Never A Dull Moment

March 14, 2005, 5:46 am
Posted by James Spann in Weather Discussions
Rating: 4/5   Votes : 1
The Monday morning web video update is on the server:

http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/video.hrb

A few final words about last night's severe weather coverage and I will move on...

When ABC 33/40 went on the air in 1996 the decision was made to provide continuous severe weather coverage when any county in our designated market area (DMA) goes under a tornado warning. With most homes now receiving over 500 TV stations, we figure people can find a movie or program they want to watch somewhere else rather easily. We were determined to raise the bar when it comes to severe weather coverage around here with the safety of our viewers coming first.

Sure, we knew this would generate a few nasty phone calls and e-mails, but I assure you the positive response of our long form tornado coverage is overwhelming. What I have noticed is how the hate mail has gotten profane and vulgar over the years. Really sad, and I guess it reflects where we are going as a society. Some of these people need to take a chill pill.

With the new digital TV era, you won't have this problem anymore since we will be able to show regular program on one of our digital multi-cast channels in the future when tornado coverage is on our main channel.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

Let me say up front we are in a very progressive pattern, and it will be hard to put together more than 36 to 48 hours of dry weather at least for the next week. But, this is March and pretty much what you expect this time of the year.

NEXT RAIN: Looks like we need to highlight rain and storms tomorrow night into Wednesday morning. Showers might begin tomorrow afternoon as a warm front moves northward from the Gulf coast. The heaviest rain with this feature would seem to to the south based on model output.

THURSDAY: Another wave brings a chance of rain or showers in here on Thursday. Don't think this will be especially heavy.

FRIDAY NIGHT/SATURDAY: Once again, we will have to highlight rain and thunderstorms with another impulse moving along in the fast upper flow. The latest data suggests the rain will be over by midday Saturday, with Sunday being rain-free as we begin spring break week in Alabama.

For the last part of March there are a number of waves and storms, but trying to time them out this far in advance is simply impossible.

We see no serious severe weather threat at this point over the next few days, but we will caution you that it doesn't take too much to get a round of severe storms going this time of the year, like last night. There was little upper air support for those storms last night... I can't imaging what would have happened if we DID have some good support.

Will try to post some updated damage reports on here a little later today... sounds like a tornado touched down in Pickens county based on reports we have received...
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Posted by AC  
on March 14, 2005, 6:12 am
Funny thing about my family I guess..we have satellite, and guess what!?!? Chose to make sure that we would live through the night! Sure, when the worst was past us, we moved on, but you bet we were glad to be informed. Lots of time spent in the hallway on previous occasions b/c of what we were seeing/hearing on TV...and we should have been there as a tornado touched down less that 1/2 mile from our house and destroyed several in it's wake.

Thanks team..great job, and what we have come to expect from you guys!

BTW...those OTHER guys were on as well...wonder how much nasty mail they got??

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Posted by  
on March 14, 2005, 7:47 am
Be it a good thing, or a bad thing, I see both sides of the argument about breaking in to regular programming.
Yes, I was watching Extreme Makeover, but its not an absolute favorite by any means, so the interruption did not bother me that much. (Does anyone know how much the auction for the American Cancer Society raised.. thats when the interruption came)
I watched the weather for a few minutes until I realized it was no where near northeast Birmingham, so I turned it off. No big deal.

Had I been in Tuscaloosa, I would have continued to watch, as it looked like it was headed toward them.

Had I been watching a show I REALLY like, maybe I would have been upset, but one things for sure, I would have gotten over it.

One viewer/poster mentioned re-broadcasting the interrupted shows and I think this is an EXCELLENT idea. Let us set our VCR's and run the shows early in the morning hours, instead of re-showing the dope smoking Montel. [[ Thats an argument of different subject matter ]]

James & co. I guess if it was headed toward me, I would want wall to wall coverage, just like the viewers to whom it was headed.
Too bad we cant get S.A.M.E. technology for the TV stations huh?? :) :) :)

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Posted by w  
on March 14, 2005, 8:35 am
I think anyone with anything to say other than "Thanks for doing what you do" is a complete moron. Im pretty sure life is more important than a stupid reality T.V. show, or a movie you can rent for $4. Some people just have no life and will jump at the opportunity to complain b/c they are really not happy with themselves.

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Posted by  
on March 14, 2005, 8:52 am
Let me say this I don't care about a stupid T.V. show when the weather is bad. So when ABC/3340 comes on with coverage on the storms I don't care you guyes do a great job!!!!!!

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Posted by  
on March 14, 2005, 9:00 am
i love it when james and the crew interupt programming to cover severe weather. even if i am wathing a movie or some other programming if i know that they have broken in to do wall to wall coverage i will flip over and watch. especially when the weather isn't concerning my area of town. i just enjoy the live weather coverage. so keep up the outstanding work abc.

