain. During the same trip we saw family on the Mendocino Coast where they were experiencing record low temperatures and frosts right up to the shoreline. I didn't experience any of those massive West Coast bomber storms like the one that just came into BC the other day, but you could see from the way the trees leaned and the buildings were constructed that this place experiences a hell of a lot of weather. It's not that the weather is boring out West, far from it. I think it's because out west there's more of a sense of "it's normal, we'll deal with it and keep moving" whereas here in the east we freak out because interesting weather actually doesn't happen all that often. The average resident of the Pacific West Coast would look at any tropical system below a Cat3 and say "....really???" Not that...we have all 4 seasons, they dont. So theres much more to be excited about because we dont have the same conditions all year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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