Severe Weather Coverage in Kentuckiana

[radiorob2.0]

Back in the old days, weather technology on TV wasn't much. In fact, the person who gave the forecast probably wasn't a meteorologist though WAVE and WHAS-TV were the exception. If a TV station had a radar it was war surplus that could display storm images. Of course today, stations have Doppler (insert channel number)-thousand able to dissect the storm and the coverage is more to show off the toys and build a weather image.

If you remember WHAS radio rarely went wall to wall on weather. However between each song you knew what was happening. Part of the promotion of the Constant Alert Tone (do they even still use that?) was that you knew in five seconds if a tornado warning was issued for the Louisville metro area.

With today’s advanced technology a radio station would be foolish to opt for an untrained air personality over a TV Meteorologist. When a tornado is approaching, time is of the essence and one does not have time to allow a “DJ” to attempt to interpret and pass along second hand information. I’ll take the TV audio or live radio chatter any day. Now, with that said, I do see the importance of live radio coverage AFTER the severe weather has passed.

The bottom line is getting the information on the air. Even the simplest part timer can convey the basic information (the event, areas involved and time frame). I'll take that over what we find more often today, a radio station on auto-pilot.

 

[radioville]

Back in the old days, weather technology on TV wasn't much. In fact, the person who gave the forecast probably wasn't a meteorologist though WAVE and WHAS-TV were the exception. If a TV station had a radar it was war surplus that could display storm images. Of course today, stations have Doppler (insert channel number)-thousand able to dissect the storm and the coverage is more to show off the toys and build a weather image.

If you remember WHAS radio rarely went wall to wall on weather. However between each song you knew what was happening. Part of the promotion of the Constant Alert Tone (do they even still use that?) was that you knew in five seconds if a tornado warning was issued for the Louisville metro area.

With today’s advanced technology a radio station would be foolish to opt for an untrained air personality over a TV Meteorologist. When a tornado is approaching, time is of the essence and one does not have time to allow a “DJ” to attempt to interpret and pass along second hand information. I’ll take the TV audio or live radio chatter any day. Now, with that said, I do see the importance of live radio coverage AFTER the severe weather has passed.

The bottom line is getting the information on the air. Even the simplest part timer can convey the basic information (the event, areas involved and time frame). I'll take that over what we find more often today, a radio station on auto-pilot.

Yes WHAS still uses the constant alert tone.

 

[Bengalsfan]

Yes WHAS still uses the constant alert tone.

they do?

 

[radioville]

Yes WHAS still uses the constant alert tone.

they do?

You must not listen to Terry Meiners show!

 

[radiorob2.0]

radioville
Yes WHAS still uses the constant alert tone.

Thanks for the update, I don't really listen to them anymore. I did try to listen to their coverage that night but the lightning and skywave cancellation where I live made it impossible.

 

[Bengalsfan]

Yes WHAS still uses the constant alert tone.

they do?

You must not listen to Terry Meiners show!

Not willingly. I have this thing about radio shows that they must be entertaining and NOT feed the ego of the host. Since Gary Burbank left WLW, I don't listen to radio in the afternoons. If Meiners was as funny as he thought he was, he might have a decent show.

 

[KyDXIn]

So, WAVE's coverage was "great," but the fact that WHAS Radio carried that "great" coverage makes them "worthless"?

I'm having some trouble following that logic.

I was huddled up in my basement listening to Kevin Harned on a portable radio, and was glad he was there.

Check out my post this morning regarding the Carroll County tornado warning. It really makes me mad that I, a listener, took time to notify them of the warning, and they ignored passing along that information until 20 minutes later!

 

[KyDXIn]

So, WAVE's coverage was "great," but the fact that WHAS Radio carried that "great" coverage makes them "worthless"?

I'm having some trouble following that logic.

I was huddled up in my basement listening to Kevin Harned on a portable radio, and was glad he was there.

From what I read from KyDxIn, he said he watched & listened online to WAVE. I failed to notice that he quoted scanman who noted that WHAS did indeed carry this. I was mistaken. While I've been disappointed in WHAS many times in recent years, I commend them for sending someone into the station to pot up WAVE 3.

WHAS radio does carry the WAVE-3 audio SOMETIMES, but the WAVE3.com website also carries their TV coverage during times of severe weather.

 

[KyDXIn]

I worked for WMPI in Scottsburg on April 3, 1974 when the tornadoes swept through this area, devastating Brandenburg and causing a lot of damage throughout Kentuckiana.

That's what Bob was lamenting. We've lost something. But you're right, at least someone potted up WAVE. That's better than Coast to Coast. But it's not what it could have been.

Excellent reply! If you go back and listen to the WHAS radio coverage (and it is available on LKYradio.com) it is amazing what was done that day given the technology. Radar was so crude then. The staff had contacts in the community and worked the phones to gather the news and pass along the information. Byron Crawford, Bob Johnson, Glenn Bastin, Chuck Paddick are some of the names I remember today along with the amazing Dick Gilbert, who gave such an incredible account of the tornado as it cut a devastating path through the city of Louisville.

