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pre-emptions for bad weather

S

skippercollector

It seems like the Cincinnati stations are notorious for cutting into programming (no matter the time of day) to give us weather alerts. I remember once I was watching a program, there was a severe thunderstorm warning, and I never did see the end of the show because the meteorologists kept rambling on and on and showing the same radar map for more than 30 minutes!
Lately, the local stations have been having the little ribbon across the top for days with flash flood watch messages. Not warnings, just watches.
Does your city's local news stations pre-empt programming a lot to give severe weather updates? There have been times I've turned off the TV because I'm sick of hearing the repetition. I know where and when to take cover if I have to!
I'm just asking about natural disasters. Man-made ones (explosions, mass shootings, etc., are worthy of a different discussion).
Blizzards and very heavy snowfalls (when will the local media learn the difference?)
Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.
Since I don't live on the coast I don't know how much is pre-empted during hurricane season.
I'm also wondering about geological disasters such as earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. I don't know about them at all!
 
WCNC-TV in Charlotte NC has been really bad about this. The weather wasn't really all that serious and yet they just went on and on and on, showing the great features of their radar and other equipment. Who cares?

Before digital TV, this wasn't so serious as I could pick up WXII. Now, that station pretty much requires an outdoor antenna, which I didn't want to spring for.

WSOC-TV was pretty bad too, but once digital TV arrived, I switched to WXLV and never looked back. Until I started having problems with their signal. But they don't even have a news department.

WBTV has promised not to interrupt programming for weather bulletins unless it's REALLY bad. This is a good idea as you will never know if it's really bad if stations are obsessed when they don't need to be.

I was going to start a topic on crawls. I saw several in the mountains on WLOS. They had the crawl running at the top of the screen, with an advertiser's name. Most of the time, they merely had one of the counties affected and a description of why in the upper right corner. Given time, if your county was there, you could see it. When they would switch to the crawl there was what sounded like a cell phone ring tone. I don't know the music but it could be the theme from WLOS newscasts. It reminded me of Andy Gibb's "I Just Wanna Be Your Everything".
 
I am not opposed at all at severe weather updates when life and property are threatened. It is way overblown too frequently.

Living along the gulf coast, hurricane interruptions are few if any until it arrives. I suppose this is because they are slow moving and fairly predictable. Blizzards should not mean interruptions except once it hits. I can see severe thunderstorms and tornadoes since each scenario is evolving and unpredictable as the storm evolves. Flooding might be another good cause. I've never experienced earthquakes and other natural disasters. I would suspect the aftermath is wall to wall coverage.

I was visiting my parents in Ft. Worth recently after the area had experienced the wettest spring on record. Local TV was 'covering commercial breaks' in prime time about every 30 minutes to show storms about 200 miles away that were not severe but if they held together for the next 8 hours would hit us and be 'noisy' storms and could produce lots of rain. He cautioned there were watches or warnings and even the storms he spoke of were not severe. This went on all evening.

Back home a tropical storm, barely that, hit Houston and the TV stations went commercial free and continuous coverage. It wasn't just one station. Poor in the field reporters are saying things like 'if we get another couple of inches of rain, this retention pond could block the only exit for these homeowners behind us" and the poor guy 100 feet or so out on a pier to show a wind gust of 44 miles per hour in a heavy shower and hint at how dangerous this tropical storm was. Yes, flood prone spots did flood just like they do with the summer thunderstorm but although it was such a non-event, one TV anchor suggested at least 3 days of food and water and be sure to fill up the gas tank. Before 4 that afternoon as we suffered through wind gusts as high as 25 miles an hour and a devastating 1.4 inches of rain, the TV stations must have had enough complaints and went back to regular programming.

