To 740: Ike is coming

[davideduardo]

WSB does not need more than one staff meteorologist as they have a complete staff 1 floor up at the TV station and can simulcast in event of weather disasters as they have with during disasters such as the Tornado Emergencies this past Spring.

Thank you for making my point. Like the WTOP example, a large number of stations depend on a local TV station for severe weather coverage, among other things.

Furthermore, most local stations in larger markets have more complex equipment than the NWS and what the National Services can pull up from the NWS and NHC.

Actually, very very few local stations in larger markets "have more complex equipment..."

Maybe a few news / talk or all news stations, but saying "most" is a gross exaggeration.

And stations that have things like doppler weather are only able to look at 'canes when they are within radar range. The most important thing about hurricanes is the preparedness many days out, not what happens once it hits. This is different from the forecast to help mom know how to dress the kiddies.

 

[davideduardo]

Fox Extreme Weather and CNN have made the error as well on this one (one of them actually missed landfall time at 5pm on Friday by 7 hours).

There are several landfall times. First is outer reaches of the storm, which in this case were about 15 to 17 hours ahead of the eye center. Second is the first band of hurricane strength winds, where consistent winds are 74 MPH or above. Third is the arrival of the eyewall, where the strongest winds are generally felt in a well defined hurricane. And then you have the eye itself, where you can check on the neighbors and even have a cold one.

Thus, there are clearly times when you need people to actually look at the local facts - instead of just using standardized facts.

The big picture can easily be seen from the center of the eye or Siberia. Once you pass the hurrican strength wind point, there is usually no way for emergency services or any kind of rescue to take place, so there is really nothing you can do until it is over.... most broadcasting during, as opposed to before a strike, is just chatter... the stuff Geraldo was doing to / with his palm tree last night.

Of course, you need the stations on the air for any of it to matter.

Everyone will be on the air before the first winds, and that is really the important time. Then, the second most important time is after the passage, where radio can mostly reassure people, keep them posted on electrical grid repairs, phone and cell status, safety of water, closed roadways, etc.

Staying on the air till it's over is almost luck. I have seen two identical towers on a mountain, spaced a few dozen yards apart, end up with one up and one down. Unfortunately, the best places for an AM tend to be the most vulnerable in hurricanes (and earthquakes, too)

 

[radioguyntx]

I was listening to 1330 yesterday, I am not sure what station this was. But they were covering the storm, listened until it faded out around 6:30pm. Any other stations that are listenable in the Waco area, still covering this? If not, any Houston stations I could be able to pick up, if so any antenna bearings?

 

[Doctor_Technical]

If I'm in an area clear of power lines or other noise sources, I can copy 740 KTRH - barely - here in Baton Rouge. Radio-Locator.com says Waco is roughly in the same signal level contour. I also used to listen to 700 KSEV when I lived in Austin, unfortunately you're pretty close to the null (backside) of their pattern. Both might be worth a try, as would 560 KLVI out of Beaumont if you can null out 570 KLIF.

There's always streaming, but that's cheating

 

[Kabrich]

WSB does not need more than one staff meteorologist as they have a complete staff 1 floor up at the TV station and can simulcast in event of weather disasters as they have with during disasters such as the Tornado Emergencies this past Spring.

Thank you for making my point. Like the WTOP example, a large number of stations depend on a local TV station for severe weather coverage, among other things.

Furthermore, most local stations in larger markets have more complex equipment than the NWS and what the National Services can pull up from the NWS and NHC.

Actually, very very few local stations in larger markets "have more complex equipment..."

Maybe a few news / talk or all news stations, but saying "most" is a gross exaggeration.

And stations that have things like doppler weather are only able to look at 'canes when they are within radar range. The most important thing about hurricanes is the preparedness many days out, not what happens once it hits. This is different from the forecast to help mom know how to dress the kiddies.

Fox Extreme Weather and CNN have made the error as well on this one (one of them actually missed landfall time at 5pm on Friday by 7 hours).

There are several landfall times. First is outer reaches of the storm, which in this case were about 15 to 17 hours ahead of the eye center. Second is the first band of hurricane strength winds, where consistent winds are 74 MPH or above. Third is the arrival of the eyewall, where the strongest winds are generally felt in a well defined hurricane. And then you have the eye itself, where you can check on the neighbors and even have a cold one.

Thus, there are clearly times when you need people to actually look at the local facts - instead of just using standardized facts.

