Dear People Who Complain About Weather Forecasts

[mdklatt]

Why don't you try forecasting the weather some time?

[C&CDean]

No thanks. I've got a real job.

[Fugue]

:pop:

[JohnnyMack]

My prediction for Oklahoma weather: Windy. Chance of precip.

[jk the sooner fan]

oh lord, please save this thread.....it will come in handy later

[fadada1]

any one of us hillbillies could do it in san diego. as lewis black says, "what's the weather like today, lew?"

"NICE... back to you."

[Osce0la]

We're about to get some storms down here in Birmingham...

[Boarder]

OK. Sure. I think tomorrow it'll be a high of 60. Winds 15-20 from the south. Becoming cloudy in the afternoon.

What happens if I'm wrong? Do I get fired?

Can I cut into Jeopardy to tell everyone it's windy?

[Tear Down This Wall]

Why don't you try forecasting the weather some time?

Agreed. I've never understood people who complain about forecasts. A forecast is defined as "a prediction about how something will develop." A prediction...that's all it is, folks.

Many Gundy-ites on this very board forecast that Rhett Bomar would be the best QB at OU EVAR. They were wrong. He was a waste.

Anyone who complains about forecasts can stand behind with me in a crowded elevator and forcast whether or not I'll fart.

Maybe I will...maybe I won't....

[mdklatt]

The absolute best is when sportscasters complain about how often forecasters are wrong. :rolleyes:

[crawfish]

I feel the same way about people who complain about their software. If it's so easy to write, do it yourself. :mad:

[jk the sooner fan]

or people who complain about politics, if its so easy, govern the people your damn self ;)

[Ike]

or people who complain about politics, if its so easy, govern the people your damn self ;)


OK, when do I start? ;)

[SoonerStormchaser]

I tried...then decided to follow a higher paying carreer path that is much more rewarding!

[KABOOKIE]

Here’s an idea. I’ll stop complaining when the weather geeks on TV get their forecast wrong when they stop airing those stupid, “WE WERE THE FIRST TO WARN YOU ABOUT THE ICE STORM OF 2007!!!!” promo’s. :mad:

[OUHOMER]

Here’s an idea. I’ll stop complaining when the weather geeks on TV get their forecast wrong when they stop airing those stupid, “WE WERE THE FIRST TO WARN YOU ABOUT THE ICE STORM OF 2007!!!!” promo’s. :mad:

Or we only have 24 hours before we all die. than it doesnt even rain :rolleyes:

[StoopTroup]

http://www.cycletownusa.com/mulebarometer.jpg

[Boarder]

Yes, see if you can see the difference here:


1. Friday there will be a chance of precipitation. If it does snow, it could be heavy but there is a chance it will be only rain. The high will be 30 with a north wind.

2. Folks, you better get ready. The record snowfall for Friday is 12 inches and we just may go over that. There will be all kinds of problems so plan to not go anywhere and be sure to stock up on food for at least a week. If there is anything you need to get taken care of, do it beofre Friday. The snow will start at 8:14 am and get heavier as the day goes on. I'll just say it...I'm scared. It could be more snow than we have ever seen around these parts. The high may struggle to get to 29 with a biting north wind of 8 to 35 mph. Get prepared! Buy a weather radio!


1 would be fine. I would never complain. After years of number 2 (hehe) I've stopped watching.

[Ike]

1 would be fine. I would never complain. After years of number 2 (hehe) I've stopped watching.


I hear they make pills for that.

[Boarder]

I'd hate to stop #2. I'd never get anything read.

[soonerboomer93]

okay, my knees ache, it's fixin to get colder...

[Frozen Sooner]

I feel the same way about people who complain about their software. If it's so easy to write, do it yourself. :mad:

Writing software is totally easy.

This is based on the Mike Rich Management School principle #1:

Easy means that you're paying someone else to deal with it.

[Ike]

okay, my knees ache, it's fixin to get colder...


