Is Weather Being Presented Properly?

The way weather is presented to the public is a concept that I constantly struggle with. It envelops the mass internal debate I have that goes beyond the confines of this blog. With that in mind, here is my opinion on why weather is not being presented correctly to the average populace.

Where are they getting these numbers from? What’s the chance?

“There’s a 90 percent chance of rain and snow this weekend.” It is this mundane statistical statement that means almost nothing to the viewer. The massive amount of data, supercomputer analysis, and mathematical prowess that are required to produce that statement is almost unparalleled. Yet we purely just absorb this monotonous thirty-second blurb spat to us from some face on a screen and give absolutely no thought to the effort it took to make.
As you can probably see, I think that people should pay more attention to the process behind a weather forecast. The fact is, it was just less than 50 years ago that this concept of a daily forecast was a foreign to many. Daily observations were written with pen and paper, and many of the predictions were based off of climate classifications and the limited knowledge of weather systems. The lengths that the technology has caught up with the demand of instant gratification of weather data are truly remarkable. With a few clicks of a button, I can find out the temperature, humidity, and dew point for almost anywhere in the world. Beyond that, I can look at simulations of the atmosphere up to 8 days in the future at ease for almost any variable observed. With this being said, even I can become an amateur weatherman that rivals the news.

WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) Models coming out of Penn State University-hence where the forecast actually comes from

So where does that leave the weather being presented on the mainstream news media? It does in fact get the job done. People rely on the forecast and rarely do the results waiver. The times though that people want more in depth details on the forecast is when of course there is more at stake. In these dire cases, people become entranced by every minute’s detail as their lives literally hinge on computer data being updated every 4-6 minutes. For example this weekend with the incoming ice/sleet/snow/rain storm, the search for truth is ongoing up to the moment it arrives. For now, the weary speculations are the only truths that can be grasped. By tomorrow though, 24-hour cable will be running seamless coverage of this incoming winter storm.
Maybe my thoughts are far fetched, but I think that the atmosphere is so foreign to people. Even experts in the field are just now finding out the simplest processes to be more complex than once thought. For example, aspects of the mechanisms that produce raindrop formation within a cloud are still in question.* Imagine that…
I look at the Weather Channel, my long time go-to when it comes to expert field analysis and credentialed expertise, and find that it too has tried to branch more towards an entertainment standpoint. In the process, I think they have unintentionally “dumbed down” and oversimplified the news in the hopes of raising ratings. Their featured website, weather.com, is cluttered with various unrelated videos and ads that detracts from the legitimacy of the website. If they are supposedly the best source for weather news in the nation and are faced with the issue of relevancy, what does the future hold for weather related news? Will it land up serving as background noise to the ‘more pressing issues of the day’ like 10 hours of repeated coverage of a case we are forced to care about? These are questions that I have to ask myself, as I hope to enter the field of meteorology.

Would you really know this a weather related site first glance?

So because of this, I think we should treat the reporting of weather from a more educational standpoint. I think atmospheric research should be put at the exact same level as health and medicine breakthroughs. They have just as much of an impact on our livelihood. I am aware that this might completely deviate from the way that news is given today and realistically this all is just a pipe-dream on my part. Then again, imagine if media’s purpose was to educate and inspire, not just to entertain and inform. That’s a bigger issue that I will not delve into, at least not here.
Whenever people ask what I want to do when I grow up, my mind wanders from place to place, as we all tend to do when asked this puzzling question. For now though, my purpose lies in the advocacy for a different perspective in the way weather is taught, and presented to us. It might be the best way for us to combat the many issues that face our humanity, such as climate change and increasing pollution. The answer lies within the informed populace. The change starts today.


 *For those who do not believe me or just want to know about inner-cloud microphysics-http://earth.huji.ac.il/data/pics/khain_qjrms_2005.pdf