The big picture can easily be seen from the center of the eye or Siberia. Once you pass the hurrican strength wind point, there is usually no way for emergency services or any kind of rescue to take place, so there is really nothing you can do until it is over.... most broadcasting during, as opposed to before a strike, is just chatter... the stuff Geraldo was doing to / with his palm tree last night.

Of course, you need the stations on the air for any of it to matter.

Everyone will be on the air before the first winds, and that is really the important time. Then, the second most important time is after the passage, where radio can mostly reassure people, keep them posted on electrical grid repairs, phone and cell status, safety of water, closed roadways, etc.

Staying on the air till it's over is almost luck. I have seen two identical towers on a mountain, spaced a few dozen yards apart, end up with one up and one down. Unfortunately, the best places for an AM tend to be the most vulnerable in hurricanes (and earthquakes, too)

Keep trying you are bound to get something right eventually.

1) WSB and WSB-TV have always shared resources. They are co-owned and in the same building. Much different than a TV station you throw on the air when a hurricane hits. Part of WSB-AM's budget every year goes towards paying for those expenses. That's a far cry from Cumulus putting on KHOU during a Hurricane.

2) All the large TV stations have much more sophiscated computer packages that allow detailed radar images down to street level now. The NWS and NHC data does not provide anything close to this resolution. This is demonstrated by KHOU (and other) local Houston TV stations able to track IKE forward progression Friday afternoon at 22mph - 24mph while the NHC was reporting a 12mph track. This caused CNN and Fox News, among others, to call for landfall MUCH LATER than reality. Regardless of your spin, Fox News and CNN missed time of landfall (and by the way - there is only 1 time of landfall defined by the NHC) by many hours. I suggest you look up what landfall means in official terms instead of defining your own.

3) If you want to debate the fact that the back side of this storm was worse than the front, I suggest you look at the scientific evidence and not just your opinion.

So again, information from Seberia is NO WHERE as exact as it is from the actual location with local equipment, despite what you maintain.

 

[Horns]

Many TV stations might say they have their own radar, but they really use the NWS radar. For example, KHOU has Vipir but when they zoom in, you can see the image is coming from the NWS HGX radar near League City. On the other hand, KTRK does have their own million watt radar. I believe KPRC uses the NWS radar too, but KRIV also has their own radar. It is about the same in many markets, in my home market, two stations have good radars and two fake it by showing Level2 data from NWS radars which isn't live and isn't their own radar. Just a PR thing.

 

[davideduardo]

Keep trying you are bound to get something right eventually.

Since all your arguments are nitpicky and mostly based on (mis)interpretation of words or terms, there is no way anyone you disagree with could possibly ever be right.

1) WSB and WSB-TV have always shared resources.

In a radio forum, where we were talking about radio coverage of a hurricane and hurricanes in general, you said that "most" larger market stations had the staff and equipment to cover weather events (paraphrase mine). The assumption was you were talking about radio, but now, after you clarify, it appears you were talking about TV.

Most radio stations do not have either the staff or the equipment to cover weather on their own. Thus the association with TV stations by some AMs or the extensive use of Accuweather or Weather Cannel data services.

Very few radio stations in the US have the ability to internally provide emergency weather reporting.

This caused CNN and Fox News, among others, to call for landfall MUCH LATER than reality. Regardless of your spin, Fox News and CNN missed time of landfall (and by the way - there is only 1 time of landfall defined by the NHC) by many hours. I suggest you look up what landfall means in official terms instead of defining your own.

There are many landfalls that must be qualified by answering the question of "landfall of what?" that are critical to the listener in the market. I'm fairly positive, after 30 years living and working in the most hurricane prone place in the USA that I have been through more strong hurricanes than anyone on this board. Whatever the "official" landfall definition may be, the data necessary to the general public is very different than what technical terminology may indicate.

Having been in stations during huge storms (Hugo broke a winde indicator 20 miles from us after registering a gust of 210 knots) you realize that "the storm" is the issue with weather reporting entities, while "the people" is what radio stations are interested in.

3) If you want to debate the fact that the back side of this storm was worse than the front, I suggest you look at the scientific evidence and not just your opinion.

I did not say anything about the sides of the storm. Each storm is different, but for most storms, the front side is the one that pushes water inwards towards land, creating surge. In areas where there is no low lying land, this may not be an issue.

So again, information from Seberia is NO WHERE as exact as it is from the actual location with local equipment, despite what you maintain.

In many cases, the local information is nill due to the failure of all local communincations including phones, cellphones and even microwave paths. It's frequently easier to get pieces of data and assemble them at some distance from a storm because the infrastructure is intact.