I hate the weatherman

[TnRiver46]

3 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

My dad used to say, " A weatherman is one job where you can be wrong much of the time, and still not get fired".

That and batting 8th for the orioles 

[Functional]

8 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

Here is a little known weather fact that I just recently learned. When you see a weather map of your area and it says 50% chance of rain in the shaded area, it doesn't mean that there is a 50% chance that area will see rain. It actually means there is a 100% chance that 50% of that area will receive rain. That blew my mind and it was confirmed to me by a local meteorologist I spoke to one day at a softball tournament. 

 

I found this out about 3 weeks ago and I'm 34. God forbid they ever taught me that useful piece of knowledge in school (of any level).

[fishingtx]

8 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

The words about and almost eliminated my need for a source 

Got'eem

[Koz]

The other week I was out on my kayak and local weather predicted cloudy skies but no precipitation. I was fishing a narrow cove with a heavy tree canopy that blocked out most of the sky.

 

Then I felt a sudden wind shift and temperature drop. I popped out of the cove and dark skies and lightning were approaching. Luckily, my launch point was in the other direction. But I was almost 2 miles away from that point.

 

So now I had to make a choice - take the shorter path over open water with lightning coming or take the longer path skirting the shore. My normal pedaling cruise speed is about 3 mph, but I decided to kick it into overdrive and risk open water.

 

When I hit 5.8 mph my Yak Attack transducer arm came shooting out of the water. I folded it up quickly and kept going with the storm closing in. By the time I made it to the docks I was sucking wind. But now I had to get the kayak out of the water, load it on my CTug, then pull it up a big hill to store in my hotel. I didn't even bother draining it or breaking it down. That was a good thing, because about a minute after I put it in storage the skies opened up and it got really nautical out there.

 

Lesson learned. On my phone I turned my lightning and weather alerts back on.

[Sphynx]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

That and batting 8th for the orioles 

That clubs a mess man, I feel almost as bad for the Baltimore fans as I do for my Mariners and our fans.

 

I don't really mind a bit of rain, cloudy or clear means nothing of consequence to me, but heavy winds and lightning have a pretty big (and negative) impact on my fishing, that's the part that I keep hoping they will get right, the rain is immaterial, I'm not made of sugar. 

[GaryH]

Two people I don’t listen to. Politicians and Weatherman 

[Jmilburn76]

The best thing Ive done in 2021 is to quit watching news period, be it local or national. I dont do politics and use apps to look up weather conditions. 

[gim]

10 hours ago, DitchPanda said:

Its not really how often they are wrong that's the issue...its how far off they are when its wrong. A few weeks back they said it was gonna be 80 and cloudy here...then the day came and it is was 96 and not a cloud in the sky. That's not even close. My hatred stems from pure jealousy. Who doesn't want a job where you can blatantly lie to people over and over and its completely acceptable?

I call them Weather Terrorists or Weather Clowns.

 

[TnRiver46]

14 minutes ago, Koz said:

The other week I was out on my kayak and local weather predicted cloudy skies but no precipitation. I was fishing a narrow cove with a heavy tree canopy that blocked out most of the sky.

 

Then I felt a sudden wind shift and temperature drop. I popped out of the cove and dark skies and lightning were approaching. Luckily, my launch point was in the other direction. But I was almost 2 miles away from that point.

 

So now I had to make a choice - take the shorter path over open water with lightning coming or take the longer path skirting the shore. My normal pedaling cruise speed is about 3 mph, but I decided to kick it into overdrive and risk open water.

 

When I hit 5.8 mph my Yak Attack transducer arm came shooting out of the water. I folded it up quickly and kept going with the storm closing in. By the time I made it to the docks I was sucking wind. But now I had to get the kayak out of the water, load it on my CTug, then pull it up a big hill to store in my hotel. I didn't even bother draining it or breaking it down. That was a good thing, because about a minute after I put it in storage the skies opened up and it got really nautical out there.

