Last week’s bogus bad weather predictions that cost our city millions…
That’s because nobody went out Friday, even though the forecast bad weather never materialized. And this morning I watched in horror again as the very same weathermen and DJ’s who messed up last week repeated the same gloom and doom predictions for this weekend.
Friday, light rain, possibly turning to ice and creating dangerous driving conditions, you better stay in. Saturday more rain, possible ice, and maybe 1 to 3 inches of snow late Saturday evening – they aren’t even sure when.
Translation: even if little or nothing happens, Kansas City night life will decrease by 25% this weekend based on those grim, early forecasts.
Ten years ago the forecast would have sounded more like this: “We might get some light rain Friday and with falling temperatures, there could be some slick spots, so be careful going out. And Saturday, the possibility of light snow late in the evening – we’ll keep an eye on it. And in other news…”
In other words it would have been no big deal.
We’re all adults. We live in the Midwest. And during the winter it rains here and sometimes even snows. More than likely your vehicle was built to handle these conditions, unless it’s an actual, serious ice storm or blizzard – and those happen once a year maybe.
That said, local TV news and weather departments will call for almost 20 major snows and 10 ice storms and be wrong almost 90 percent of the time.
Don’t get me wrong, we’re going to see some snow and maybe even freezing rain here and there. However, I promise you it’s never going to be as bad as they say it’s going to be.
They will tell you they’re doing this for our safety. That’s is a boldfaced lie.
Just like the police will tell you that DUI Checkpoints are for our safety. That’s not true either. They’re both just a way to make money. Police make money with tickets, fines, etc. at DUI checkpoints. And the news stations make money from the higher ratings doom and gloom weather reporting brings in.
Look we’ve had a mild winter thus far with almost no precipitation. We’ve had one light snow in the middle of the night that almost no one saw. But the way the TV weathercasters have been keeping everybody indoors, you’d think it’s been bitterly cold, up until this week.
I kept track this every November and December, and the weathermen have called for 8 snow storms and 2 ice storms thus far, even though none of them has turned up.
That’s like going 0 for 10.
Again, it’s all about ratings and making money and nothing else.
Footnote: I was on the Plaza at noon today and maybe it was the scary weather reports or maybe it was the economy, but six days before Christmas and the Plaza was pretty damn dead. Sad.
I’ve got an idea! GLAZER NEWS NETWORK! Where the incoherent thoughs, ramblings, and cloudy thinking keep on coming!
You can feature a weather forecast with warm sunny days and comfortable nights, but it’ll fool everyone only maybe once or twice.
See, weather forecasters aren’t trying to whip people into a frenzy. They’re telling them what THEY WANT TO KNOW so they can decide for themselves. Mostly they’re concerned with their own safety, not if Craig Glazedeyes loses a little business.
Translation: You’re a business owner and weather is part of the bargain. Shut the fcuk up about the goddamn weather unless you plan to do something about it.
Graph man, you kind fit into that hateful group that Hearne wrote about on personal attacks. You are entitled to your opinion on the article. However did I use the word ‘fuck’ on my story. Was it about ‘my biz.’ No. Sure it hurts our business, like it does thousands of others. It’s wrong to do that so often. Can’t you see during the winter that this overblown gloom and doom hurts most events, shopping and almost everything in our economy except the ‘food marts.’ Not a good thing. TV and radio ratings rise cause we are glued to the ‘what next’ an alien attack? Hey if you like it fine. It’s way over the top, way over…you must admit. What I am doing about it is writing about it, complaining and yes they see this and some of them react in a good way. Ch. 41, NBC told me they pulled back on their original ‘death’ march last weekend when they saw it was going to pass by, other stations didn’t. They knew it was B.S. but continued cause, PEOPLE WERE TUNED IN…that’s all. I think that is wrong.
CG, you accuse Graphman of fitting into the hateful group who personally attack by using the word “fucking”. Please…..we could spend 10 minutes and find SEVERAL responses over the past year that you post to someone calling you to the carpet when you immediately call them a name. You accuse people of being drug dealers, fat or dumb but using the word fuck hurts your feelings.
Get a grip and stop with the chest pounding and people will be less likely to attack you so much. People do not hate you because you are rich, handsome and a ladies man. People dislike you because all you do is brag and tell exaggerated stories but then again, that is the only reason you are on this site. You are nothing more than Hearne’s internet version of Katie Horner covering a tornado warning. You are on this site simply to get a rise out of people by being you. Your job is to get clicks, not provide insight into any topic.
