This image provided by the National Weather Service shows a National Weather Service advisory in all capital letters. For more than a century, the National Weather Service has screamed its forecasts in all capital letters. But in the social media age all capitals are considered yelling, so next month federal meteorologists are lowering their voices and their letters, except in dire emergencies.
After having published all of its forecasts IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS for more than a century, the National Weather Service will finally switch to normal sentence style next month, the agency announced Monday.
The NWS' distinctive style — IN WHICH FORECASTS RUN ON FOR PAGES AT A TIME IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS — is a remnant of the days of teleprinters, which didn't have lowercase letters, NBC News reported.
The agency has been trying since the 1990s to modernize its typography, but "it took the next 20 years or so for users of Weather Service products to phase out the last of the old equipment that would only recognize teletype," the agency said Monday.
Any government change like this requires a 30-day notice period for customers to prepare, so it won't be until May 11 that the NWS — as it wrote itself in its announcement — "WILL STOP YELLING AT YOU."
No comments:
Post a Comment