Saturday, December 1, 2007

TV 'News' Broadcasts Panic Viewers Over Normal Winter Weather

So the stores are swamped today, with people buying provisions as if The Storm Of The Century is arriving.

I blame local television so-called news shows, which yesterday delivered ominous weather warnings every few minutes during their programming.

It's December. We live in Wisconsin. Snow and sleet are normal elements of winter weather here, and the amounts being forecast are modest.

And the stations will do this all winter long, switching to World-Ending thunderstorm hype in the spring and summer.

It's another reason to drop away from local television broadcasting, and utilize the Internet. And your commonsense.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I guess this'll teach those kooky global warming hypothesizers a thing or 2! IN YOUR FACE, SCIENCE! NOW ITS COLD!

James Rowen said...

I figured someone would take that posting, which is about weather reporting, and turn it into a rant about global warming - - and so there it is! Right out of the box.

Global warming has never been said to eliminate cold weather.

Anonymous said...

They want us afraid of everything. Good for business

Anonymous said...

No, normal snowfalls do ot cause a series of semis do not roll over and cause a chain reaction that kills a driver in Madison. And normally, planes do not slide off runways at Dane County airport. And etc.

It was a bad one, and it could have been worse if the warnings from the weather service, correctly reported by the media, had not kept people home -- more people who could have been on the roads with all the rollovers in several counties here.

I give Wisconsinites credit for knowing how to hear tv forecasts and look out their windows, too.

James Rowen said...

To the last Anon: As someone who spent a lot of time out driving in that storm, and who had a family member drive back to Milwaukee from Ozaukee County, I think it's fair to say that driver caution and defensive driving got nearly everyone to and from in one piece.

I saw a great deal of driving-too-fast for conditions, which regrettably like other poor driving I witnessed yesterday, including cell-phoning, could have played a role in the vehicle accidents to which you refer.

Anonymous said...

Ah . . I remember well the Great Shovel Panic of 2007 like it was yesterday. Well, like it was only 3 days ago. . . . . .
As the horrible memory of Saturday's weather fades away, it is replaced with the new weather horror that unfolded last evening. Last night, the local TV station I was watching devoted most of its 10 pm "News" time (which seems to decrease daily) to the winter storm, and, of course, all of its weather time as well. This included a young, jauntily attired reporter 'reporting live' from next to a busy freeway who estimated the depth of snow at two inches by digging her foot into the snow. The camera dutifully followed. Is this what passed for investigative reporting? (The next thing you know, the reporter will be making snow angels in the powder while laughing uncontrollably. It makes you wonder how they keep a straight face even now.)
Yes, in Wisconsin, snow happens. Drive cautiously, and only when necessary, and you'll get there just fine.