I woke up to heavy rain and thunder this morning. Being a weather bug, I turned on the TV to the news on Fox6. They had the only local news on Saturday morning. I had a cup of Duncan Donuts coffee in hand when Fred Hunter came on to tell me what was happening outside. Imagine my annoyance when he zoomed in on Holly Pond and spent four minutes discussing the heavy rain in north Alabama. I didn't care about Holly Pond! He didn't show me the big picture! Why is that so hard for weather guys? I want to see what's happening, why it's happening, and which way it's moving!
Maybe they want you to stay tuned for the next hour while they give you small pieces of the weather puzzle. My favorite meteorologists are James Spann(ABC 33/40) and Tom Skilling (WGN, Chicago). James knows our area best and takes his job very serious. He can relate historical weather facts and uses the technology in his toolbox very well. Tom is the best at giving you the big picture in the shortest amount of time. When you watch Tom, you know what's coming and why. I can watch either one and know the forecast pretty well.
My worst awards go to Mickey Ferguson(can't stand it when the kids come on) and Fred Hunter(see earlier problem). All the Birmingham local channels have pretty good #1 guys, it's the backups that sometimes don't deliver. TV meteorologists are just presenters anyway. Actors, if you will. They have to look and sound good or they wouldn't be on TV in the first place.
As far as delivering information, none can stand up to the info available on the internet. A minute online will give you everything needed in a weather forecast, sort of "doing away" with the middleman. You will still need a weather radio for the bad stuff because those conditions change on very short notice.
If you'll make a new favorites folder named Weather and bookmark the following links, you will be ahead of the weather game. I first of all use the national weather service forecast at...
Http://www.noaa.gov/
When you get there, type in your zip code and press enter, that's the first bookmark for your new folder. From that page you can click on radar and satellite images for your local area. The radar that I like best is the Wundermap. It is at...
Http://www.wunderground.com/wundermap/
It allows you to zoom in to street level to see approaching storms and map controls at the bottom give you animation, storm tracks, weather stations, etc. Another great site is the College of Dupage at...
http://weather.cod.edu/satrad/index.php
Controls at the top give you various views. I like the 1&2km images along with the Rgnl. Intellicast has a good interactive weather map at...
Http://www.intellicast.com/local/WXMap.aspx?weather=hdRadarSmoothPaletteA
And, since I've already mentioned Mr. Spann, 33/40 has a nice weather blog at...
Http://www.alabamawx.com/
That should be enough to get you on your way to becoming weather informed. If you've got some favorite weather links, email me or put them in the comment section. Thanks for stopping by!
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