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Posted by  
on March 14, 2005, 10:39 am
"Great Job" !!! I feel local bad weather is more important to know about and be aware of instead of a T.V show. I also think John did a super job on covering the bad weather. Thanks for working so hard to keep the public informed!!!!

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Posted by mh  
on March 14, 2005, 11:05 am
I was about two miles from the tornado that killed over 30 people a few years ago. My parents live a few miles from the damage in Concord. So I respect the power of severe weather.

There is no doubt that we need to know when tornado warnings are posted and where. The 'wall to wall' coverage is appropriate then. I dont however think that this type of coverage should be expected when the weather is less dangerous.

I did a pretty thorough sampling of the local TV outlets last night and I thought NBC13 hit it about right in that they only interrupted when Tornado Warnings were issued. I have to agree that Severe Thunderstorm warnings are so common anymore that they are useless. (If I were a pilot I might be interested...), otherwise.... it's business as usual.

I think it would be preferable to interrupt only for a few minutes at a time, (during commercials does make sense), and get back to programming, unless there is hard evidence that a storm is producing damage.

I enjoy the coverage personally, it's interesting to me, but i understand that most people dont share my interest. With that in mind.....follow the fundamental rule of effective communication.

Keep
It
Short and
Simple

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Posted by  
on March 14, 2005, 11:54 am
The funny thing is that the people that send the nasty emails are the same people that would be just as upset if you didn't have wall to wall coverage and their home was struck by a tornado!


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Posted by  
on March 14, 2005, 12:37 pm
I believe wall to wall coverage is great ! I can't image anyone in our area not feeling the same way. I have been through a tornado and I really like knowing where the treat is at. You folks in the business have gotten very good at tracking storms. Last night there was a storm showing signs of rotation that came through northern St Clair county and because I am in the Moody area I knew it was north of me. It was too close for comfort but because of the continual coverage I was able to keep a close eye on it. So thank you very much for the peace of mind. My daughter, who turned 8 this past friday was even helping out. She would point to where we live and where the storm was. That was cool. I really hope and pray no one ever has to experience a tornado but sooner or later there will be one and somebody will be in its way. But there is no reason why you souldn't be prepaired for it. By the way.. when you are getting in your basement or shelter or in the center of the house.. dont forget the bike helmets or even a motorcycle helmet. it could save your's or your childs life...


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Posted by mw  
on March 14, 2005, 1:10 pm
Great Job!!!! We are terrified of storms and you help us know where they are. When you interrupt it is ok. We live in Cullman and there have been numerous occasions when part of our county has been destroyed. Keep up the GREAT work.

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Posted by  
on March 14, 2005, 1:13 pm
Hey I read some of what those people said about the storm coverage last night I think it's funny. They are worse than a 2 year old. A 2 year old will be the same way when he or she don't get there way.

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Posted by  
on March 14, 2005, 1:35 pm
Just two more things...
1. I heard Jerry Tracey mention using bicycle helmets to protect your head. Maybe I missed it but I have NEVER heard anyone recommend this. I am not slamming anyone, I just think its a cool idea.

2. Most of the post on this blog are from "weather geeks" (no offense intended) so I wouldn't expect there to be a lot of negative comments posted here. As James let us read in his earlier post, most of those probably went to his email... and I can't imagine what the poor switchboard operator at the studio has gone through today.

Like I said, if the storm was headed toward me I would want to know about it. I'm not overly concerned if it is not. And, with that said, I understand when the people in another part of the state want the coverage, because it is headed toward them.
I really don't think there is a way to settle this. It may be a simple case of "we just have to agree to disagree".




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Posted by  
on March 14, 2005, 2:54 pm
Re: helmets.... Kudos, Jerry!! :) (oops -- can I say that here? LOL)

Well, my husband Matthew went with James Spann to the weather emporium (or symposium or whatever that was in MS a couple of weeks ago) and spoke on this. He had an 8-year old son that died in the 1998 F5 tornado due to head injuries.

Matthew and his former wife, a pediatric nurse, had talked many times about some of the cases she had seen at work re: pediatric head trauma and how bicycle helmets could have saved so many young lives and/or prevented serious injuries. If they had had any idea what they would be facing that night, they would have put a helmet on him.

Now, when severe weather threatens, I gear up in my motorcycle helmet and armored riding jacket. I don't know for sure but it's possible something like this (the armored jacket) could have prevented Matt's back from being broken and him being paralyzed. Also, these motorcycle helmets are pretty dang tough.... Food for thought.


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