Weather Hype And All Of That

Oh, it’s back!

Shield your eyes, cover your ears, and hide the kids!

It’s that time of year; ladies and gentlemen…the always-dreaded “S” word is back in your local forecast, and you know that that means…

Complete chaos from your local station.

It starts the same way; you’re turned into your local network affiliate, and there’s a reporter out there talking about the snow flurries. And then they’ll cut to a traffic reporter whose also talking about the snow flurries, which cuts to your local “weather dude”.

“Yep, there’s flurries out there, so be careful!”

“So, let’s look at the maps…”

Now, if you’re lucky, you’ve got a good TV met who actually knows what he (or she) is talking about, and will be knowledgeable enough to say, “Yep, just flurries for this evening, but be careful over the bridges, since they may freeze.”

I appreciate forecasts like that. Yes, Mother Nature is just putting down a little coating of snow, and it looks pretty. I’ll have to clean off my car in the morning, but that’s fine. I’m hanging out inside, and I’ll deal with it tomorrow.

However, what I don’t need are five different reporters to tell me that there’s a one inch of the white stuff in Center City, Northeast Philly, Bucks County, Cherry Hill and Atlantic City. As a viewer, I don’t need it, and I don’t want it. I know it’s snowing, and I still don’t understand why this is “breaking news”.

“There’s snow in Levittown! Let’s go to David Murphy, live in some parking lot in Bucks County!”

“Yeah, Marc, there’s at least a half an inch here at Oxford Valley Mall. Let me measure it for you. And, I even had to clean my car off!”

Get your Ruggie and Eastern on!

After all, winter’s coming!