Hurricane Sandy

I am a fan of The Weather Channel http://www.weather.com/.  I will tell you that I get news and sports information from The Weather Channel, frequently.

But, I know that they over dramatize weather events to create interest in weather events, to increase ratings. That is a part of television strategy.

And, I know they sometimes miss the significance of weather events.  In 2005 Hurricane Katrina http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/special-reports/katrina.html hit New Orleans.  The Weather Channel covered the story, but underplayed the damage until the levees did not hold, and the city was inundated.

They tried to get it right for hurricane Rita, the same year, http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/special-reports/rita.html, but lets face it, they had missed it and could not recoup their expertise.

In 2008, The Weather Channel downplayed the significance of Hurricane Ike http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Ike. After all, it was a category 2 hurricane when it made landfall. They did not get it right in regards to the extent of the damage Ike caused in Galveston.

In 2011, The Weather Channel overplayed the effect of Hurricane Irene on New York City, and the Mid-Atlantic coast. When Irene missed NYC, The Weather Channel breathed a sigh of relief, but  missed the greatest impact of Hurricane Irene inland in Connecticut, Massachusettes, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Canada. 

This year, they are following Hurricane Sandy.  The Weather Channel is advocating emergency preparation.  It is advocating seeking safe ground, safe shelter, and preparation for power outages, water emergencies and who knows what else.

But, they are admitting that people are not as seriously concerned about the warnings they are receiving as they were last year.  It really is not the fault of The Weather Channel. Weather; prediction is not an exact science, so what is offered to the public is the best information available. But, if the prediction is not fulfilled, the next time a prediction is made, it is often discounted.

With Hurricane Sandy, The Weather Channel is encouraging emergency preparedness in the Mid-Atlantic states.  This time, however, it is not discounting the possible severe effects inland in New York, New England, and eastern Canada.  

You have to admit that the Weather Channel is not perfect in their predictions, but they do try to learn from their mistakes.