Now, Houston had Tropical Storm Alison a few years back and it was a flood of epic proportions. TV shined with incredible reporting, acting as a source of help with 911 went down several times, all the hospitals lost power and even emergency shelters flooded. Cell and phone service was, at best, very spotty. One TV station flooded and the anchors set up elsewhere using battery power at times. They did what radio did not do and did such a good job I'd judge their coverage as the standard to judge by. Some was a bit chilling like the young Mom saying 911 isn't working and water is up to the top of the bed in their home and she has 3 small children with her. The TV anchor put out a call for anyone with a boat to go to her. There were quite a few calls like that. Worst was the poor person that worked late and took the elevator down to the car only to drown as water flooded the elevator. Supposedly someone wading through a flooded street feel in a manhole as manhole covers had already blown off. Reports were he never surfaced.

Sometimes things can be so overblown people die. In Houston, shortly after Katrina, Hurricane Rita threatened. Weather folks began saying this was a huge storm that made Katrina look wimpy and it had it sights on Galveston. When evacuations were announced, everybody left at one, clogging highways and running through all that was needed to get people out of the way. No gas, no services, no food, no nothing and traffic was crawling so slowly, once folks ran out of gas they started pushing their cars. One lady and her daughter I met about 200 miles away spent 36 hours on the road, had to protect themselves with a gun from desperate people, and felt the evacuation was a true nightmare. It has been said as many as 600 died but it is hard to pin on the hurricane since deaths were mostly the result of heat or violence amid those on the highways trying to get anywhere away from Hurricane Rita. As for me, I called KLBJ in Austin, 120 miles away, that was covering things with real information like saying where traffic was moving, who had gas, food, diapers, water, etc. I got out with ease once gale force winds were beginning thanks to KLBJ in Austin. The local radio and TV was more content of interviewing people about how long they had been in the car and how far they had gotten in lieu of who had needed items and any roads less crowded.
 
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The Yakima stations don't preempt programming for weather, as far as I have seen (been here only 1 1/2 years). They do have crawls with school closures/delays. KAPP and KNDO have Tri-Cities/Eastern OR as well as Yakima; KIMA only has Yakima area closures/delays.

Everything changes when you go to Seattle. 1/4 inch of snow? Forget watching ALL the daytime shows. The big 4 affiliates will preempt programming to tell people to "STAY OFF THE ROADS!! SCHOOL IS CLOSED!! WE HAVE 1/4 INCH OF SNOW!! OMG!!" Sometimes (like KING-5) they have THREE school closure tickers. Talk about hype! And when there's 1/4 inch of snow, almost every school district in western Washington closes, forcing kids to make it up in the summer (or even taking off a day of Spring Break or a holiday). I was still in the Seattle area when a snowstorm hit in January 2012...KIRO 7 was on for (get ready for this) 15 HOURS straight. With 5 inches of snow.
Thank god I don't live there anymore. They can have the damn hype.

Portland is just as bad, all the schools close with a tiny burst of snow and in most cases, ODOT will close I-84 in the Gorge, even when there's a couple inches of snow.
 
This isn't related, but during excessive coverage meteorologists tend to do this. Nothing really on the radar, but just now the man on the Fox station in the Greensboro just had to show us ths one little tiny shower. He zoomed in so much he commented on a road name.
 
Yes, I'll be one of those people.

I do favor those stations who do severe weather alerts and reports. Over the top? Yes, I'll agree but consider this...

Not everyone is watching the TV at the same time so some people might not get the alert at the same time (hence meteorologists repeating the same report over and over). Not everyone has the luxury of the internet or smartphones but depend on TV to give us the weather alert (doing it the old fashion way). And keep in mind that meteorologists cannot stress enough to say that there is a potential of a tornado developing in someone's area. Probably not yours, but someone's area, meaning that someone lives in that area and their lives are in danger. Just because a tornado is forming 20 miles from you doesn't mean that all you care about is if Jack and Sally will end up together in your favorite show. Heck, the person under a tornado warning may want to know if Jack and Sally will end up, but it's not worth taking the risk of your own life to know if a possible tornado is developing over their house and their life is at stake.

