This summer has featured a number of days with severe thunderstorms, when the NWS has issued severe thunderstorm warnings and other advisories. For example, last night featured Severe Thunderstorm Warnings for portions of Chester, Delaware and New Castle Counties. Yet, almost every Philly station snoozed through the entire event!
Aside from a quick crawl (block white letters - very old fashioned) on Fox 29 - very little notice was given to the severe weather during prime time. Sure, it was covered on the 11:00 news - but that was after the action was over. I have noticed this handling of severe weather since moving here and it really surprises me. Aside from WFMZ, not ONE other station has a continuous on-screen warning about potentially dangerous weather! Ever. It's ironic that the station with the lowest budget does the best job in this regard.
In almost every other market, most network stations superimpose a little map notifying the viewer of the advisories. Some stations even alternate that map with a small view of doppler radar. And, no, this doesn't just happen in tornado alley. You see it done in New England, in the west, pretty much everywhere. It has become the standard. In fact, many stations go so far as to do it for severe t-storm watches, flash flood watches, winter weather advisories and pretty much anything else that the NWS comes out with.
Why are Philadelphia area stations so poor about this? Not one station can post a severe T-storm map? Do they all think that it's still 1975 (as ch. 6 does)? It is unbelievable to me. I'd be really interested to learn why this is. Seems to me that they're being lazy.
We are forecast to have a significant outbreak of severe weather this evening. From what I can tell, the public needs to have weather radios at the ready because the local stations seem to be very deficient when it comes to disseminating weather warnings (WFMZ-69 excepted). Ironically, these are the same stations that absolutely freak out if an inch of snow is on the way! Very strange indeed.
Aside from a quick crawl (block white letters - very old fashioned) on Fox 29 - very little notice was given to the severe weather during prime time. Sure, it was covered on the 11:00 news - but that was after the action was over. I have noticed this handling of severe weather since moving here and it really surprises me. Aside from WFMZ, not ONE other station has a continuous on-screen warning about potentially dangerous weather! Ever. It's ironic that the station with the lowest budget does the best job in this regard.
In almost every other market, most network stations superimpose a little map notifying the viewer of the advisories. Some stations even alternate that map with a small view of doppler radar. And, no, this doesn't just happen in tornado alley. You see it done in New England, in the west, pretty much everywhere. It has become the standard. In fact, many stations go so far as to do it for severe t-storm watches, flash flood watches, winter weather advisories and pretty much anything else that the NWS comes out with.
Why are Philadelphia area stations so poor about this? Not one station can post a severe T-storm map? Do they all think that it's still 1975 (as ch. 6 does)? It is unbelievable to me. I'd be really interested to learn why this is. Seems to me that they're being lazy.
We are forecast to have a significant outbreak of severe weather this evening. From what I can tell, the public needs to have weather radios at the ready because the local stations seem to be very deficient when it comes to disseminating weather warnings (WFMZ-69 excepted). Ironically, these are the same stations that absolutely freak out if an inch of snow is on the way! Very strange indeed.