Huntsville weathercasters (taxes, live, budget)

[RidgeCrossing]

A bit off topic...but.....we have interests all round central and a bit of northern AL


We LIVE in Tampa BAY/swfl....don't think AL forecasters (or one or two) are the only self-serving, grandiose "personalities" - most here are like that, but the Fox affiliates seem to be the most accurate and professional - they are all pretty damn good because they have to be for obvious reasons...but there are better resources here to call upon such as the huge fed weather center based in Miami, large military resources (e.g. Eglin, MacDill, NASA, Miami etc).....but of course Huntsville does too.


What I'm saying, we too have some bozos doing weather...the absolute worst I've seen here is an obvious lgbtq+-xyz younger black "weatherman" (with too much makeup and what looks like a WIG on him) who seems to be far more concerned on how he "appears" on television and it's obvious...that station is a local station called SNN (Sarasota News Network) - It's quite entertaining sometmes (for about 3 minutes). Look him up.



You ain't alone! LOL

[harry chickpea]

Originally Posted by dijkstra

They mostly just pick one of the computer models and roll with it. Very little knowledge about the local weather or judgement from experience go into their actual broadcast. They love to pick the one that is the most sensational. That would of course be one with potential for hail, strong damaging wind and possibly tornadoes for tonight. They want to whip you into a frenzy so you will tune in for their next broadcast to see if the forecast changed so their ratings look better.

Do yourself a favor and just take 30 seconds to look at a weather app on your phone or go to the national weather service website and read their forecast real quick. It takes less time, you won't find yourself aggravated or put off and you will have a better idea of what weather to actually expect.

You'll note that I did mention Robinson. The apps are problematic, I tried a couple of them and abandoned them. My tolerance for advertising is about zero, and some are laggy.

I watch TV weather for two main products: The extended forecast and especially the predicted lows, and the future radar. The rest is mostly recitation of city and town names, and dancing in front of a green screen.

The thousands and thousands of hours that programmers with real science backed knowledge put into the future radar product is a triumph of weather science. Of course it isn't perfect, of course timing can be off. Overall though, for those of us who live outside of the Huntsville TV station property, it provides a very decent timeline on when to expect rain, when to get outdoor work finished up, and it doesn't have much of a spin.

For a mediocre weathercaster to fast forward through useful information that is real, in order to yammer on with repetitive patronizing attention getting is NOT professional. It is a disservice to as many as half of the viewers in the signal area of the station. AFAIK, the future radar product for the area is not available other than on the television weathercasts. If I could have a vetted one delivered to me around noon or six o'clock daily, then I might indeed skip the weathercasts.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

Jessica is very good, the rest on 19 is just self promotion.
Just stick with the best Brad Travis and 48. If and when crunch time comes he’s earned his stripes over 20 years. In Huntsville.
Remember also the Huntsville coverage extends from Mississippi to Georgia, Southern Tennessee, and south to Cullman, so what may not impact us locally good be deadly west of us especially.

Looks like that's going to be the case this afternoon and into the evening.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by dijkstra

They mostly just pick one of the computer models and roll with it. Very little knowledge about the local weather or judgement from experience go into their actual broadcast. They love to pick the one that is the most sensational. That would of course be one with potential for hail, strong damaging wind and possibly tornadoes for tonight. They want to whip you into a frenzy so you will tune in for their next broadcast to see if the forecast changed so their ratings look better.

Do yourself a favor and just take 30 seconds to look at a weather app on your phone or go to the national weather service website and read their forecast real quick. It takes less time, you won't find yourself aggravated or put off and you will have a better idea of what weather to actually expect.

That's exactly what I do. They may not always be right (none of them is) but they are truly the "authority".

https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClic...8#.Y4Y4ji-B10v

[RocketDawg]

Tornado watches have now been issued by the NWS Severe Storm Prediction Center. At least one of the watches is PDS (Particularly Damaging Situation) and includes much of Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as SE Arkansas. Nothing in Alabama yet, but the watches go from Tupelo down to Meridian along the Mississippi/Alabama state line.

[harry chickpea]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

Tornado watches have now been issued by the NWS Severe Storm Prediction Center. At least one of the watches is PDS (Particularly Damaging Situation) and includes much of Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as SE Arkansas. Nothing in Alabama yet, but the watches go from Tupelo down to Meridian along the Mississippi/Alabama state line.

As I post, there is long rumbling thunder in my area that appears to be occurring well ahead of the storm front. The radar maps do not yet show lightning in the area. Also, a good sign - there are lots and lots of birds here. When there is a hurricane or a severe weather event, birds will move out of the area. I saw that many times in Florida, and a few times here. That there are birds here means that they feel safe here.

[dijkstra]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

You'll note that I did mention Robinson. The apps are problematic, I tried a couple of them and abandoned them. My tolerance for advertising is about zero, and some are laggy.

I watch TV weather for two main products: The extended forecast and especially the predicted lows, and the future radar. The rest is mostly recitation of city and town names, and dancing in front of a green screen.

The thousands and thousands of hours that programmers with real science backed knowledge put into the future radar product is a triumph of weather science. Of course it isn't perfect, of course timing can be off. Overall though, for those of us who live outside of the Huntsville TV station property, it provides a very decent timeline on when to expect rain, when to get outdoor work finished up, and it doesn't have much of a spin.

For a mediocre weathercaster to fast forward through useful information that is real, in order to yammer on with repetitive patronizing attention getting is NOT professional. It is a disservice to as many as half of the viewers in the signal area of the station. AFAIK, the future radar product for the area is not available other than on the television weathercasts. If I could have a vetted one delivered to me around noon or six o'clock daily, then I might indeed skip the weathercasts.

The factory weather app that came on my samsung phone works great. It is on the home screen. You can click on it and see the 5 day and then click on it again and it takes you to the weather channel where you can do 10 day, hourly and all that and can also do the radar with the futurecast radar just like the TV stations use. I haven't looked into it but I would not be surprised to find out that Bob Baron developed the futurecast radar software that they all use. You may remember him, he was once a weatherman on one of the local TV stations. He started a software company that developed much of the technology used in local weather forecasting now.

[RocketDawg]

Danielle Dozer on WHNT is good.

[johnsonkk]

Familiarity breeds contempt.

Eventually every forecaster makes mistakes. Who is keeping score would be a better metric than “that one time….” Everyone will have that “one time”. The online guys such as underground seem to do better with accurate predictably. Except with local Doppler. If it’s that critical, to know which road… “go to your safe area” is the calling card.

[btcaub]

Anyone have a link for the NWS radio in the HSV area that actually works?