Sorry, as body parts go, I only trust weather reports from Lil's right bewb.

[soonerboomer93]

that might make rhino upset if you go testing her right bewb though

[Ike]

that might make rhino upset if you go testing her right bewb though
Oh I don't do the testing...she has to report it...but I'll believe her over your bum knee.

[OUAndy1807]

so just because I can't do something (write code in this case) means that I shouldn't expect the person who I pay to do that work to do an adequate job?

[Frozen Sooner]

so just because I can't do something (write code in this case) means that I shouldn't expect the person who I pay to do that work to do an adequate job?

Of course you can. Remember, it's easy.

[picasso]

any one of us hillbillies could do it in san diego. as Brick Tamland says, "what's the weather like today, Brick?"

"NICE... back to you."

fixed

[mdklatt]

so just because I can't do something (write code in this case) means that I shouldn't expect the person who I pay to do that work to do an adequate job?

The problem is, people who don't know about meteorology have no idea what the parameters of "adequate" are for a forecast. That is, they have unrealistic expectations. And this is compounded by the fact that they only notice when the forecast is wrong.

Aren't you a contractor or something like that? What if my standard of adequacy for a house is one that could withstand an F5 tornado?

[Ike]

Are you a contractor or something like that? What if my standard of adequacy for a house is one that could withstand an F5 tornado?


I'm not a contractor, but if I was, this wouldn't be a problem...I'd be building you an underground lair.


Because every evil villain should have a lair.

[Penguin]

Meteorologists need to go into aviation weather. I'm an aviation meteorologist and the only limb I go out on is if the client will get a +50 wind factor or a +60 wind factor for a North Atlantic crossing.

That's my biggest disappointment with the Meteorology Department at OU. They never emphasized the aviation application of meteorology. It seems like all they pushed for was storm chasing. That has zero commercial applications.

[1stTimeCaller]

The problem is, people who don't know about meteorology have no idea what the parameters of "adequate" are for a forecast. That is, they have unrealistic expectations. And this is compounded by the fact that they only notice when the forecast is wrong.

Aren't you a contractor or something like that? What if my standard of adequacy for a house is one that could withstand an F5 tornado?

If a contractor was advertising that his houses withstand F5 tornadoes then you should expect them to.

[mdklatt]

That's my biggest disappointment with the Meteorology Department at OU. They never emphasized the aviation application of meteorology.

The fact that the transportation forecasting division of Weather News is next door will probably change this.

[mdklatt]

If a contractor was advertising that his houses withstand F5 tornadoes then you should expect them to.

What are forecasters advertising about their peformance?

[1stTimeCaller]

today the high will be X and the wind will blow Xmph and tomorrow it will rain. You have seen the weather on the news haaven't you? The busstop forcast and such?

[1stTimeCaller]

http://kfor.static.worldnow.com/images/incoming/7day.jpg

[picasso]

can anyone else confirm how ghey Chief Meteorologist sounds?
just sayin.:D

hey MD, you in this biz? you sure seem defensive on this subject.

[mdklatt]

today the high will be X and the wind will blow Xmph and tomorrow it will rain.

You're just talking about a picture of the house. Where's the fine print telling me the house will withstand an F5 tornado?

[mdklatt]

hey MD, you in this biz? you sure seem defensive on this subject.

I'm a researcher not a forecaster, but I am a meteorologist.

[picasso]

I'm a researcher not a forecaster, but I am a meteorologist.
very cool. I did not know that.

I don't follow up enough around here.

[1stTimeCaller]

You're just talking about a picture of the house. Where's the fine print telling me the house will withstand an F5 tornado?
do what? I'm not following your analogy.

[1stTimeCaller]

Is it implied anywhere by anyone that a house will withstand an F5 tornado?

[mdklatt]

do what? I'm not following your analogy.

The product is the house, the performance guarantee is that it will withstand an F5 tornado.

The product is the forecast, the performance gurantee is...? In other words, what makes you think forecasts are supposed to be perfect?

