As always, great writing and you hit the mail right on the head.
I’d like to comment on YouTube weather personalities, and their impact on this “cry wolf syndrome” use of hyperbole.
Most I see use it to horrible effect, and it’s glaringly obvious to anyone whose paid attention that their motivations are to drive clicks/views with doomsday scenarios.
But one YouTuber stands out over the rest, and I think you know who I’m talking about.
Ryan Hall, while doing his live streams, does a pretty great job given he doesn’t have a large infrastructure like a TV station does with towercams, etc.
Now, his video thumbnails are pretty click-bait-y. But I’m not convinced he does it with ill will. I think he’s doing what he can to insert himself into the algorithm that YouTube uses to drive videos to users.
You and I both know that’s terribly flawed when it comes to pushing good weather info to folks in a timely manner.
It’s great for folks like Mark Rober, or Destin from Smarter Every Day because they’re not on a time crunch like a weather person is.
I say all that to say Ryan might be the start of what the future looks like for a sustainable weather/information distribution model. He checks a lot of good weather boxes. He gives clear, concise info, demonstrates uncertainty, and understands the difference between probabilistic and deterministic forecasts. At least that’s how it comes off to me.
This is why I think the algorithm should be rebuilt to make context the main driver of searches.
People that want to see cat videos or watch Mark Rober build a cool gadget to annoy package thieves can do so under that context.
If someone wants to, say, watch you live, or Ryan, they can switch the context from a “just browsing” feel to a “I’m actually looking for pertinent information” context.
The app knows where you are and it can find out the information of what’s going on around you. Why couldn’t they push that in the event of severe weather?
I think if that happened, it might knock down a lot of this unnecessary fear mongering quite a bit, as well as create a pathway to the next generation. That’s my 2 cents anyway.
I didn't think Ryan was a meteorologist? No offense to the value that storm chasers have - but they're missing some critical background for radar interpretation and other things...
Ryan is a storm chaser, not a TRUE bonifide meteorologist; but he has the tools for knowing the things mets DO know. He has one mantra; "Be Prepared, Don't be scared". He repeatedly says he is NOT trying to scare you, but to give you the info on the latest possibilities, and tries to figure out which possible storm scenario is most likely.
Ryan is NOT a meteorologist. He, along with many others on YouTube, are fakes. He is not a meteorologist by any means. He claims to be a "professional weather analyst" which is the same as a normal person without a degree.
He is actually, as stated below, he was a local TV weather guy and has a degree in Meteorology. It’s important to acknowledge that there are many out there who are there just for the views or the hype and in reality no one is truly above it, I’ve found local TV weather men who do the same thing but Ryan is not one of these fakes. Just look at what him, Vince, and Brandon are doing right now in Kentucky in response to the flooding. Ryan has the heart and the knowledge (in the form of a college degree) to be a real asset in a world where Satellite and Cable TV get more expensive and less trusted every year and antennas go out or don’t work at all. I do agree that some of those video thumbnails are pretty clickbaity but they have actual information in them, not just spewing that some horrible thing is about to happen. The goal is to make the person watch the video but I do see how they can be problematic and at worst, cause unreasonable fear.
You said it better than I could’ve. I think his thumbnails are like you describe, but I think it’s simply an attempt at him getting into the algorithm so his videos can be pushed to a wider YouTube audience.
He's not a meteorologist. You can get on TV and not be a meteorologist. He is one of the fakes. You're oblivious. Look into Ryan more, he's a straight up liar.
I have. I’m a meteorology student myself. Why do you care so much to go so far as to call me oblivious? It can’t be because you care about the integrity of the community or the integrity of the content he produces. If that were the case your replies would look way way different.
If you’re so convinced...you’re the one whose made the claim that he’s fake, so prove it. Prove to everyone in this comment section that he is absolutely a fake and doesn’t possess a meteorology degree from Mississippi State that was obtained in 2016.