 

[KyDXIn]

That's what Bob was lamenting. We've lost something. But you're right, at least someone potted up WAVE. That's better than Coast to Coast. But it's not what it could have been.

Remember, there's nobody in WHAS' building after 9pm and on weekends. We can't very well afford to pay someone to come in an manually bring up the audio feed, can we?

It isn't automatic, cause radio dropped the ball this morning! I believe I have heard Scott Fitzgerald, one of the producers, mention there IS a guy who mans the board at night. He has asked the night worker to call him if the weather turns severe.

 

[KyDXIn]

Back in the old days, weather technology on TV wasn't much. In fact, the person who gave the forecast probably wasn't a meteorologist though WAVE and WHAS-TV were the exception. reas involved and time frame). I'll take that over what we find more often today, a radio station on auto-pilot.

I believe Tom Wills came to WAVE in 1969, and Chuck Taylor came to WHAS in 1976, after being the meteorologist for the movie "Jaws"!

 

[Bengalsfan]

It isn't automatic, cause radio dropped the ball this morning! I believe I have heard Scott Fitzgerald, one of the producers, mention there IS a guy who mans the board at night. He has asked the night worker to call him if the weather turns severe.

In a way this proves my point that TV audio on radio isn't cutting it. Bet you anything that the board op was asleep or busy doing other things. TV audio is fine, when there's someone paying attention I guess. But it still does not replace having a staff on hand to take over when things start going south. I have heard promos on WHAS before about how they are the "weather station" and "when news breaks out, we'll break in"....sure, they'll do that, just as long as someone is there running the board paying attention. I have a feeling that their board op takes care of the rest of the stations too, and if he's off getting The Fox back on the air, he's gonna miss stuff going on. And what good is calling Fitzgerald gonna do when the board op misses it?

Sad, just so sad how a once great public servant is relegated to covering events only when they happen during business hours.

 

[KyDXIn]

So, WAVE's coverage was "great," but the fact that WHAS Radio carried that "great" coverage makes them "worthless"?

From what I read from KyDxIn, he said he watched & listened online to WAVE. I failed to notice that he quoted scanman who noted that WHAS did indeed carry this. I was mistaken. While I've been disappointed in WHAS many times in recent years, I commend them for sending someone into the station to pot up WAVE 3.

Radio executives please note, I watched the WAVE TV coverage on the television, and from their WAVE3.com website, which has been streaming their coverage during severe weather. The days of depending on WHAS have come, and GONE!

 

[oxford777]

[/quote]Radio executives please note, I watched the WAVE TV coverage on the television, and from their WAVE3.com website, which has been streaming their coverage during severe weather. The days of depending on WHAS have come, and GONE!
[/quote]

Someday. When internet access in cars is universal. We're not there yet. Can't get there soon enough for me, but we're still a few years away.

 

[WildcatGuy]

Someday. When internet access in cars is universal. We're not there yet. Can't get there soon enough for me, but we're still a few years away.

Once 4G service becomes ubiquitous, I believe you'll see all kinds of new services popping up in your new car's dashboard. Audio entertainment will only be one of them.

 

[radiorob2.0]

So, WAVE's coverage was "great," but the fact that WHAS Radio carried that "great" coverage makes them "worthless"?

From what I read from KyDxIn, he said he watched & listened online to WAVE. I failed to notice that he quoted scanman who noted that WHAS did indeed carry this. I was mistaken. While I've been disappointed in WHAS many times in recent years, I commend them for sending someone into the station to pot up WAVE 3.

Radio executives please note, I watched the WAVE TV coverage on the television, and from their WAVE3.com website, which has been streaming their coverage during severe weather. The days of depending on WHAS have come, and GONE!

WHAS radio today is how I look at Radio Shack today.

Radio Shack used to be an awesome store for us geeks who liked to tinker. They sold cool stuff and those who worked at Radio Shack were just as geeky. Today, Radio Shack is all but useless. Their geek product selection is down to a few shelves and those behind the counter know little about the geek stuff but more interested in selling you a cell phone or a satellite radio.

WHAS radio used to go out of their way conveying weather information. There was noting in the rules that said they have to but they did. Even when the state relay plan moved to FM, WHAS still acted like they were part of the plan conveying weather warnings for counties up to 90 miles away. Of course it helped to have Channel 11 meteorologist in the building but still there was a commitment. However, those days are over as WHAS provides the minimum requirements.

Television stations like WAVE have taken over as far as conveying weather coverage. Ironically, you have to rely on radio to hear WAVE's coverage during a power outage assuming someone takes the initiative to make sure the audio is on the radio. This has been the case since June 2009 when all of those NTSC battery power televisions became paperweights and the new ATSC battery televisions available today are overpriced junk, but I digress.