And most people don't even know what qualifies as a forecasting mistake to begin with. The forecast is not wrong if there's an 80% chance of rain and it doesn't rain. The forecast is not wrong if there's only a 20% chance of rain and it does rain. The forecast is not wrong if there's a 100% chance of rain but it doesn't rain at your house.

[mdklatt]

Is it implied anywhere by anyone that a house will withstand an F5 tornado?

Is it implied anywhere by anyone that forecasts are error-free?

[1stTimeCaller]

Is it implied anywhere by anyone that forecasts are error-free?

hell by your post above they are always error free. Can I get a job like that when if I say there's a 99% chance of something happening and when it doesn't my performance was error free due to the 1% that I left myself?

Since we don't know what the standards are, what are they?

[soonerboomer93]

I'm not a contractor, but if I was, this wouldn't be a problem...I'd be building you an underground lair.


Because every evil villain should have a lair.

damn spek limits

[mdklatt]

hell by your post above they are always error free. Can I get a job like that when if I say there's a 99% chance of something happening and when it doesn't my performance was error free due to the 1% that I left myself?


Doesn't every job have a margin of error? Your pizza isn't always delivered in 30 minutes. Your plane arrives 2 hours late. Your investment loses money instead of gains money.



Since we don't know what the standards are, what are they?

It's right there in the forecast. On average, one out of five times there's a 80% chance of rain it won't rain. On average, one out five times there's a 20% of rain it will rain. It gets trickier than that, of course. Each forecast should also have a location associated with it, but where exactly this is isn't always obvious. NWS breaks up forecasts into "zones" that are made up of a few counties. If the forecast event happens anywhere in that zone, the forecast verifies.

Quantity forecasts (temperature, rainfall amounts, etc.) also have uncertainties attached to them but that's not always communicated in the forecast.


FYI, the dude that came up with chaos theory was a meteorologist. And that's not a coincidence.

[1stTimeCaller]

now you're just making **** up. ;)

[Ike]

It's right there in the forecast. On average, one out of five times there's a 80% chance of rain it won't rain. On average, one out five times there's a 20% of rain it will rain.


I often wonder how well calibrated the forecasts are. I mean, we hear the chance of rain as n times out of 10. We never hear that there is a 73% chance of rain.

So I wonder how well the predicted chances of rain stack up with the actual rainfall.

[PhxSooner]

Well, until the storms hit in the summer here, I hear a lot of "sunny, hot today. Sunny, hot tomorrow; Sunny and hot..." Then again, they're never wrong about that.:D

[soonerboomer93]

I often wonder how well calibrated the forecasts are. I mean, we hear the chance of rain as n times out of 10. We never hear that there is a 73% chance of rain.

So I wonder how well the predicted chances of rain stack up with the actual rainfall.

I'd imagine they're just dumbing it down. Probably break it down to the 10% just to make it easier


:pop:

[SleestakSooner]

I hear that with the newer more accurate radar technology they are going to start breaking down the forecasts and warnings into quadrants for each county.

That way if a tornado warning goes out for Moore the sirens don't need to be sounded in Lexington.

I honestly think that most people aren't really complaining about the "missed" forecasts half as much as we are complaining about the hyped-up sensationalism that has become the norm when watching a local weather broadcast in Oklahoma.

The weather portion of the news does not need to be entertaining nor motivational unless there truly is a tornado or very severe storm bearing down on us.

By the way, isn't there a company that just set up a huge operation on the South Campus near Lloyd Noble that provides maritime weather reports for anyone around the globe? It seems to be that OU is focusing on travel related meteorology, even if they weren't focused on it in the past.

[OUTromBoNado]

The problem is, people who don't know about meteorology have no idea what the parameters of "adequate" are for a forecast. That is, they have unrealistic expectations. And this is compounded by the fact that they only notice when the forecast is wrong.

