SEVERE WEATHER ALERTS ON TV EXCESSIVENESS

[Brian]

I swear every year that go's by the severe weather alerts that produce nothing are becoming more and more. 

When a terrible storm does finally appear the viewers will ignore it because the last 20 were bogus.

I have had warnings this season when it didn't even rain. The weather men/women must be board out of there

minds to be issuing these alerts ten times per month when one might be bad. 

[NeedMoreFans]

Keep in mind that I believe FCC regulations say that anytime there is a tornado warning in an area, the local networks have to interrupt programming to inform the public.  We were glued to the TV Tuesday night until our power went out because we were under three different tornado warnings, and I was glad they did because the coverage let me know that there was a nasty storm approaching Madison and I got a few things ready in case the power went out (which it did). 

[LouisEly]

I think it's more about the "severe" thunderstorm warnings. 

I don't live in a tent so I don't care.  And if the skies start getting suspect, I'll check the weather radar on my phone and get the hell indoors.

[trwi7]

We interrupt this thread with breaking news.  A severe thunderstorm warning is currently in effect.  Please take shelter in the nearest body of water.  If no water is available, please find a large tree.

[owbc]

I’ll just say that many in the weather community feel this way as well. 

In my opinion we’ve moved beyond the time that humans at the weather service should be manually drawing warning polygons that trigger these alerts. The technology is there to make them much smaller and more targeted with more automation. 

[hawing]

The same warnings that NeedMoreFans was under on May 21 applied to us (though somehow we didn't lose power).  We had no shortage of squawks from our phones and weather radio throughout that evening, but I appreciated having local meteorologists add local context with the break-in coverage. 

The station whose news/weather we watch most often mentioned before the storms hit (and reiterated on their social channels) that normal programming would be moved to their ".2" channel if they had to cut in.  That was available over the air or via paid TV service.  I thought it was reasonable. 

One thing about severe weather response/coverage that I'd like to see better synced is when a warning polygon only covers part of a county.  As OWBC states above, that's a big improvement on the NWS' part, but other parts of the all-around warning network are just not caught up to it.  For example, if a tornado warning is issued for southeast Dane County for a storm moving east, that storm is not going to hit Madison - yet some weather alerts only acknowledge that "Dane County" is under a warning.  I've been told to move library visitors to a storm shelter when the storm in question is in a different part of the county and moving away from Madison.  I'll admit, though, that I don't know what it would take to improve that part.  

[trwi7]

This thread feels relevant right now for some reason

[NeedMoreFans]

Several damaging tornadoes today throughout southern Wisconsin, and it looks like the warnings are continuing.  Quite the crazy night. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

For whatever reason, when we have a watch or warning the entire screen goes blank and we get the text of the type, location, etc of the warning along with audio of the warning. After a minute or two the programming returns. This happens even when the warning is for a county/counties in north-central Illinois (we live in Oconomowoc).

Definitely miss the crawl across the bottom of the screen.

[AKCheesehead]

My parents have a couple of dogs, one of which is an utter basket case about storms. If he hears the EAS squawk, he knows what it’s about and loses his mind for the next hour or so. Even if you’re quick draw on the mute button, if he sees the black screen with white letters he goes nuts. Because of this I know they are really sick and tired of the excessive alerts. 

[hawing]

I'm pretty sure at least one of our cats recognizes the weather radio alarm at our house by now. 

 

[Samurai Bucky]

On 7/1/2024 at 2:40 PM, hawing said:

I'm pretty sure at least one of our cats recognizes the weather radio alarm at our house by now. 

 

🤣  Usually one of the cats will try to stand in front of the tv.  If he isn't there, he is likely hiding because storms are coming.  So the cat will be the inverse of what is on TV.