It sickens me when I see/hear people say "why you interrupt my shows with bad weather? Put my shows back on!" First off, you are the reason why society doesn't care about anything but themselves and their stupid shows. The show can freaking wait! You can watch it later! Life does not revolve around you and your favorite things. People are at risk of danger in severe weather and you care about Jack and Sally ending up together on a fictional TV show? Second, I never heard of one meteorologist say "we have this new radar program? Check out what it can do." They might mention the feature but they still keep in mind that their reports could save someone's life. Third, know your area and keep up with the weather. If you know you're in tornado alley or in an area that can get up to 10" of snow per year, then be alert about it instead of ignoring it and focus on your dumb shows. Lastly, people have a right to know what's going on in the area. Tornadoes could damage a neighborhood, floods and snow could close highways, and lightning could strike anytime. You are in an area of the TV station's coverage. They DON'T have to report to your house but will report to the area around your city because someone nearby you wants to know!

You don't have to follow the weather reports, but someone next door wants to. Think about how many people were saved by the meteorologists' announcement. Imagine if they didn't report anything. The world does NOT revolve around you and your favorite TV show, because it can wait!
 
I agree with the above post entirely. The first objective is to save life and property and be a source for those in the line of bad weather even if that is not in 90% of the coverage area. The question is what value do you place on your life? Is it worth them breaking programming to save you, your spouse, kids?

I am not for taking breaks, even commercial breaks, for nothing. As I mentioned a band of thunderstorms 200 miles away that, if they stay together, might hit us in 8 hours does not warrant a break every 30 minutes. Hype that gets people to shut down businesses, schools and such with Tropical Storm Bill in Houston where winds might have peaked at 30 mph and the highest rainfall anywhere was under 3 inches in 24 hours does not warrant non-stop coverage and telling people to stock up on food water and gas for the car.

I've seen exceptional coverage in many places including the same stations I complain about. I have seen coverage that saved lives. I have been a part of that. I have been called one who over-reacted when tornadoes were popping down but they don't matter. The person that says they sought shelter that likely saved them from serious injury because of you saying what you did on the air really is what counts.
 
Atlanta: If WXIA bumps, say, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! for weather coverage that warrants, sister station WATL will run the two shows. WGCL and WPCH is a de facto duopoly (Time-Warner owns WPCH but Meredith--WGCL's parent company--controls it via an LMA) but if WGCL bumps programs for weather coverage, WPCH will not air them in their stead.
 
I think most stations have overblown weather reports because it supposedly attracts viewers. I was at a hotel in Philly back on June 1, and at 10pm I was tuned into ABC ready to watch the premiere of The Whispers. I ended up missing the first 2 minutes of the show because WPVI decided to air a breaking weather report that the heavy rain would continue for a few more hours. There was no flooding or any type of imminent danger, but they felt the need to tell everyone that there was heavy rain outside.

Back in the mid 90's I was an intern at an NBC affiliate. The news producers used to call the weather desk and ask the meteorologist if there was any severe weather to report. If they said No, the producers would push them for a way to make the weather sound worse than it really was, obviously in a desperate attempt to attract viewers on a slow news day.
 
E-Cam said:
Yes, I'll be one of those people.

I do favor those stations who do severe weather alerts and reports. Over the top? Yes, I'll agree but consider this...

Not everyone is watching the TV at the same time so some people might not get the alert at the same time (hence meteorologists repeating the same report over and over). Not everyone has the luxury of the internet or smartphones but depend on TV to give us the weather alert (doing it the old fashion way). And keep in mind that meteorologists cannot stress enough to say that there is a potential of a tornado developing in someone's area. Probably not yours, but someone's area, meaning that someone lives in that area and their lives are in danger. Just because a tornado is forming 20 miles from you doesn't mean that all you care about is if Jack and Sally will end up together in your favorite show. Heck, the person under a tornado warning may want to know if Jack and Sally will end up, but it's not worth taking the risk of your own life to know if a possible tornado is developing over their house and their life is at stake.