His degree is in Broadcast meteorology not even close to B.S. in Meteorology, get your info straight. Dont have to take all the advanced calculus and physics, fluid dynamic classes to be a broadcast meteorologist, , anyone can get a degree in broadcast meteorology, I would say he is totally overated
He (just like james span) Was a local tv weather man, He quit and not for awhile made youtube videos in 2021 he created his yt channel, You do not know anything than him stop calling him a fake when your self dont have any rights to talk
He's not. He never calls himself a meteorologist. Why? Because he isn't one. He calls himself a "professional weather analyst". He's clearly lying on his Linkedln
You will need to prove it. To do that, you must call MSU and ask if they ever had a Ryan Hall at their school who graduated in 2016. Ask if he REALLY had a meteorology degree. If they say it is confirmed in their records, you will have egg on your face and will have some explaining to do. This is 2022. He graduated MSU in 2016, assuming he is telling the truth on LinkedIn. He's been YouTubing all these years ever since. Someone at MSU likely may watch his livestreams and recorded videos. He may have mentioned in some video or livestream about how he got to be where he is. If so, MSU could vouch for what he's saying. If he were a TRUE liar, MSU likely would have caught him in a lie by now, if not a couple years or more back. If this were the case, there is a chance you might hear about it, maybe through social media, and later, official news sites. We haven't heard that kind of thing. Investigate if you want; but I warn you, you might get egg on your face if it turns out he's telling the truth. On the other hand, if you DO expose him as a liar, and MSU says he wan't attending that school, then Ryan will have some explaining to do. He wlll have to admit to the fraud, he'll get banned for good from LinkedIn, and he will be terminated by YouTube for fraud and deception, and violating community guidelines. If he WERE exposed as a fraud, then I would NEVER watch him again, that's all. I will watch someone else like James Spann, who is NO FAKE!!
"Ryan Hall Y'all" is not a credible meteorologist nor a professional weather analyst any more than the likes of Mark Dice is an independent media analyst. They're both YouBoobers, both vloggers, and both do whatever to gain a bigger viewership.
What great and thoughtful insight into this issue. I'm 26 but in no way, shape or form, do I rely on YouTubers, TikTokers (I don't even use TikTok, PERIOD) or other social media posts for my weather information, unless it directly came from NWS, a local TV/radio station or their meteorologists.
Its important to get information right in a friendly and honest way without scaring people away. Thanks for this!
Lol you’re missing out then because on countless occasions some of these YouTubers have given warnings WELL before the NWS. You should be so lucky to be in a major impact area and get the warning minutes in advance through social media. Minutes save lives.
Yeah, I agree with H3T3 has said. They DO rely on NWS for warnings as that's considered an official government agency and everybody, from those YouTubers to professional meteorologists, only rely on NWS for official warnings, watches, and advisories.
I actually learned from a Reddit user that its actually considered illegal to make up those warnings, watches, and advisories before the NWS issues them. Otherwise, you can be sued and that's been successfully done, plus the NWS has gone after people who have done that.
The NWS is a government agency as part of NOAA within the U.S. Department of Commerce. Do not let the government come after you.
The bottom line is do NOT issue your own warnings!! I have seen David Slaughthauer do this. He should NOT be issuing warnings of imminent severe weather. You HAVE to let the NWS do it; minutes CAN save lives. Even if there is no severe warned storm yet, you just might find a Special Weather Statement about it; a step just short of a warning. That's all you need. You don't need to issue your own warning. Treat the Special Weather Statement as if it WERE a warning, because it is a kind of de-facto warning, so to speak. Go by THOSE statements. If it changes to a WARNING, then fine; you have a warning. Do NOT use the Special Weather Statements to warn people downstream or issue your own SWS. Instead, explain what's on the radar and advise that strong storms MAY be headed your way IF they even hold together. Do NOT do anything illegal!! You do NOT want the NWS to come after you!!
