Alarmist Weather Forecasters in KC? (Wichita, Kansas City: home, college, tornado)

[TinaMcG]

Am I the only one who thinks the weather forecasters in the KC Metro area go too far in hyping the severity of our weather? I know KC has wild weather sometimes, but having lived most of my life in Chicago, we had our fair share of terrible weather, too. I don't remember the Chicago forecasters acting like the possibility of severe weather was the end of the world. Here in KC, though, they really seem to play up the danger aspect, and I have to say it's pretty unsettling sometimes. I've had to stop listening to all their reports and just look for forecasts online, or I listen to my NOAA weather radio.

[GraniteStater]

I grew up near the KC metro, and took meteorology courses when I was in College. Needless to say, I never turned on the TV to get the weather ever again.
I either look the forecasts up on the Internet or interpret what the weather will probably be like by looking at the latest computer models. They are found here (updated every six hours)
NCEP Central Operations

[straw hat]

I live south and west of KC. Most of the time we hear about bad weather going to hit us only if it is going to hit KC. We don’t need to know when it is going to rain on 125th street or whatever. Cannot people in KC look out a window and see the rain? We change the channel to anything other than a KC station. Most of the time the person telling the whether stands in front of the map if they would get out of the way we could see what is coming our way even if the weather forecaster will not report it. Tornadoes are a different mater when one is spotted on the ground then report the progress. However rain and snow do not need to be minute-by-minute reports.

[northbound74]

I loved it when Katie Horner stormed into the station with her jeans, t-shirt, and cap on... to tell us about some hail storm. It was entertaining, if nothing else.
They do get carried away at times. All too often, there's a F-30 tornado barreling our way, that's going to wipe out the entire metro and 3 surrounding states.

[Willy-Bill]

They are that way everywhere. Back in the 80's and early 90's they had a guy there who would go out in the worst of it to give his live reports. He was balding and combed huge lengths of hair from the left side of his head over the bald spot. Quite often the wind would raise the hair up and gravity would lay it back down. My Wife and I thought it was funny as heck.
I forget the station. Probably ABC.
The trend everywhere is for these people to stand in the wind and rain while everone else is home nice and comfortable.
Otherwise, it seems all communication markets seek the F5 and the history of having had a diaster.
My hometown in SEK had a tornado a few years back and the inital reports were F3. Somehow "they" cranked it up to as high as F5 but seem to settle on F4 regardless of what the NOAA says.
Almost seeking bragging rights for some reason.
My Grandpa used to watch the dogs and birds behavior. If he called and said hit the basement we did. Wished he had taught me that trick.

[luzianne]

Maybe somewhat alarmist. I really like Katie Horner, though. I think the other newscasters (all male) feel threatened by her and if she is on the air, they make sure they are on the air too. It's kind of funny.

[averagejoe76]

I live in Wichita and they do that here too...
I quit watching them for that reason!

[Txchief]

Originally Posted by luzianne

Maybe somewhat alarmist. I really like Katie Horner, though. I think the other newscasters (all male) feel threatened by her and if she is on the air, they make sure they are on the air too. It's kind of funny.

When I first read the thread title, Katie immediately came to mind. I don't live in the KC metro area any longer, but from what I hear from friends/family, she's the worst of the alarmists in that area.

[TinaMcG]

Okay, my suspicions that KC weather forecasters are a complete waste of time is now confirmed. I heard Fox 4's Mike Thompson over the weekend, talking about his predictions for this winter. He said it's going to be, and I quote: "Scary...scary." And then he went on to talk about the cold, more frequent (but not necessarily destructive) ice events -- and 27 whole inches of snow!!!

Scary, huh? Well Mike, what you just described would be considered a normal to mild winter in my hometown of Chicago. Twenty-seven inches of snow is something we used to ask Santa for!

Yeesh, these people make my teeth itch.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by TinaMcG

Okay, my suspicions that KC weather forecasters are a complete waste of time is now confirmed. I heard Fox 4's Mike Thompson over the weekend, talking about his predictions for this winter. He said it's going to be, and I quote: "Scary...scary." And then he went on to talk about the cold, more frequent (but not necessarily destructive) ice events -- and 27 whole inches of snow!!!

Scary, huh? Well Mike, what you just described would be considered a normal to mild winter in my hometown of Chicago. Twenty-seven inches of snow is something we used to ask Santa for!

Yeesh, these people make my teeth itch.

I agree. Kansas City winters are very mild and not snowy at all compared to the Midwest. 20-30 inches of snow is very little compared to Chicago, Madison, Minneapolis, the Michigan snowbelt, Michiana snowbelt, etc.
When I lived in the KC metro area FOX always tended to be very alarmist with forecasting winter weather events or the "winter forecast."
You can just tell that some meteorologists are horribly biased against liking winter or snow.
By the way, Merrimack County NH where I am located, had 115 inches of snow last year. This was the 2nd snowiest winter on record, but I doubt we will get half as much snow this year.