Rough Weather Ahead?

storm.jpgWith storm season upon us in our Great State of Oklahoma, we can count on the weather being at the center of a lot of newscasts. Ever notice how each station does their own variations of basically the  same kinds of teasers?

For example, if there’s a storm approaching, they’ll say, “There’s a storm on the way, and it could be severe. We’ll have the full story for you at 6” or “A powerful storm system is making its way into the state. How you’ll be affected and what you need to know to stay safe coming up…”  If there isn’t something scary, but the weather conditions are in fact changing, they try to make the story compelling. “Weather changes are on the way. What will that mean for your weekend plans?  We’ll have details at 6.” If there’s nothing but good news on the way, they’ll still try to grab us. They never say, “Nothing but beautiful weather in store for the next 10 days, so don’t bother watching the weather again until , oh, probably Wednesday or so of next week…” They’ll say, “It’s been a picture perfect day…but will it last? Tune in at 6 for the full story…” Leading us to believe that we’d be horribly irresponsible if we didn’t be sure to tune in.

I often wonder if this stuff might not come back to haunt them someday.  I am grateful that we have such competent, respected, decorated weather professionals looking out for us in Oklahoma, and I certainly haven’t forgotten that the weather can have serious consequences, but I kind of wish they’d save the drama for when there really was something to be worried about.  In fact, it seems like there is a station that says, “We inform you of the weather, not scare you with it” or something like that. It’ll be interesting to see if that strikes a chord with their audience.

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