My grandfather, a member of the greatest generation, once told me, "In life, find a parade and get in front of it." I reflect on this often and still find value in the phrase and associated values. Why mention this? You found your parade (Broadcast Journalism) but failed to jump away when the next parade passed you by. The only thing that made you relevant was access to information, your ability to present the information in a meaningful way, and your personality. Those times are long gone.
Broadcast News is dead. Stop being a petulant child and realize you had fun with your toys but that time has passed. Now it is time to pack them up and go home. The time to push broadcast journalistic integrity was 20 years ago when something could have been done. Now we are stuck with the anemic corpse on life support that occasionally yells out about how awesome it once was...
Oh and the "Fear Porn" garbage is just that. That too is another nugget of shame created by guess who? Broadcast journalism. Come on down from your high horse back down to reality. The air is just fine down here.
The key thing you fail to grasp is your advantage. You are known quantity in your market. You do not NEED the corporate stooges anymore. Dump the AOL account, get real internet, and start HELPING people in the local area where you know the meteorological phenomena.
Time to face facts, people like Ryan Hall found their parade and rode the winds of change to success. Do you have the courage to follow?
Thanks for the comment. You have called me a "petulant child", much kinder than some others. A few points...
*As I wrote in the essay, "the Ron Burgundy newscasts won’t be around much longer as the audience grows old and dies off". Same point you made in your comments; we agree.
*Also, as I wrote, the fear porn issue is across OLD and NEW media. We also agree here. Seems like you didn't read the first half of the piece.
*I have never had an "AOL" account. Even in the 90s. Believe it or not, I have the "real Internet". And, it seems like you are claiming I don't help people in the local area here. You need to spend some time and ask people here about me before making claims like that.
*Follow who? I have over 10 million video views across Facebook and Instagram monthly during routine months; the counts go much higher during the active time of the year. I have been doing live streams and videos on social platforms way before the current generation was born. Maybe they are following me?
*As stated, we all need to improve. The YouTubers and TikTokers don't want to hear any critical reviews of their work; and most old school broadcasters don't either. The only way to get better is to listen to constructive criticism. And, the fear porn issue is real and across all platforms. The screen captures on this essay were all sent to me by people asking "is this real?". Many who have been through high impact weather events that involved loss of life and human suffering. I have no idea where they come from, but they all can do better. Using fear to ride algorithms is good for nothing, other than more views and higher monetization. I do just fine without them.
The local weather stations are guilty of fear-mongering and being nit-picky. They are making everything sound as bad like as if it is. I don't care if anything was "radar-detected" anything when a fast-moving squall line hits my area and all those weather-related program interruptions turned out to be false after the storm system leaves. No 90 mph wind gusts, no/insignificant tornado damage, no more of those silly "radar notches" to pay attention to. I'm afraid that old school weather forecasting is a thing of the past now, even though nothing new ever happens under the sun; it has happened before.
You are right on with everything you said. There is too much hype, even on stations who DO long-form storm coverage; they don't do it right. Sure, many stations like yours have all these zany graphics and fancy do-dad TV radars that have capabilities the NWS does not have. The stations make good use of these; and they are designed to help analyze thunderstorms top to bottom, and help with nowcasting and real-time analysis. However, they are used, or misused, by TV mets to keep you watching. Together with all the breathless hype, the fear, the zany radars and graphics, they do the storm coverage more to keep you watching and scare you, than to reasonably tell it like it is. YOU, on the other hand, also employ these graphics and radars, but you use those in a way such that you tell it like the radars and satellites see things; as well as the short-term modeling. You tell viewers as to who is in the clear, and if there is a life-threatening tornado, you focus only on that tornado and tell people where it's going but without all the scare tactics. If there are multiple high intensity tornadoes, you focus on the most dangerous ones in the TV market. You are the voice of reason in these situations. You save lives, and hopefully the lives of those who complain you interrupt programming. You have always done a great job. Keep up the good work!!