Come on, call me a name or attack me personally, I know you want to do it.
Look we may get some weather this weekend, hey its late December hello its winter. Then all the haters will jump on me cause it snowed a bit…its the method to which they pound us with it that is the problem. Of course eventually they will hit a couple and one will be a bad one. However the past two months they haven’t gotten one right yet.
I’ve asked Lezak numerous times what constitutes a “storm” and what is just “rain.” He never answers specifically but from watching his forecast you get the feeling that if a drunk urinates anywhere in the city we’re having a STORM!
Geez, I thought he made some valid points. Yeah, as a business owner that relies on evening traffic, it is about money. He’s got a vested interest. Just like the decision that TV stations make to create a little uncertainty in the weather to drive viewers. Maybe Hearne should contact other business owners that rely on evening traffic to get their take. Maybe someone from the local Chamber of Commerce or City manager’s office to see if they have estimates on the potential loss of tax revenues as a result of bad weather ( and bad forecasts).
Yep, weather is part of the deal when you’re in his business and yep, as an old guy, I’ll decide to stay home when the weatherman says it’s going to be bad but it pisses me off as well when I decide to pass on a show or dinner because of a forecast and the forecast is completely wrong.
Just sayin’
I knew sooner or later we would find common ground Stomper.
You and Glaze are right. The forecasts are always “Worst Scenario” which can be jsutified to a certain extent, but, the fact is, most of the time, the weather forecast is incorrect with respect to severe weather. That indeed, will draw more viewers and in turn, more ad revenue.
Katie Horner was just brutal. I swear, if she was doing the weather on Nov. 22 1963, she woulda cut Cronkite off to tell us about a possible storm in Miami County.
Katie ‘cut into shows every 5 minutes with useless weather alerts’ Horener?
Thanks Chuck !!! That made my day.
By the way, how are you liking Huff Post? Got to tell you, American Renaissance is causing me tics but we did make a deal. 🙂
I am reading it every day. The Diane Ravitch thing is only interesting with regards to education.
screw the weather, come see my band NOW/here at the Czar Bar Friday night
w/Dinsdale and Monk’s Wine 7-10 pm, $5 cover.
If the turnout is disappointing, will you get huffy about it here the way Craig does?
nope, I play music for the fun of it, not to make money.
OMG!
Our local weather-casters have even tricked The Weather Channel and the National Weather Service!!!
Every where I look, I see that bad weather is possible this weekend! I can’t believe they have even dupped the national news and weather services to fall for this.
Even the NFL sites have been tricked!!!
http://nflweather.com/
http://www.weather.com/weather/today/Kansas+City+MO+USMO0460:1:US
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?textField1=39.0997265&textField2=-94.57856670000001#.UrOIqiep2fU
Cloudy with a chance of hateballs. I’m reaching for my bicycle helmet.
You claim you lose business if the forecast is wrong. Then you my friend and only you are the person who has caused friends and I to lose a lot of money here and there based upon your football picks. Maybe all the forecasters in Kansas City should band together and sue you for slander for your statement, Last week’s bogus bad weather predictions that cost our city millions… Please by all means show us and the readers all the facts to back what you say, not hearsay stuff, real facts.
Weather forecasts aren’t always wrong. If they were, then you could depend on that inaccuracy and turn it around to create accurate forecasts.
Having said that…take it from someone who has spent the last 25 years getting paid to forecast the weather…..
Ready…..
A WEATHER FORECAST IS NOTHING MORE THAN AN EDUCATED GUESS!!
Meteorology IS an exact science, basically just applied physics. We (meteorologists) can write great forecasts as long as we follow the rules about what goes where when. Unfortunately, we and Ma Nature aren’t always on the same page. Why? Because weather is driven by heating this globe of gasses by a furnace of incompressible size.
It’s like dropping a stick in a stream and then forecasting where it will be in “x” number of hours. The further the distance or the greater the amount of time the less likely that forecast is going to be accurate, because more things can happen. A fish could jump; another stick could fall in, etc.
And the rules become far and far less established the further out you go. It wasn’t that long ago (10 years) that a 3 to 5 day forecast had an accuracy rating of about 35%. Now it’s closer to about 60%. Unless, it is the fall or spring when thing are way more volatile. Then the accuracy rating drops significantly. Unless, we are talking about a big arctic high that does nothing more than make things clear and cold, and then the forecast accuracy goes up.