Aren't you a contractor or something like that? What if my standard of adequacy for a house is one that could withstand an EF-5 tornado?
Fixed. You call yourself a meteorologist? For shame. The F-scale is so 1971-January 31, 2007.


That's my biggest disappointment with the Meteorology Department at OU. They never emphasized the aviation application of meteorology. It seems like all they pushed for was storm chasing. That has zero commercial applications.

OU doesn't push storm chasing. They cater to it or talk about it because so many students do it. However, I partially agree with your statement. The problem with the OU met. program is that they don't emphasize ANY practical, real-life, job-type application of meteorology. It's all equations and theory. They pretty much operate on the assumption that anyone who graduates...er, survives, will go to grad school, get a Ph.D, and stay in research. They even told me that.

Another thing that irks me about that program. If you're going full blown into research, they will practically fall in love with you. If you're going into another area, say private/gov't forecasting, consulting, etc., they think it's awesome. BUT, if you say you are going to be a broadcaster, they treat you like a leper.

As a meteorologist, I have tons of respect for the on-air peeps because it is their a$$es out there on the line. Some of the sucky ones may do the "read-and-rip" method of just re-reading the NWS forecast and taking the credit. But, the good ones stick their necks out there with their own forecasts. When things go bad, you ALWAYS hear them get on the TV mets cases, not the weather service.

I wish OU would put more value into the broadcast sector, especially in regards to minors and working more with the journalism school. Some of the smartest mets I know are broadcasters. They have to take that information and translate it into something the public can understand, and that's hard...not so much in Oklahoma where everyone knows about severe weather, but in other parts of the country where it's fairly infrequent, it's a very important job.

I mean, sure, the day-to-day forecasting grind can be bad at times. But, when the sh*t hits the fan, 95% of the people out there are going to turn to the TV for the info.

[1stTimeCaller]

do y'all get to play with a Getner in any of your classes? BSG wants to know.

[OUHOMER]

I hear that with the newer more accurate radar technology they are going to start breaking down the forecasts and warnings into quadrants for each county.

That way if a tornado warning goes out for Moore the sirens don't need to be sounded in Lexington.

I honestly think that most people aren't really complaining about the "missed" forecasts half as much as we are complaining about the hyped-up sensationalism that has become the norm when watching a local weather broadcast in Oklahoma.

The weather portion of the news does not need to be entertaining nor motivational unless there truly is a tornado or very severe storm bearing down on us.

By the way, isn't there a company that just set up a huge operation on the South Campus near Lloyd Noble that provides maritime weather reports for anyone around the globe? It seems to be that OU is focusing on travel related meteorology, even if they weren't focused on it in the past.

exactly

[OUAndy1807]

I don't have a problem with the forecasts being wrong, I just don't know why shows need to be pre-emted for us to hear reports from spotters in Watonga to tell us that they haven't seen any lightning flashes in 20 minutes in the thunderstorm they're trailing, but it's still "raining really hard". The sensationalism has gotten out of control.

As for the analogies between contractors and forecasters, you're comparing apples and basketballs. If I went out there and ran commercials about how I could build a F5 proof house and how I was putting on schools to teach about building F5 proof houses, I would be expected to build one (and could, you just wouldn't like the looks or the costs associated). I understand that no one can accurately predict the weather, it's the sensationalism that gets me. January 13th and 14th (or maybe the next weekend) we had a corporate even and a family event cancelled because the storm of the century was supposed to be coming. Didn't snow, didn't even rain.

[Boarder]

Doesn't every job have a margin of error? Your pizza isn't always delivered in 30 minutes. Your plane arrives 2 hours late. Your investment loses money instead of gains money.


How many times would you take your plane being late 2 hours before you swore you'd never fly that airlines again? After trying 3 different airlines with the same results how would you feel about the airlline industry? Would you say something such as, "Why do they even have arrival times?!?!!"

[jk the sooner fan]

i'd sure as hell switch pizza joints.......

