A little follow-up

Wasn't it just yesterday that I wondered about our local weather forecast? Sure it was.

Sometimes, I think maybe I'm a little too rough on our local weather people. After all, they have high school diplomas and nice suits. Plus, there's all those fancy weather gadgets that the stations must pay a lot of money for. That's why their forecasts are so accurate. It's the combination of their extensive education combined with how nice they look and their ability to color maps so nicely.

Scroll down to Friday's post with the image of the NBC10 forecast. I don't know what they call it. The one on the ABC affiliate is called AccuWeather, like that's supposed to make it more trustworthy. Generally, they're all the same. Whatever it's called, they painted a pretty rosy picture for our weekend around here. That's why I was so surprised to wake up Saturday morning, expecting to prepare for our weekly 8am bike ride with the shop.

It was foggy, which isn't unusual, but there was something more than just the fog. The sidewalks were damp, which indicated that it may have rained recently. I don't have any fancy weather gadgets here in the condo, so I'll use my layman's knowledge to determine that wet sidewalks equals prior rainfall.

I bagged the ride for two reasons. One, riding through fog is like riding through a light rain. It isn't long before you're soaking wet. Two, it looked to me like there was more than just fog. Without fancy weather gadgets, I was at a distinct disadvantage. Or was I? By 9:30 it was raining pretty heavily.

By noon, the forecast had changed to "30% chance of showers", which was odd because (a) it is already raining and (b) is it really a forecast if it is for the same day?

It stopped raining later in the day, but now it's 1:15 and pouring rain. Again, I have no gadgets. They're saying "sunny" for Sunday, and we have another ride scheduled. I'll check the sidewalks.

Meanwhile, I think the weather people still cashed a paycheck this week.

Weather or not

I just don’t know sometimes.

Are the local news stations so hungry for ratings that they will stoop to baiting us to watch? Yes, they are. So, I guess I do know, don’t I?
Thursday night, during The Office, local weather guy Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz cajoled us into tuning in at 11 by saying, “See how the coastal storm will affect our weekend weather, tonight.”
Sure Glenn, I’ll hang around for another 3 hours and wait for you to guess. Let me run out and buy a lottery ticket too. I have the same chance of being right as you.
Rather than be suckered into watching stories about local fires, traffic tie-up’s and missing pets I decided to get some shuteye and allow the weather events to transpire as they will. Then, this morning I did what any right-thinking person would do when curious about something – I went to their web site. Here is how the coastal storm is going to affect our weather this weekend:

I guess the coastal storm is going to miss us, but those mid-80s temperatures and sunny skies sound like a real problem. I'm sure that when Glenn came on at 11 he said that "The coastal storm is not going to affect us, and I'm sorry I alarmed you earlier by implying that it would." That's what he probably said.

I pictured hundreds of people, waiting around for the weather forecast, wondering if their outdoor wedding was going to be ruined or their kid’s soccer game would be cancelled. Nope. Sun and clouds, just like a lot of other days. I can't imagine that treating your viewers like that is a good way to build a long-term audience.

Thanks Glenn. I hope you got a good night’s sleep, too.