As anyone with a television knows, Hurricane Earl’s every twitch & swirl was tracked this week by the networks and various cable channels, attempting to scare the wits out of everyone living on the Eastern seaboard. But surprise-surprise, Earl was less than a summer storm.  

For those of us born before 1970, the obsession with reporting on the weather has spun out of control. I don’t mean climate change – an entirely different subject that does require our vigilance – I’m talking about the glamorizing, and consequential distortion, of forecasting.

When we (born before 1970) were kids, the weather came on at the end of the local news… after sports I think? The meteorologist usually mumbled something like: “It might be partly sunny tomorrow, possibly cloudy, but could be an evening breeze, so grab a jacket if you’re heading out to Fenway.”

Since then, lots of high-tech gadgetry has been developed giving the impression that weather is more successfully predicted these days. The weather, of course, supplies instant drama which inflates ratings. So now we find the forecast almost always at the beginning of a newscast, reported with pizzazz by a beautiful young woman in a tight blouse, in front of fancy graphics, providing guaranteed hype. So why are forecasts just as fuzzy and unreliable as they’ve always been?

I have to say, the most dependable source for ‘approaching weather’ is my Dad’s weather stick on the back porch. It points up if the weather is crisp and dry (indicating it’s probably a nice day) and grows limp as pressure drops (maybe not such a nice day). If the stick is wet, it’s most likely raining. If it’s icy and white, snow and cold are pretty definitely occurring. And if it’s moving around, there’s a good chance of an evening breeze… so you might want to grab a jacket if you’re heading out to Fenway.

Btw… my all-time favorite weather guy from WMUR (Manchester, NH): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCaveVsJfVs