Killer Snow On The Way..Or Not!
Why do the weather gurus always want to scare us with frightening forecasts?
I already know one reason. They think it's better to forecast the worst, so when it's not so bad we'll all be happier than if they forecast great weather and it's horrendous, and we are all mad.
Ratings are another reason they give these ominous weather reports. "Stay tuned and get all of the life saving info you'll need to survive the blizzard of 2020, if you want to live!!
Leave us go back and discuss the first reason they exaggerate the forecasts, which is to make us happy?
If you're like me (thankfully, most are not) you cancel important trips when the weather gods predict an "Alberta Clipper" or whatever name they think is cool, and so instead of being happy when the massive storm doesn't pan out, I'm upset because I cancelled my trip to my granddaughters first school musical or something!
How many of you have cancelled family reunion picnics because the "weather wizards" called for rain ALL WEEKEND, and then it did not rain a drop!
This picnic I would not mind cancelling!
If the weather dude or dudette came on and said, "We are going to get a few inches of snow, but, HEY, we live in Illinois, or Iowa, or Minnesota! We've been dealing with winter weather since we were babies! So get out there and do your thang, snow bunnies"...we would be good with that! (well, I would)
However, would that spike up the ratings for them? Probably not.
Let's do a scientific comparison.
Which weather report, below, would get your complete attention?
1. "The forecast is for snow, but not really bad, you'll survive, unless you're an idiot."
2. "A gigantic storm, nicknamed the Polar Pulverizer, MAY be reaping death and destruction across the nation and ESPECIALLY in our region, with temps colder than a well diggers buttocks, creating the possibility of major school closings, and heart attack snow shoveling episodes for old geezers!! Keep watching...if you want to live!!"
Shoot! Number two is a lot more fun, but when it turns out to be a 5 minute rain shower, with balmy temps, and you cancelled your trip to Cape Canaveral (if Cape Canaveral still exists) to take your trip on a space rocket to Uranus...you are NOT a cheerful cosmonaut!!! (I say cosmonaut because it's most likely a Russian space vehicle)
So in conclusion.
I love this quote about the weather that Mark Twain gets the credit for, but I guess someone else said it first. I don't know.
On Weather and Climate. Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) has often been quoted as saying: "Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it." (although it appears his collaborator on The Gilded Age, Charles Dudley Warner, actually wrote the statement).
Charles DUDLEY Warner? Whatever.
