Doppler Radar Overkill (Hickory, Mount Holly, Belmont: tornadoes, work, houses)

[carolina_guy]

We bought a car in Greensboro tonight (well, at 8:30pm Thursday night) and just got home about 12:45a. We were caught RIGHT in the middle of it in the Winston Salem area. Approaching Winston was a spectacular light show with a little bit of rain and as we got closer my brother an I became quite concerned and even thought a cloud ahead of us may be a funnel cloud (radio was reporting multiple areas of circulation). Just as we passed into Kernersville and right up under the cloud we were worried about, literally a wall of water and wind blasted us on the interstate and I had to slam on brakes (I was in my new FJ Cruiser, so that tells you something ). We coasted at 5mph for couple of miles before we got off the exit for downtown Winston. It was hailing off and on and I thought we were about to end up in Kansas. I found a hotel and parked up under their carport and we waited it out in the hotel lobby. Turns out that several tornadoes were touching down in the area from Clemmons to Kernersville with winds reaching up to 132mph!!! Lighting was striking and booming at the same time when we were in the hotel. I've never experienced anything like that before and it was the first time I've ever thought I was about to be in the path of a tornado. We were joking a little that we were in the best car possible with the FJ's 8-10 air bags lol.

But anyway, it was scary stuff and I feel for the locals up there.

As for blocking the TV shows, I usually am on the side of mullman and the rest of you. But it's obviously imperative for those close to the storm. The most logical thing to do would to tighten up the local doppler so it wouldn't alarm a whole region when only a section is threatened. So does this mean my DVR of Lost is lost???? Guess I'll have to watch it online...

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by muffinman

The ongoing weather coverage on the local stations is too much. We're in the south and thunderstorms can be intense.

Why not interrupt every now and then and scroll updates along the bottom of the screen instead of the current method? Anyone who works in broadcasting, I'd love to hear your input.

Anybody else sick of this? It happened during the NCAA tournament and has happened once or twice since then.

Kudos to WBTV and WCCD for cutting in during commercials and using the weather ticker. Not happy with WCNC and WSOC and their unbalanced coverage.

The stations have a license to operate. It's a license to make money, but they are also responsible to notify people if they are in danger. How they do that is up to them, but if they wait for a commercial when the danger is immediate, they are negligent. If someone loses their life because of that, they might lose their license. It's a judgement call.

[zwally]

I was very upset by it! I agree that they could break in during commercials, or for immediate warnings for a few minutes. Having scrolling updates on the bottom would be better as well. I really don't need to know how many lightening strikes there have been! :-)

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by zwally

I was very upset by it! I agree that they could break in during commercials, or for immediate warnings for a few minutes. Having scrolling updates on the bottom would be better as well. I really don't need to know how many lightening strikes there have been! :-)

No, they can't do that-part of the licensing agreement is to function as an alert system, and the viewing area is much larger than just Meck. (And Zwally - not picking on you here - this is for anyone aggravated about the alerts last evening).

I am disappointed at how self-absorbed everyone seems to feel about this issue. Your neighbors - and for many of us - our family members - live in counties surrounding us and it seems very self-centered for people to be complaining about TV stations broadcasting warnings and giving specific info so those in whatever area may be affected can seek shelter. I was intently watching as I have close friends and family members in the active areas.

I am pretty discouraged that people can't "see the bigger picture" instead of being so focused on the momentary gratification of watching some pop program - or even a sports event. We are talking people's lives here - their safety and welfare - and their property, as well. People w/ farms and farm animals; people in mobile homes; the elderly; nursing homes, hospitals!!!

Ya'll need to think about what you are saying. Your momentary gratification is more important than my elderly Aunt, my elderly parents, my son, several of my cousins or my best friend? Cause those were some of the people I was worried about last evening. And the only stations they get are the SAME ONES you were watching!!!!

We do not have an EARLY WARNING SYSTEM in this region of the country! The only system is thru/ Television stations.

Perhaps if more of you had lived in the midwest, and lived through the devastation that a tornado can bring . . . you would realize that when you are under a tornado warning, they pop up w/in MINUTES or maybe SECONDS.