I work with one of these weather youtubers: Snyder, though i am closely familiar with Schlotthauer's and Hall's work as well. Part of doing this job is getting information to those who may not have reliable TV coverage like those on the road, or those relying on cuts in prepaid programming. Balancing the algorithm is quite hard, and I must say, mitigating and negating fear porn is something we as a team all keep in mind while doing this, while the more people reached is another life potentially to be saved. I tell you, it is a very active part of our work. We do pore over our work to see if we go to far in this way.
Many of us are storm chasers or weather enthusiasts with some college education, in fact many are active meteorology students themselves, and a few are degreed. I know as a team we tend to idolize guys like Spann, or Forbes, or Timmer, or God rest his soul, Samaras, because of the great works that they are doing. They are paving the way for those coming later, those who are here now, our generation. We know we do not have all the knowledge, but what we do know about weather we are certain of, and we hope to spread it, because it saves lives. We also know the more knowledge we obtain, the better we can forecast, and the more lives we can save. But we cannot wait long. Lives must not be sacrificed just because we lack a few courses in meteorology.
What we know, we spread because we have made it our mission to bring to the public a better understanding of weather that many, but not all on TV simply cannot, not because they lack the skill or expertise, but because they lack the freedom or resources. We are not bound by corporations, so it does give us more freedom. This freedom can allow us do try new things, things that can help us crack the common weather myths like "Hide under a bridge in a tornado" or "Tornadoes don't occur in mountains or in winter" and "20% chance of rain means no rain, and if it rains the weatherman lied". These abound in the world because of the public’s low understanding of the forces that drive our planet's atmosphere. It's a problem, and we know we must do our best to combat it.
Spann is right in everything here. Youtube is the next generation. We must figure out a way to do it right, or we may find we cannot relay weather at all, lest the public’s trust be so far destroyed. And that cannot happen. Thanks.
Late evening/early morning for me here in northeastern PA but yeah, you're definitely on the right track with the whole fear mongering with weather, especially when things are click bait and or there just to feed off of the fear and clicks that are produced by it because of how poor the meteorology infrastructure is and how good info distributors are few and far between in today's society, it's just a rinse and repeat of the past generations following what the next big thing is, i hope this makes sense to some degree as my eyes are heavier than concrete
It’s interesting to look in these comments and see how many people are specifically talking about Ryan Hall, as if James Spann targeted him specifically. Now before I start this, I do watch Ryan’s content, It’s informative and especially the livestreams contain essential and useful information that he as a degree holding meteorologist has the credentials to give. The content itself is not fear inducing but I think (especially considering the picture of thumbnails) James is referring to content that upon first glance would incite fear in a person. Ryan’s thumbnails are not excluded from this, they can be a little dramatic and clickbaity at times and a random person scrolling across youtube could get the wrong idea. How I interpreted this is that James is referring to these thumbnails or tiktoks that don’t include the full story and are there to entice people to watch their content when a lot of times it just spreads dramatized information because people don’t often take that extra step. We see it in thumbnails, tiktoks, i’ve even seen a local TV meteorologist exaggerate on social media to get people to look.
For weather information, and all information really, it’s our responsibility as consumers to check our sources and be able to see who’s actually making a meaningful difference or contributing to a conversation, and who’s just there for clicks and fear.
Ryan Hall is definitely an exception to this. His content is doing anything but generating fear. The Ryan Hall account is the single best most comprehensive live weather coverage that we have seen. Spann is the man, but let’s leave Ryan and his thumbnails (which he has to do due to YouTube algorithms) out of the fear category.
Good morning, James.
As always, great writing and you hit the mail right on the head.
I’d like to comment on YouTube weather personalities, and their impact on this “cry wolf syndrome” use of hyperbole.
Most I see use it to horrible effect, and it’s glaringly obvious to anyone whose paid attention that their motivations are to drive clicks/views with doomsday scenarios.