[mdklatt]

As for the analogies between contractors and forecasters, you're comparing apples and basketballs. If I went out there and ran commercials about how I could build a F5 proof house and how I was putting on schools to teach about building F5 proof houses, I would be expected to build one (and could, you just wouldn't like the looks or the costs associated).

Which forecasters are claiming they never make mistakes?

There was no rain in the forecast yesterday, and didn't rain.

Forecasters 1, Haters 0

[mdklatt]

How many times would you take your plane being late 2 hours before you swore you'd never fly that airlines again? After trying 3 different airlines with the same results how would you feel about the airlline industry? Would you say something such as, "Why do they even have arrival times?!?!!"

What are the forecast accuracy statistics for the NWS?

[jk the sooner fan]

its refreshing to see that weather forecasters have replaced cops on this board....

[picasso]

I hear that with the newer more accurate radar technology they are going to start breaking down the forecasts and warnings into quadrants for each county.

That way if a tornado warning goes out for Moore the sirens don't need to be sounded in Lexington.

I honestly think that most people aren't really complaining about the "missed" forecasts half as much as we are complaining about the hyped-up sensationalism that has become the norm when watching a local weather broadcast in Oklahoma.

The weather portion of the news does not need to be entertaining nor motivational unless there truly is a tornado or very severe storm bearing down on us.

By the way, isn't there a company that just set up a huge operation on the South Campus near Lloyd Noble that provides maritime weather reports for anyone around the globe? It seems to be that OU is focusing on travel related meteorology, even if they weren't focused on it in the past.


more toys, more tv time.

[Penguin]

Not completely on topic, but I have to say something to the met majors.


Weather happens 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You will NOT find a job in weather that is 9-5 Monday thru Friday. Unless you get on TV, you WILL work shift work. You WILL work nights. You WILL work weekends.

It just amazes me that the new hires at work are all disappointed that they work weird hours. My question is: Why did you go into meteorology if having weekends off is important to you?

[slickdawg]

Not completely on topic, but I have to say something to the met majors.


Weather happens 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You will NOT find a job in weather that is 9-5 Monday thru Friday. Unless you get on TV, you WILL work shift work. You WILL work nights. You WILL work weekends.

It just amazes me that the new hires at work are all disappointed that they work weird hours. My question is: Why did you go into meteorology if having weekends off is important to you?


That makes me so glad I opted for Computer Science over Meteorology.


Wait, I have a blackberry and a cell phone provided to me by "the man" and work nights and weekends. I got screwed!


:texan:

[OUAndy1807]

I am not saying that weather predictors should always be right, I'm talking about the ones who blow **** out of proportion.

I work in a field that watches the weather more than most, and I can tell you that the consensus is:
NWS- Look to them for the true story
Channel 5&9- Pretty accurate, but play up the "story" more than the NWS
Channel 4- complete joke when it comes to weather.

And don't get me wrong. I know it's not the meteorologists that work there that are the problem, it's the culture that has been created by the "news" programs. In a business that I assume is based on ad revenues, the local "news" has to sensationalize in order to boost ratings and get more advertising dollars. I get it. Just don't cut into my shows because there are high winds in Woodward.

Also, is the purchasing of the dopler radars that these news channels use subsidized with public money?

[OUTromBoNado]

I hear that with the newer more accurate radar technology they are going to start breaking down the forecasts and warnings into quadrants for each county.

That way if a tornado warning goes out for Moore the sirens don't need to be sounded in Lexington.

I honestly think that most people aren't really complaining about the "missed" forecasts half as much as we are complaining about the hyped-up sensationalism that has become the norm when watching a local weather broadcast in Oklahoma.

The weather portion of the news does not need to be entertaining nor motivational unless there truly is a tornado or very severe storm bearing down on us.

By the way, isn't there a company that just set up a huge operation on the South Campus near Lloyd Noble that provides maritime weather reports for anyone around the globe? It seems to be that OU is focusing on travel related meteorology, even if they weren't focused on it in the past.

