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View Full Version : Snowmaggedon to Nomaggedon: Media hypes storm, points fingers



Colorado Media Newsroom
April 9th, 2013, 12:21 PM
From The Denver Post:

http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/files/2013/04/weather.jpg (http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/2013/04/09/media-hypes-snowstorm-points-fingers/13549/weather/)
CBS4

School closings! Flight cancellations! Dire warnings and, ultimately, dry pavement met local residents as sheepish Denver TV weather forecasters explained what happened when the massive spring blizzard predicted for April 9 didn’t materialize.

“Predicting the future is not an exact science,” 9News meterologist Kathy Sabine said. Besides, many areas did see the predicted amounts, she noted.

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Denver's Channel 7 meteorologist Mike Nelson's tweet on snowstorm in the morning of April 9, 2013

Mid-day Tuesday, KMGH chief meterologist Mike Nelson tweeted “NEW INFO! #snow will not be nearly as heavy as some other TV stations are saying! Watch #7NewsNow for the correct numbers! #cowx #denver”

“We’ll stay on the low end of our predictions,” KCNC’s Lauren Whitney offered. She added, perhaps hopefully, “it’s not over yet.”

“You still could see blizzard-like conditions,” Jennifer Broome told KDVR viewers.

The possibility of life-threatening weather conditions in the region prompted forecasters around the dial to paint a picture of an historically bad spring snowstorm on the way Monday. “We always err on the side of caution and present a worst-case scenario,” KUSA’s Sabine said. “We’d rather have people over-prepared.”

Sabine had 4-6″ of snow in her Douglas County backyard, “with 8-12-inch drifts,” she said, so by that measure, “the forecast wasn’t really off.”

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Light snow blankets 22nd Street and Arapahoe in downtown Denver on April 9, 2013.


More... (http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/2013/04/09/media-hypes-snowstorm-points-fingers/13549/)

Rob
April 9th, 2013, 03:20 PM
KUSA Channel 9 is also in defensive mode with this picture (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151517145901077) on their Facebook page.

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Timelord1956
April 10th, 2013, 09:22 AM
KUSA Channel 9 is also in defensive mode with this picture (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151517145901077) on their Facebook page.

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How is defining the word blizzard "defensive"?

9's forecast on the 4 pm show on 4/8 said windy, daytime highs in the teens and 6-12" in metro area. Yesterday it was windy, daytime highs in the teens and snow totals of between 2 and 8 inches in the metro area. OK, they were a little high on the snow but all in all it was still not a fun time getting around town in the morning. Lighten up!

Rob
April 10th, 2013, 04:23 PM
It's defensive because KUSA sent out emergency alerts to people in the Denver/Ft. Collins areas with their website/app saying there was a blizzard warning AND a winter storm warning (when the national weather service never issued it for those areas). And they would get an additional 6-12" of snow late Monday night/Tuesday morning. It was overhyped as a gigantic news story on air as well claiming it was a life-threatening storm. Then, when the storm didn't materialize to what they predicted (1-2" instead of 8-12"), they are saying they never said that. Saying that 1" of snow blowing around for longer than 3 hours is a "blizzard" in Denver Colorado as a defense is funny. Yes, it's hard to predict the weather here at times. But just say you were wrong and move on, instead of saying you never said something you did. That's why there's a lot of people replying to that picture on Facebook the way they are.

Timelord1956
April 11th, 2013, 10:05 AM
KUSA (or ANY broadcaster) does not issue watches and warnings, the National Weather Service does. KUSA just reports it. And please make sure to tell all the people who were standing out at bus stops and in traffic accidents all over town that this was not a significant event.

PC Bigboy
April 20th, 2013, 03:59 PM
While it was a significant event, it WAS NOT as significant as predicted. That's because the dominant factor WAS NOT the show inasmuch as the cold temps were. The cold temps were WAY WAY unseasonably cold (More indicative of January/February than April)

In fact, it's been warmer IN BOSTON than it has been here lately (Did anyone notice the temp on any of the Boston TV stations during their coverage of the Terrorist attack?)

Cheers & 73 :)