But one YouTuber stands out over the rest, and I think you know who I’m talking about.
Ryan Hall, while doing his live streams, does a pretty great job given he doesn’t have a large infrastructure like a TV station does with towercams, etc.
Now, his video thumbnails are pretty click-bait-y. But I’m not convinced he does it with ill will. I think he’s doing what he can to insert himself into the algorithm that YouTube uses to drive videos to users.
You and I both know that’s terribly flawed when it comes to pushing good weather info to folks in a timely manner.
It’s great for folks like Mark Rober, or Destin from Smarter Every Day because they’re not on a time crunch like a weather person is.
I say all that to say Ryan might be the start of what the future looks like for a sustainable weather/information distribution model. He checks a lot of good weather boxes. He gives clear, concise info, demonstrates uncertainty, and understands the difference between probabilistic and deterministic forecasts. At least that’s how it comes off to me.
This is why I think the algorithm should be rebuilt to make context the main driver of searches.
People that want to see cat videos or watch Mark Rober build a cool gadget to annoy package thieves can do so under that context.
If someone wants to, say, watch you live, or Ryan, they can switch the context from a “just browsing” feel to a “I’m actually looking for pertinent information” context.
The app knows where you are and it can find out the information of what’s going on around you. Why couldn’t they push that in the event of severe weather?
I think if that happened, it might knock down a lot of this unnecessary fear mongering quite a bit, as well as create a pathway to the next generation. That’s my 2 cents anyway.
Thanks again.
I didn't think Ryan was a meteorologist? No offense to the value that storm chasers have - but they're missing some critical background for radar interpretation and other things...
Ryan is a storm chaser, not a TRUE bonifide meteorologist; but he has the tools for knowing the things mets DO know. He has one mantra; "Be Prepared, Don't be scared". He repeatedly says he is NOT trying to scare you, but to give you the info on the latest possibilities, and tries to figure out which possible storm scenario is most likely.
Ryan is NOT a meteorologist. He, along with many others on YouTube, are fakes. He is not a meteorologist by any means. He claims to be a "professional weather analyst" which is the same as a normal person without a degree.
He is actually, as stated below, he was a local TV weather guy and has a degree in Meteorology. It’s important to acknowledge that there are many out there who are there just for the views or the hype and in reality no one is truly above it, I’ve found local TV weather men who do the same thing but Ryan is not one of these fakes. Just look at what him, Vince, and Brandon are doing right now in Kentucky in response to the flooding. Ryan has the heart and the knowledge (in the form of a college degree) to be a real asset in a world where Satellite and Cable TV get more expensive and less trusted every year and antennas go out or don’t work at all. I do agree that some of those video thumbnails are pretty clickbaity but they have actual information in them, not just spewing that some horrible thing is about to happen. The goal is to make the person watch the video but I do see how they can be problematic and at worst, cause unreasonable fear.
You said it better than I could’ve. I think his thumbnails are like you describe, but I think it’s simply an attempt at him getting into the algorithm so his videos can be pushed to a wider YouTube audience.
He's not a meteorologist. You can get on TV and not be a meteorologist. He is one of the fakes. You're oblivious. Look into Ryan more, he's a straight up liar.
I have. I’m a meteorology student myself. Why do you care so much to go so far as to call me oblivious? It can’t be because you care about the integrity of the community or the integrity of the content he produces. If that were the case your replies would look way way different.
If you’re so convinced...you’re the one whose made the claim that he’s fake, so prove it. Prove to everyone in this comment section that he is absolutely a fake and doesn’t possess a meteorology degree from Mississippi State that was obtained in 2016.
I’ll be waiting.
His degree is in Broadcast meteorology not even close to B.S. in Meteorology, get your info straight. Dont have to take all the advanced calculus and physics, fluid dynamic classes to be a broadcast meteorologist, , anyone can get a degree in broadcast meteorology, I would say he is totally overated
He (just like james span) Was a local tv weather man, He quit and not for awhile made youtube videos in 2021 he created his yt channel, You do not know anything than him stop calling him a fake when your self dont have any rights to talk
His LinkedIn Bio shows him graduating with a Bachelor’s in Broadcast Meteorology in 2016. So...not fake?