 

Lesson learned. On my phone I turned my lightning and weather alerts back on.

Summer storms come from nowhere, it’s usually really hot before they hit. Sounds like your boat can really haul ***

[Sphynx]

13 minutes ago, Jmilburn76 said:

The best thing Ive done in 2021 is to quit watching news period, be it local or national. I dont do politics and use apps to look up weather conditions. 

Been doing that for years, life is stressful enough without letting the 6 o'clock man say his piece, the weather was the only useful segment anyway 

[desmobob]

I'm a retired mailman and I'm used to starting every day with a look at the weather report.  Lately, I'm convinced the weather websites purposely report bad weather several days out so you keep checking back -- more website hits.

 

I don't worry about melting in the rain but my boat is carpeted and has unsealed compartments that I keep loaded with gear.  Getting caught out in the rain means a troublesome and time-consuming unpacking and drying out process.

 

I'm starting to plan my fishing outings by looking at the radar pictures and mostly ignoring the forecasts.

[Catt]

I love our local weatherman!

 

When Cheif Meterologist Ben Terry said Friday night with the current track of Ida I'm going home & going to bed...made my day!

[king fisher]

Where are you live and the time of the year is a big factor on how accurate weather reports are some places can be very accurate three days ahead of time other places not very accurate even a couple hours ahead of time. When I lived in Alaska I had to fly over hundreds of miles of wilderness I would check with flight service two or three times before I left and look at the weather maps myself it was up to me to make the decision whether to go. Many times I pushed the weather other times I didn’t sometimes when I filed the flight plan they read me the weather again thinking that I missed understood them and I’d make it to my destinations other times I would either have to turn around or many times stranded on a gravel bar camping in the bushes weather prediction is not an exact science for anybody.  Here in Mexico we all out get our weather through different online sources. Some people think by checking more sites they have more information. And because it’s on the Internet it must be correct even out to two weeks. I have my favorite site that is fairly accurate for winds and wave heights but I don’t take that as gospel and always have a back up plan.

[ironbjorn]

1 hour ago, bass4life.... said:

Got'eem

Complete disregard for NOAA information in favor of personal experience isn't getting anyone.

[Mobasser]

Here in Missouri, it's hard for them to be accurate. Many of the big storms seem to start out west, and move along until they reach us. By the time they're here, the forecast changes daily. We've also had a lot of " pop up" storms, from the humidity building for two or three days. Some are strong, but usually blow through quickly.

[cyclops2]

Noaa stated they will be farming out some of their duties. Not good. The NEW cheaper crummier tied together blocks of the USA.  Is not as good as the live analog sweep was.

 

Cheaper cheaper. Honestly ?  Forecasting for some areas is very difficult. Alaska comes to mind as a toughie.  My area is pretty accurate.  I only need 24 hours of accuracy to fish.

[Bankc]

I live in Oklahoma.  Our tourism industry relies heavily on extreme and unpredictable weather.   
 

Living here, you learn to take anything a meteorologist says with a grain of salt.  You don't base plans around the weather, because you know better than to trust what they say.  If they say it's going to storm, you pack up your gear and get ready to go until you see the storms yourself.  If they say it's going to be clear and calm, you frequently check the weather radar app on your phone while out on the water.  And even then, expect get surprised every once in a while.  You learn to play it by ear and be prepared for anything.  

 

I always find it funny to watch them during tornado season when they're predicting tornadoes, and none show up.  They'll talk over and over again about how lucky we are, yet you can hear the disappoint in their voice and see them deflate when the hook echo in the mesocyclone breaks apart.  And when a tornado does show up, you'll hear them talk about how horrible it is and all of the damage and lives ruined, yet you'll see them perk up and hear them get really excited in their voice.  Their words and their actions don't line up.  And you can't blame them.  We all do it.  It's just human nature.  

