Friday, February 25, 2011

Re: [californiadisasters] Admin Read: Stop Shooting the Messenger



This is an interesting thread and I think Kim and the rest put it well.    Maybe we can lighten up a bit, but I think a lot of what we think and say stems from the attitude the television forecaster portray.     They do indeed talk as if 1)  It is their own weather.   2)  What they are saying is how it will end up.   3)   There is rarely, if ever, comments reminding the viewing public that it's not an exact science and it is almost never brought up during a forecast that their words are solely predictions and may not pan out.  
 
So while we learn early on in school weather prediction is not an exact thing, watching years of TV forecasters influences our thinking to expect reports to be right.     If 1, 2, and 3 were addressed, I think 99.9% of the viewing public would not be bad-mouthing newscasters around the water fountain at work.  
 
Oh well.   
 
Way off topic at this point, sorry.

Jason 
 
In a message dated 2/25/2011 2:08:33 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, kef413@gmail.com writes:
 

Well-said, Kim.

I think it's accurate what we've said lately (actually, I said it in this
form), the forecasts tend to be more than we actually get, but as you've
said, this is really the only responsible choice. We just noted recently the
flooding in the Sepulveda Basin: There was considerable damage and LOTS of
blaming following the LACK OF "alarmism".

The weather is what it ends up being; the forecasts are only guesses,
however well-educated.

I fault no one involved with the forecasting, with one exception: I DO wish
they'd stop phrasing it as if they, themselves, were making it happen
("We're going to move in these clouds,...").

(And for those who are disappointed when we don't get the big storms, well,
"oh well".)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kim Noyes" <kimnoyes@gmail.com>
To: "CaliforniaDisasters" <californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2011 1:24 PM
Subject: [californiadisasters] Admin Read: Stop Shooting the Messenger

> Achtung Gruppe!
>
> This has been on my mind for awhile and I have been waiting for the right
> time to speak and the right words to share.
>
> There has been a lot of talk here on this list for some time about SoCal
> weather forecasts that don't pan out and disparaging remarks about the
> performance of the forecasters.
:
:
:>

.


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