The new polygon warning that the NWS are using will be nice. A lot more localized warnings, although, IMO, if someplace in your county is warned, you should still be paying attention.

Yes, the problem is the hype. But, that problem isn't just confined to the weather part of the news. It's running rampant in all parts of the media.

The operation of Weathernews being next door to OU doesn't mean anything really with the way the OU program operates. They are not focusing on travel related meteorology over say, aviation. With the addition of the National Weather Center, OU is looking to build a giant weather complex on South Base. Several other private companies are slated to move down there as well in the future. It gives them pride and prestige to be located right in the heart of the weather biz. WNI does contribute a lot of money to OU and has an "Applied Meteorology" chair, but, at least when I was there, I didn't see anything applied come out of it.

[OUTromBoNado]

Also, is the purchasing of the dopler radars that these news channels use subsidized with public money?

I don't know, but I'm pretty sure TV station pay for it. Now, I do know there was some grant money available at this year's AMS conference. The National Science Foundation partnered with some private radar maker and was going to award a grant to a couple of stations to get an experimental radar and do some research with it.

[Boarder]

It IS the whole news hype in general. It has not been hard to stop watching. It even goes into sports. Anyone hear anything abuot some Oregon game? Or maybe a coach leaving? Same thing.

And I'm like everyone else, it wouldn't have been bad if they wouldn't have screamed of our impending doom from every fiber of thier being. I talked with a hotel owner today that said he lost a ton of money that week from people canceling due to the imminent blizzard of doom.

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

do y'all get to play with a Getner in any of your classes? BSG wants to know.I think all Getner is is a telephone. That, or a lady's name.

[StormySooner-IN]

MD....you've had very good points in this thread, thanks.;)


For anybody who doesn't know, I want to go to OU and get a meterologist degree and do something with it...


md has very good points about the NWS's zones and what not. A 'wrong' forecast isn't one that, if a meterologist said it would be '63', and it was actually '59' at your house.

As far as the whole news hype thing...it IS everywhere and in anything. All the local news stations here in Indy always are promoting..."The best coverage you can count on, with channel 13 Triple Doppler 9000 radar, Channel 8 Mega VIPIR , Channel 13 XVision, StormReady Fox 59. It's all for entertainment/ratings and what not. Sometimes they take it TOO far, but when there are severe weather outbreaks (which, actually we get alot of widespread severe weather outbreaks here as Oklahoma, maybe even more at certain times....{as I'm always looking at the SPC and NWS websites} than you do. Last year at one point ALL of NWS Indys' 52 county Warning area was under a Severe Thunderstorm/Tornado Warning.) In those instances, they should be breaking in, it can save lives, and HAS over the years. But the constant coverage for small, middle-of-nowhere-northern-indiana-out-of-the-'viewing area' instances don't need to happen.

[Petro-Sooner]

StormySooner think good and hard about your decision to do weather. I was a meter major for a couple of years. There was a dozen reasons I changed but the big one was, what in the hell am I going to do with this degree when I finish and am I going to be able to support my family with the pay? I met too many people when I was doing the weather thing that had the degree and could not find a job. Think about it.

[OSUAggie]

I haven't seen rain in 10 years on a day where they forecasted a 20% chance for rain. No way does it rain (anywhere) 1 out of every 5 times they predict a 20% chance.

[StormySooner-IN]

I haven't seen rain in 10 years on a day where they forecasted a 20% chance for rain. No way does it rain (anywhere) 1 out of every 5 times they predict a 20% chance.

Said an aggie........



;)

[SleestakSooner]

the constant coverage for small, middle-of-nowhere-northern-indiana-out-of-the-'viewing area' instances don't need to happen.