It sickens me when I see/hear people say "why you interrupt my shows with bad weather? Put my shows back on!" First off, you are the reason why society doesn't care about anything but themselves and their stupid shows. The show can freaking wait! You can watch it later! Life does not revolve around you and your favorite things. People are at risk of danger in severe weather and you care about Jack and Sally ending up together on a fictional TV show? Second, I never heard of one meteorologist say "we have this new radar program? Check out what it can do." They might mention the feature but they still keep in mind that their reports could save someone's life. Third, know your area and keep up with the weather. If you know you're in tornado alley or in an area that can get up to 10" of snow per year, then be alert about it instead of ignoring it and focus on your dumb shows. Lastly, people have a right to know what's going on in the area. Tornadoes could damage a neighborhood, floods and snow could close highways, and lightning could strike anytime. You are in an area of the TV station's coverage. They DON'T have to report to your house but will report to the area around your city because someone nearby you wants to know!

You don't have to follow the weather reports, but someone next door wants to. Think about how many people were saved by the meteorologists' announcement. Imagine if they didn't report anything. The world does NOT revolve around you and your favorite TV show, because it can wait!
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Something that tends to be overlooked is that the TV stations, for the most part, have to cover pretty large geographical areas. Potential bad weather may not occur in your immediate area, but it could if it's 60-70 miles away, and if it's within that TV station's service area, then should have the right to cover the story and keep people informed.
 
Exceptional news coverage? That goes to ALL the OKC stations, the KSN network in Kansas, and especially ABC 33/40 in Birmingham. I have watched James Spann reporting the 4/27/11 disaster in Tuscaloosa and he did a spectacular job. It was sad losing 300 people to the disaster, but it could have been 3,000 without James Spann's coverage on ABC 33/40 and the other affiliates as well. OKC always does a wonderful job with severe weather - I remember watching KOCO's coverage during the Moore disaster two years ago. They deserved awards for that! Yes, KFOR went a little over the top, but KOCO was not in any panic at all, I enjoyed their coverage.

And seriously, it would take a Darwin award for someone to die in 1/4 inch of snow and 31 degree weather.
Seattle - "OMG OMG OMG SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED STAY OFF THE ROADS IT'S SNOWING LIKE CRAZY, LOOK AT THE REPORTER'S RULER OUTSIDE...WE HAVE 1/2 INCH!!!"
North Dakota - "Forecast calling for some snow showers tomorrow night, Tuesday maybe an inch but it shouldn't be a problem..."

And of course, "if it bleeds, it leads..."

-crainbebo
 
I watched the OKC coverage of the Moore tornado and felt the stations I watched do a great job. When you consider some were worried about their loved ones as well, they did a great job. A couple of weeks later a huge tornado formed near OKC and people slammed the stations for saying people needed to be underground to survive the tornado. It seems not that many have basements and storm shelters, sending folks fleeing in vehicles trying to get to a safer spot. Those upset with that suggested a bathtub was fine. It seems they ignore those sucked out of bathtubs and sent flying, sometimes dying from flying debris landing on you. As for me, I prefer underground to hedge my odds at survival. Then again, I'd find a way to get either an above or below ground shelter that would hold up before the event took place, but that's me and my years of living in tornado alley.
 
It has been a hand-ful of years since Moore OK had a really, really bad storm, and relatives of our survived (barely) in their bath tubs. (Some people used that technique and DIDN'T survive.)

Coming from the Ozarks which isn't all that far away from OKC and Moore, it never crossed my mind that people out there didn't have storm-cellars and basements. Apparently it is almost unheard of in Moore. So and entire industry has deveoped to make storm-hardened little cubicles... they work best if buried but I guess some folks bolt them to the garage floor.

If you wanted to get into the voice-over business, buy a tornado shelter and wire it for sound. :cool: But do anchor it well!
 
Ccook55 said:
Atlanta: If WXIA bumps, say, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! for weather coverage that warrants, sister station WATL will run the two shows. WGCL and WPCH is a de facto duopoly (Time-Warner owns WPCH but Meredith--WGCL's parent company--controls it via an LMA) but if WGCL bumps programs for weather coverage, WPCH will not air them in their stead.
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Let's not forget ol' WSB! Winter Storm Pax last year preempted all of their programming for 39 hours straight!!!!