If your region is under a watch, then you need to be glued to your TV, not to watch some prime time show, but to see if one pops up near you!!! And if you are under a warning, you should ALREADY be in a safe spot.

I hope ya'll will think this through. This is a big state and more people live in it than just your neighborhood, wherever your neighborhood may be.

Now I will step off my soapbox.

[ncopus99]

Originally Posted by ASC

I don't think you guys do get it. For some people who live in Iredell County and others that were under a tornado warning, that is their only method for receiving warnings. This part of the country is not like the rest, where you can watch what is going on and easily predict what is going on. Here you have trees, hills (even mountains where this is currently happening) and that profoundly affects how rapidly weather can change. Here we are choosing between someone's life and a television show. That is really sad, and y'all should be ashamed. BTW, the WCNC and WSOC viewing area extends from Chesterfield, SC, all the way to the Virginia/Tennessee/NC border in the mountains. So yep, it may be ALMOST out of the viewing area, but it still is in the viewing area, and that means those folks rely on the T.V for their information. Charlotte isn't the only place where people live.

P.S. A Tornado Watch has been issued for all of us, these people were under a Tornado Warning, which means a tornado has been spotted or indicated by Doppler, a very dangerous situation!

There is a correct way to do this. You put the scroll bar at the bottom of the screen and do updates during commercial breaks i.e. like CBS. I come originally from Orlando, lightning capital of USA, and lived in Kansas City, MO (tornado alley) and I never had a show completely taken over by a 2 hour Weather watch show. And yes, I have been through severe storms.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by anifani821

No, they can't do that-part of the licensing agreement is to function as an alert system, and the viewing area is much larger than just Meck. (And Zwally - not picking on you here - this is for anyone aggravated about the alerts last evening).

I am disappointed at how self-absorbed everyone seems to feel about this issue. Your neighbors - and for many of us - our family members - live in counties surrounding us and it seems very self-centered for people to be complaining about TV stations broadcasting warnings and giving specific info so those in whatever area may be affected can seek shelter. I was intently watching as I have close friends and family members in the active areas.

I am pretty discouraged that people can't "see the bigger picture" instead of being so focused on the momentary gratification of watching some pop program - or even a sports event. We are talking people's lives here - their safety and welfare - and their property, as well. People w/ farms and farm animals; people in mobile homes; the elderly; nursing homes, hospitals!!!

Ya'll need to think about what you are saying. Your momentary gratification is more important than my elderly Aunt, my elderly parents, my son, several of my cousins or my best friend? Cause those were some of the people I was worried about last evening. And the only stations they get are the SAME ONES you were watching!!!!

We do not have an EARLY WARNING SYSTEM in this region of the country! The only system is thru/ Television stations.

Perhaps if more of you had lived in the midwest, and lived through the devastation that a tornado can bring . . . you would realize that when you are under a tornado warning, they pop up w/in MINUTES or maybe SECONDS.

If your region is under a watch, then you need to be glued to your TV, not to watch some prime time show, but to see if one pops up near you!!! And if you are under a warning, you should ALREADY be in a safe spot.

I hope ya'll will think this through. This is a big state and more people live in it than just your neighborhood, wherever your neighborhood may be.

Now I will step off my soapbox.

Ani, they have obviously never lived in the Delaware Valley. The only thing that I can add to what you said is this.

When a nor'easter is coming up, the Philadelphia stations cut in during the commercials, but if that storm makes it to the viewing area, you can kiss all programing good-bye, sometimes for hours.

My previous post on this was from the stand-point that I was a broadcast tech for 20 years, & therefore one of the worker-bees, behind the camera responsible for the cut-ins. Trust me. No one there is enjoying themselves while those cut-ins are happening.

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by ncopus99

There is a correct way to do this. You put the scroll bar at the bottom of the screen and do updates during commercial breaks i.e. like CBS. I come originally from Orlando, lightning capital of USA, and lived in Kansas City, MO (tornado alley) and I never had a show completely taken over by a 2 hour Weather watch show. And yes, I have been through severe storms.