Getting the picture?
In addition, though, is communicating that forecast to the general public. If I tell you the forecast for Wednesday is for partly cloudy skies with a few isolated thunderstorms and it doesn’t rain on you…was the forecast right or wrong. Maybe it rained down the street (isolated thunderstorms do that).
What if I tell you we will see periods of light rain with NW winds of 20 to 30 mph….and it rains, but the winds were SW. Was the forecast wrong? No? What if you cared more about the winds (like a pilot or someone working on a tower) than the rain?
Forecasting the weather is tricky, it is fun and you need a very thick skin because people will tear into you left and right…not because you got the forecast wrong…but because they don’t like the weather and expect you to change it.
Interesting. Spending all day on TV and some radio hyping the ‘potential’ of bad weather is the issue. Yes you guys are correct much of the time, its the way its done now. People are easier to scare and will stay in with just slightly bad news, as we have seen this fall/winter. We have now had ONE bad night, last nigh and it came in after 8 PM or so…and yes the streets were slick from then on. You got one right.
My football picks are not meant to scare anyone. I don’t broadcast them all dat and destroy anyones business. I also don’t tell you to go bet on anything. My picks are educated guesses you use tons of equipment and methods as you should. By the way my record is better than yours of wins and loses. I post it. You don’t
I respect the job weather people do. I don’t respect the ‘fear’ game to keep viewers watching or listening. That is something that is done on purpose and only works with ‘fear’ predictions. Exaggerations and scary language which is almost always used. Not hey if you are going out tonight drive careful there is a chance of light snow. Instead of showing cars from Denver in snow drifts and saying”if you don’t have to go out, stay home” ….and watch us all night.
My favorites are the oncoming tornado’s landing in the metro which has NEVER really happened..yet we are told each year “HERE THEY COME”… Don’t you guys tell me about the ‘one that hit out in Olathe’ ten years ago and outskirts…none have hit KC proper in my lifetime, you have called for about 100000 of them…I believe the heat that comes off a major city and carbon released from so many cars and buildings kills the funnel/tornado as it tries to land in a highly populated city…isn’t that true. Therefore NO MAJOR tornado hits in a MAJOR city like KC or St. Louis…right..now I will see listings of ones that hit our in nowhere land.
You are just hating because Lezak benches about 100 lbs more than you
HA!
Translating this article to coherent English:
“None of the local weather ladies have shown any interest in sleeping with me, therefore I’m going to trash them.”
Remember that Super Bowl weekend some time ago when the local weather nerds predicted a blizzard on Super Bowl Sunday, killed all the local bar and restaraunt business, and we got nary a flake? Major faceplant. Hilarious too.
That was supposed to be a bad ice storm. Didn’t rain a drop. My buddy at Tanners says it cost him $10,000.
They’re at it again. No news of bad roads or ice ….. stay tuned for details.
I’ll go to the Internet. You lost me as a viewer.
i tried to be a meterologist but couldn’t cut the math involved. i went into advertising instead. but for all of you who bag on the local mets and forecasters, there are plenty of resources out there for you to educate yourself so you can look at the models and make your own forecasts.
i certainly don’t agree with hyping up the potential of any storm with dire predictions, but it’s your choice to view/listen or not. seek out the models, the NWS and NOAA sites and decide for yourself.
i would also add that we’re in a part of the country that makes forecasting a bit more difficult since we can be impacted by conditions basically from three different directions, one that contains alot of moisture usually (Gulf). plus, we can get the occasional backside of a low that circulates back from the east. i guarantee you forecasters in So Cal, Houston, NY and many other locations don’t have these issues.
hype aside, give’em a break. Weather Man is right.
Here it is Sunday morning, and it appears the forecast was spot on. Freezing drizzle and rain, followed by snow with accumulations of 2-4 inches.
I feel sorry for Glazer that people chose to stay home than go to his comedy club, but Glaze? You own an entertainment venue in the Midwest. In the winter, bad weather happens. And when it happens, people with common sense choose to stay home and wait it out when they absolutely don’t have to get out.
Now I’m sorry for you that people don’t want to risk vehicle, life and limb when the winter weather turns bad. But you know what Glazer? Life isn’t all about you.
Wonderful reply Irishguy, probably wasted, but good job. Oh by the way CG weather man works for NOAA. See that’s what we call him, it’s his nick name and you might want to listen to him a little since he does know what he is talking about.