He's not. He never calls himself a meteorologist. Why? Because he isn't one. He calls himself a "professional weather analyst". He's clearly lying on his Linkedln
You will need to prove it. To do that, you must call MSU and ask if they ever had a Ryan Hall at their school who graduated in 2016. Ask if he REALLY had a meteorology degree. If they say it is confirmed in their records, you will have egg on your face and will have some explaining to do. This is 2022. He graduated MSU in 2016, assuming he is telling the truth on LinkedIn. He's been YouTubing all these years ever since. Someone at MSU likely may watch his livestreams and recorded videos. He may have mentioned in some video or livestream about how he got to be where he is. If so, MSU could vouch for what he's saying. If he were a TRUE liar, MSU likely would have caught him in a lie by now, if not a couple years or more back. If this were the case, there is a chance you might hear about it, maybe through social media, and later, official news sites. We haven't heard that kind of thing. Investigate if you want; but I warn you, you might get egg on your face if it turns out he's telling the truth. On the other hand, if you DO expose him as a liar, and MSU says he wan't attending that school, then Ryan will have some explaining to do. He wlll have to admit to the fraud, he'll get banned for good from LinkedIn, and he will be terminated by YouTube for fraud and deception, and violating community guidelines. If he WERE exposed as a fraud, then I would NEVER watch him again, that's all. I will watch someone else like James Spann, who is NO FAKE!!
"Ryan Hall Y'all" is not a credible meteorologist nor a professional weather analyst any more than the likes of Mark Dice is an independent media analyst. They're both YouBoobers, both vloggers, and both do whatever to gain a bigger viewership.
You nailed every word, James.
What great and thoughtful insight into this issue. I'm 26 but in no way, shape or form, do I rely on YouTubers, TikTokers (I don't even use TikTok, PERIOD) or other social media posts for my weather information, unless it directly came from NWS, a local TV/radio station or their meteorologists.
Its important to get information right in a friendly and honest way without scaring people away. Thanks for this!
Lol you’re missing out then because on countless occasions some of these YouTubers have given warnings WELL before the NWS. You should be so lucky to be in a major impact area and get the warning minutes in advance through social media. Minutes save lives.
Yeah, I agree with H3T3 has said. They DO rely on NWS for warnings as that's considered an official government agency and everybody, from those YouTubers to professional meteorologists, only rely on NWS for official warnings, watches, and advisories.
I actually learned from a Reddit user that its actually considered illegal to make up those warnings, watches, and advisories before the NWS issues them. Otherwise, you can be sued and that's been successfully done, plus the NWS has gone after people who have done that.
The NWS is a government agency as part of NOAA within the U.S. Department of Commerce. Do not let the government come after you.
The bottom line is do NOT issue your own warnings!! I have seen David Slaughthauer do this. He should NOT be issuing warnings of imminent severe weather. You HAVE to let the NWS do it; minutes CAN save lives. Even if there is no severe warned storm yet, you just might find a Special Weather Statement about it; a step just short of a warning. That's all you need. You don't need to issue your own warning. Treat the Special Weather Statement as if it WERE a warning, because it is a kind of de-facto warning, so to speak. Go by THOSE statements. If it changes to a WARNING, then fine; you have a warning. Do NOT use the Special Weather Statements to warn people downstream or issue your own SWS. Instead, explain what's on the radar and advise that strong storms MAY be headed your way IF they even hold together. Do NOT do anything illegal!! You do NOT want the NWS to come after you!!
they relay on the nws for the warnings
James,
My grandfather, a member of the greatest generation, once told me, "In life, find a parade and get in front of it." I reflect on this often and still find value in the phrase and associated values. Why mention this? You found your parade (Broadcast Journalism) but failed to jump away when the next parade passed you by. The only thing that made you relevant was access to information, your ability to present the information in a meaningful way, and your personality. Those times are long gone.