I have lived in KCMO, too, and the difference is - there are sirens there. There are no sirens here. That is a HUGE difference in alerting populations. I cannot imagine that you would feel it would have been safe in KCMO w/ tickers on a screen and no siren to alert you to imminent danger - and no noise coming from the TV to alert you if you were not directly watching the TV set.

The situations are NOT the same. Plus, WCNC has to broadcast this info b/c it covers such areas as Hickory and is the ONLY alert system those residents have.

What you should be explaining is how when those sirens go off in KCMO, everyone hits their basements = no questions asked. We don't have basements here, either. You should be explaining to people how often, residents are only given MINUTES to take action, but they KNOW to take action b/c sirens are screaming. Here, a WARNING is posted and people just sit there b/c they do not understand that this means doppler radar has either detected conditions ripe for formation of a tornado, or one has already formed.

If these tornadoes continue, I can guarantee - lives will be lost here in NC b/c people are not taking these warnings seriously enuff = and they don't have sirens to get them off their duffs and to a safer spot.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by ncopus99

There is a correct way to do this. You put the scroll bar at the bottom of the screen and do updates during commercial breaks i.e. like CBS. I come originally from Orlando, lightning capital of USA, and lived in Kansas City, MO (tornado alley) and I never had a show completely taken over by a 2 hour Weather watch show. And yes, I have been through severe storms.

The "correct" way to do it is what is appropriate for the viewing area of each station. Nothing more, nothing less.

[anifani821]

You know, I have more to say about this in regard to the complaints about WCNC doing a 'two hour show' on the movement of that system last nite.

I purposely turned my TV to WCNC so I could carefully watch the system. WHY? I was on IM on my computer when our weather radio went off. I was talking to my son. Luckily, three of my friends were on IM but not having a conversation. My son says - Momma - the cable has gone out. He is in Boone. I said - probably b/c of the storms. I immediately contacted two of my friends via IM - b/c one was in the path of the NINE tornadoes being discussed in Caldwell Co. She had no clue they were even under a Warning. Same for my friend in Hickory, and the storm system was headed her way.

My friend in Caldwell CO has a basement, so she rounded everyone up and headed downstairs. My friend in Hickory did NOT have a basement and was panicked as to where to go. She later informed me they had terrific winds and limbs down and hail and were huddled in a bathroom in the center of the house. She turned the TV to WCNC and turned it up loud so they could hear it while in the bathroom.

So just b/c you all felt interrupted, there are others who had no warning or way of even knowing that they were under a warning - and tuning into WCNC was the only way they had any clue about where the storms were headed and when they were out of danger.

My son has a weather radio, wh/ I bought for him, so even tho his cable was out, he would have been alerted had Watauga Co come under a warning.

Everyone should buy a weather radio!!! Yes, it woke me up at 2:30 am!!! But better that than getting caught in the path of a tornado, while sleeping on the upper level of my house.

[ncopus99]

Originally Posted by anifani821

I have lived in KCMO, too, and the difference is - there are sirens there. There are no sirens here. That is a HUGE difference in alerting populations. I cannot imagine that you would feel it would have been safe in KCMO w/ tickers on a screen and no siren to alert you to imminent danger - and no noise coming from the TV to alert you if you were not directly watching the TV set.

The situations are NOT the same. Plus, WCNC has to broadcast this info b/c it covers such areas as Hickory and is the ONLY alert system those residents have.

What you should be explaining is how when those sirens go off in KCMO, everyone hits their basements = no questions asked. We don't have basements here, either. You should be explaining to people how often, residents are only given MINUTES to take action, but they KNOW to take action b/c sirens are screaming. Here, a WARNING is posted and people just sit there b/c they do not understand that this means doppler radar has either detected conditions ripe for formation of a tornado, or one has already formed.

If these tornadoes continue, I can guarantee - lives will be lost here in NC b/c people are not taking these warnings seriously enuff = and they don't have sirens to get them off their duffs and to a safer spot.

Correct about the sirens but not basements. Not everyone in Kansas City metro has a basement. I was one that didn't. A lot of my coworkers didn't either.

As for advance warning, the storm was way above us and yet everyone was under the tornado watch - all counties. Of course people wouldn't take it seriously.