You are so right... nobody cares if Notre Dame and their golden dome is swallowed by a tornado. ;)

[StormySooner-IN]

You are so right... nobody cares if Notre Dame and their golden dome is swallowed by a tornado. ;)Heh. Most of the meterologists out here are probably from Purdue, so I wouldn't be suprised (I'd be delighted) if they said (as a Tornado is bearing down on ND) "There is no reason to take shelter in South Bend, NO bad weather will happen in the area, please head outside and enjoy the beautiful weather":D

[StormySooner-IN]

You are so right... nobody cares if Notre Dame and their golden dome is swallowed by a tornado. ;)

BTW...a 'friend' of mine recently bought a one of the most popular hoodies around....the "Notre Dame Sugar Bowl 2007, 'Battle at the Bayou'

Some people who also had the hoodie said "Nice Shirt".


I said.."You call THAT a BATTLE!?! You're highest point was your fake punt, in which resulted in a Touchdown for LSU!":rolleyes:

:D

[usmc-sooner]

if you're not Gary England, you suck.

[Penguin]

If anyone's interested, here's some open meteorology jobs:

http://www.nwas.org/jobs.html

http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/jobsearch.asp?q=METEOROLOGY&lid=&salmin=&salmax=&paygrademin=&paygrademax=&FedEmp=N&tm=&sort=rv&vw=d&brd=3876&ss=0&FedPub=Y&SUBMIT1.x=45&SUBMIT1.y=8

[OUTromBoNado]

Heh. Most of the meterologists out here are probably from Purdue, so I wouldn't be suprised (I'd be delighted) if they said (as a Tornado is bearing down on ND) "There is no reason to take shelter in South Bend, NO bad weather will happen in the area, please head outside and enjoy the beautiful weather":D

Or Penn State.

I've been trying to get into the NWS. I actually had an interview at the Indy office, but didn't get it. I'm pretty sure it was down to me and someone already in the weather service that had more computer programming experience than me. That would have been a great place to start. Good size city and all types of weather. A couple of the people that interviewed me were from Penn State.

They asked me if an OU person could work with a bunch of Big 10 people. I said, "Sure. Someone has to come up there and teach you people how to count!"

[Soonerchaz]

Fixed. You call yourself a meteorologist? For shame. The F-scale is so 1971-January 31, 2007.

OU doesn't push storm chasing. They cater to it or talk about it because so many students do it. However, I partially agree with your statement. The problem with the OU met. program is that they don't emphasize ANY practical, real-life, job-type application of meteorology. It's all equations and theory. They pretty much operate on the assumption that anyone who graduates...er, survives, will go to grad school, get a Ph.D, and stay in research. They even told me that.

Another thing that irks me about that program. If you're going full blown into research, they will practically fall in love with you. If you're going into another area, say private/gov't forecasting, consulting, etc., they think it's awesome. BUT, if you say you are going to be a broadcaster, they treat you like a leper.

As a meteorologist, I have tons of respect for the on-air peeps because it is their a$$es out there on the line. Some of the sucky ones may do the "read-and-rip" method of just re-reading the NWS forecast and taking the credit. But, the good ones stick their necks out there with their own forecasts. When things go bad, you ALWAYS hear them get on the TV mets cases, not the weather service.

I wish OU would put more value into the broadcast sector, especially in regards to minors and working more with the journalism school. Some of the smartest mets I know are broadcasters. They have to take that information and translate it into something the public can understand, and that's hard...not so much in Oklahoma where everyone knows about severe weather, but in other parts of the country where it's fairly infrequent, it's a very important job.

I mean, sure, the day-to-day forecasting grind can be bad at times. But, when the sh*t hits the fan, 95% of the people out there are going to turn to the TV for the info.

Well said. It's been almost 20 years since I graduated from OU...and it doesn't sound like a darn thing has changed. I got a top-notch education...but if you weren't going on to grad school...they could care less about you.

I recall as second semester seniors...we were clueless as to the job market. And the met department was zero help. Luckily...an ex-OU grad who was working for NMC (now NCEP) happened to be in town and talked us through the process. I'd say 80% of my graduating class went on to work for the NWS.

It's a tough job folks. Hours stink at times...but it's challenging and fun...as the pay really isn't that bad.