[TheBasslayer]

I usually just look at the weather app on my phone and hope that it's right. I will also check weather.com sometimes. But I don't plan fishing trips around a certain stretch of weather, so I usually don't care about the weather too much.

[TnRiver46]

5 minutes ago, Bankc said:

I live in Oklahoma.  Our tourism industry relies heavily on extreme and unpredictable weather.   
 

Living here, you learn to take anything a meteorologist says with a grain of salt.  You don't base plans around the weather, because you know better than to trust what they say.  If they say it's going to storm, you pack up your gear and get ready to go until you see the storms yourself.  If they say it's going to be clear and calm, you frequently check the weather radar app on your phone while out on the water.  And even then, expect get surprised every once in a while.  You learn to play it by ear and be prepared for anything.  

 

I always find it funny to watch them during tornado season when they're predicting tornadoes, and none show up.  They'll talk over and over again about how lucky we are, yet you can hear the disappoint in their voice and see them deflate when the hook echo in the mesocyclone breaks apart.  And when a tornado does show up, you'll hear them talk about how horrible it is and all of the damage and lives ruined, yet you'll see them perk up and hear them get really excited in their voice.  Their words and their actions don't line up.  And you can't blame them.  We all do it.  It's just human nature.  

My coworker said the local tv people

were about to wet themselves they were so excited when tropical storm Fred came through. 

[Chris Catignani]

Todays weather forecasting is a little different than yesterdays...and a whole lot more accurate.

 

Today...people like NOAA have literally millions of devices providing data for their analytical models.

They also have the CRAY computers to do the number crunching.

 

NOAA uses a fleet of satellites as well as other countries satellites. They use monitoring equipment on airplanes.

..as well a host of group based Personal Weather Stations..

...according to the weather today ....we should be fishing!

[king fisher]

It is easy to remember the times the weather service is wrong.  More difficult to remember when they are right.

    I was always full of bravado when I made it through a mountain pass when flight service said VFR flight not recommended.  I always quickly forgot the times I ticked my pants and kissed the ground when I finally was able to land on the other side.  Predicting weather is not easy, and way better than it was only a few years ago.

[T-Billy]

They seem to get the wind wrong more than anything. I add 50% to the wind they're calling for and plan accordingly.

[Mobasser]

As an example, we're supposed to get rain on Friday going into Saturday morning. But, the humidity will also increase , so I expect this to change by then. We could just get another quick pop up storm.

[Sphynx]

1 hour ago, Bankc said:

I live in Oklahoma.  Our tourism industry relies heavily on extreme and unpredictable weather.   
 

Living here, you learn to take anything a meteorologist says with a grain of salt.  You don't base plans around the weather, because you know better than to trust what they say.  If they say it's going to storm, you pack up your gear and get ready to go until you see the storms yourself.  If they say it's going to be clear and calm, you frequently check the weather radar app on your phone while out on the water.  And even then, expect get surprised every once in a while.  You learn to play it by ear and be prepared for anything.  

 

I always find it funny to watch them during tornado season when they're predicting tornadoes, and none show up.  They'll talk over and over again about how lucky we are, yet you can hear the disappoint in their voice and see them deflate when the hook echo in the mesocyclone breaks apart.  And when a tornado does show up, you'll hear them talk about how horrible it is and all of the damage and lives ruined, yet you'll see them perk up and hear them get really excited in their voice.  Their words and their actions don't line up.  And you can't blame them.  We all do it.  It's just human nature.  

A generous interpretation of the seeming contradiction of words and action has a lot to do with the fact that those who study tornadoes are going to have an academic interest and excitement over an opportunity to study one, this is at odds when you earn your bread and cheese by reporting news, where compassion to the suffering of the affected is one of the primary motivations.

[WRB]

It’s a lot better today then it was before satellites and thousands of commercial pilots feeding in weather data.

All we had before was 100 millibar lines to try and forecast with.

You should be able to determine what the  weather is locally to make a decision to go fishing or stay home.

Tom