Meanwhile, with the absolute exception of the Olympics, the rest of WXIA's regular programming were on WATL; WAGA's Pax coverage ran from 10:00 pm till 7:00 pm the next day.
 
There was something of a stink a month or so ago when WGN-TV cut into the late innings of a Dodgers-Cubs game to cover severe weather, including a tornado, striking the western portions of their viewing area. Of course, the other big Chicago stations did the same thing. Lots of Cubs fans were quite irritated that the game first was cut off entirely, then relegated to a split screen with no sound.
Compounding the problem was that the feed WGN syndicates to affiliates throughout Cubs territory (this because they took the games off the national WGN America signal) was the actual feed of Channel 9 that all Chicagoland and Canada viewers see, so all of those markets (i.e. Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, South Bend etc.) also were unable to watch the game. Ever since, that feed WGN sends to affiliates is raw from the park without commercials and station promos.
Those of us who watch the Cubs (and White Sox) via Extra Innings on DirecTV also get the raw feed from the park, not the actual Channel 9 feed we had received all season.
 
I've had the worst time getting my new TiVo to tape both episodes of "Jeopardy". It SAYS "All" but so far hasn't taped all. I don't know why they make the new one so complicated to use. The idea is that if WCNC does continuous weather coverage during the show, I have WFMY as a backup. So far, this hasn't been a problem, especially since they're reruns now, but I have to make sure it works.

WBTV is not known for this. They promised if they do it, then the weather is BAD. It might be a good idea to have WFMY episodes tape too, though.

WSOC-TV is bad to do this but if I am watching live I can always go with WXLV. One of my older TiVos is being very temperamental about working with an antenna. If it was because the antenna wasn't picking up anything, I may have fixed that. But I'm not going through setup again until all the old shows are off of there. WJZY doesn't really have much of a news operation but I have WGHP as an option.

If WCNC is doing it during network broadcasts, I'm just out of luck.
 
We've been lucky around here. No bad weather that requires the stations to broadcast continuously.

Another reason for my needing "Jeopardy" to record: big news stories that cause the network newscast to run long.

I went ahead and set the new TiVo to manually record WFMY. That works.
 
crainbebo said:
The Yakima stations don't preempt programming for weather, as far as I have seen (been here only 1 1/2 years). They do have crawls with school closures/delays. KAPP and KNDO have Tri-Cities/Eastern OR as well as Yakima; KIMA only has Yakima area closures/delays.

Everything changes when you go to Seattle. 1/4 inch of snow? Forget watching ALL the daytime shows. The big 4 affiliates will preempt programming to tell people to "STAY OFF THE ROADS!! SCHOOL IS CLOSED!! WE HAVE 1/4 INCH OF SNOW!! OMG!!" Sometimes (like KING-5) they have THREE school closure tickers. Talk about hype! And when there's 1/4 inch of snow, almost every school district in western Washington closes, forcing kids to make it up in the summer (or even taking off a day of Spring Break or a holiday). I was still in the Seattle area when a snowstorm hit in January 2012...KIRO 7 was on for (get ready for this) 15 HOURS straight. With 5 inches of snow.
Thank god I don't live there anymore. They can have the damn hype.

Portland is just as bad, all the schools close with a tiny burst of snow and in most cases, ODOT will close I-84 in the Gorge, even when there's a couple inches of snow.
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When it comes to winter weather, since we're used to it in Ohio, the local stations in Cleveland tend to avoid breaking into programming and instead opt to show the on-screen weather alerts during syndicated or network programming. Same with the Toledo stations when I lived in Bowling Green.

But when it comes to severe thunderstorms that don't involve snow, that's when the local stations will break into programming with the weather alerts depending on the severity of the storms. Just about anytime there's a tornado warning, they'll interrupt programming.

I remember in May of last year, during the season finale of Dancing with the Stars, WEWS did their weather coverage during a period of severe storms, but also aired DWTS in a small screen at the bottom right of the screen.
 
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