Broadcast News is dead. Stop being a petulant child and realize you had fun with your toys but that time has passed. Now it is time to pack them up and go home. The time to push broadcast journalistic integrity was 20 years ago when something could have been done. Now we are stuck with the anemic corpse on life support that occasionally yells out about how awesome it once was...
Oh and the "Fear Porn" garbage is just that. That too is another nugget of shame created by guess who? Broadcast journalism. Come on down from your high horse back down to reality. The air is just fine down here.
The key thing you fail to grasp is your advantage. You are known quantity in your market. You do not NEED the corporate stooges anymore. Dump the AOL account, get real internet, and start HELPING people in the local area where you know the meteorological phenomena.
Time to face facts, people like Ryan Hall found their parade and rode the winds of change to success. Do you have the courage to follow?
Hi Matt.
Thanks for the comment. You have called me a "petulant child", much kinder than some others. A few points...
*As I wrote in the essay, "the Ron Burgundy newscasts won’t be around much longer as the audience grows old and dies off". Same point you made in your comments; we agree.
*Also, as I wrote, the fear porn issue is across OLD and NEW media. We also agree here. Seems like you didn't read the first half of the piece.
*I have never had an "AOL" account. Even in the 90s. Believe it or not, I have the "real Internet". And, it seems like you are claiming I don't help people in the local area here. You need to spend some time and ask people here about me before making claims like that.
*Follow who? I have over 10 million video views across Facebook and Instagram monthly during routine months; the counts go much higher during the active time of the year. I have been doing live streams and videos on social platforms way before the current generation was born. Maybe they are following me?
*As stated, we all need to improve. The YouTubers and TikTokers don't want to hear any critical reviews of their work; and most old school broadcasters don't either. The only way to get better is to listen to constructive criticism. And, the fear porn issue is real and across all platforms. The screen captures on this essay were all sent to me by people asking "is this real?". Many who have been through high impact weather events that involved loss of life and human suffering. I have no idea where they come from, but they all can do better. Using fear to ride algorithms is good for nothing, other than more views and higher monetization. I do just fine without them.
The local weather stations are guilty of fear-mongering and being nit-picky. They are making everything sound as bad like as if it is. I don't care if anything was "radar-detected" anything when a fast-moving squall line hits my area and all those weather-related program interruptions turned out to be false after the storm system leaves. No 90 mph wind gusts, no/insignificant tornado damage, no more of those silly "radar notches" to pay attention to. I'm afraid that old school weather forecasting is a thing of the past now, even though nothing new ever happens under the sun; it has happened before.
You are right on with everything you said. There is too much hype, even on stations who DO long-form storm coverage; they don't do it right. Sure, many stations like yours have all these zany graphics and fancy do-dad TV radars that have capabilities the NWS does not have. The stations make good use of these; and they are designed to help analyze thunderstorms top to bottom, and help with nowcasting and real-time analysis. However, they are used, or misused, by TV mets to keep you watching. Together with all the breathless hype, the fear, the zany radars and graphics, they do the storm coverage more to keep you watching and scare you, than to reasonably tell it like it is. YOU, on the other hand, also employ these graphics and radars, but you use those in a way such that you tell it like the radars and satellites see things; as well as the short-term modeling. You tell viewers as to who is in the clear, and if there is a life-threatening tornado, you focus only on that tornado and tell people where it's going but without all the scare tactics. If there are multiple high intensity tornadoes, you focus on the most dangerous ones in the TV market. You are the voice of reason in these situations. You save lives, and hopefully the lives of those who complain you interrupt programming. You have always done a great job. Keep up the good work!!
I work with one of these weather youtubers: Snyder, though i am closely familiar with Schlotthauer's and Hall's work as well. Part of doing this job is getting information to those who may not have reliable TV coverage like those on the road, or those relying on cuts in prepaid programming. Balancing the algorithm is quite hard, and I must say, mitigating and negating fear porn is something we as a team all keep in mind while doing this, while the more people reached is another life potentially to be saved. I tell you, it is a very active part of our work. We do pore over our work to see if we go to far in this way.
Many of us are storm chasers or weather enthusiasts with some college education, in fact many are active meteorology students themselves, and a few are degreed. I know as a team we tend to idolize guys like Spann, or Forbes, or Timmer, or God rest his soul, Samaras, because of the great works that they are doing. They are paving the way for those coming later, those who are here now, our generation. We know we do not have all the knowledge, but what we do know about weather we are certain of, and we hope to spread it, because it saves lives. We also know the more knowledge we obtain, the better we can forecast, and the more lives we can save. But we cannot wait long. Lives must not be sacrificed just because we lack a few courses in meteorology.
What we know, we spread because we have made it our mission to bring to the public a better understanding of weather that many, but not all on TV simply cannot, not because they lack the skill or expertise, but because they lack the freedom or resources. We are not bound by corporations, so it does give us more freedom. This freedom can allow us do try new things, things that can help us crack the common weather myths like "Hide under a bridge in a tornado" or "Tornadoes don't occur in mountains or in winter" and "20% chance of rain means no rain, and if it rains the weatherman lied". These abound in the world because of the public’s low understanding of the forces that drive our planet's atmosphere. It's a problem, and we know we must do our best to combat it.
Spann is right in everything here. Youtube is the next generation. We must figure out a way to do it right, or we may find we cannot relay weather at all, lest the public’s trust be so far destroyed. And that cannot happen. Thanks.
Late evening/early morning for me here in northeastern PA but yeah, you're definitely on the right track with the whole fear mongering with weather, especially when things are click bait and or there just to feed off of the fear and clicks that are produced by it because of how poor the meteorology infrastructure is and how good info distributors are few and far between in today's society, it's just a rinse and repeat of the past generations following what the next big thing is, i hope this makes sense to some degree as my eyes are heavier than concrete
go look at david schlotthauer post
good thing is not me
what is getting worse
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Hello all,
It’s interesting to look in these comments and see how many people are specifically talking about Ryan Hall, as if James Spann targeted him specifically. Now before I start this, I do watch Ryan’s content, It’s informative and especially the livestreams contain essential and useful information that he as a degree holding meteorologist has the credentials to give. The content itself is not fear inducing but I think (especially considering the picture of thumbnails) James is referring to content that upon first glance would incite fear in a person. Ryan’s thumbnails are not excluded from this, they can be a little dramatic and clickbaity at times and a random person scrolling across youtube could get the wrong idea. How I interpreted this is that James is referring to these thumbnails or tiktoks that don’t include the full story and are there to entice people to watch their content when a lot of times it just spreads dramatized information because people don’t often take that extra step. We see it in thumbnails, tiktoks, i’ve even seen a local TV meteorologist exaggerate on social media to get people to look.
For weather information, and all information really, it’s our responsibility as consumers to check our sources and be able to see who’s actually making a meaningful difference or contributing to a conversation, and who’s just there for clicks and fear.
Ryan Hall is definitely an exception to this. His content is doing anything but generating fear. The Ryan Hall account is the single best most comprehensive live weather coverage that we have seen. Spann is the man, but let’s leave Ryan and his thumbnails (which he has to do due to YouTube algorithms) out of the fear category.
You can not be more wrong because said in one of the people's video don't be scared be prepared
You are clearly a Ryan Hall sheep follower.. If you knew who James Spann is and his background you would think twice about your comments.
Ryan is also a weather man and has a degree so check ur facts before u say stuff
He doesn't have a degree in meteorology. He also does not has AMS certification. Get your head out of the gutter. He's not a real meteorologist.