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Weather Channel: Less Weather

The Weather Channel has some of the same problems that have burdened "local, home-town" radio.

The immediacy of whatever you want WHEN YOU want it... via the web and your smart phone.

There was a time when farmers and people who pour concrete and other activities had to be at their radio when it was weather time... and then came the Weather Channel and we could get that info... when it was local weather time.

Now we get stock market reports, the children's school lunch menu, weather info.... WHEN WE WANT it. Who needs folksy old local radio or folksy (and good looking girl-casters) Weather Channel. It's all in our shirt pocket or our purse... ready to perform on command like the genie in the magic lamp.
 
That's just it. I can get forecasts easy enough. I can see what the last 3 hours on radar looked like. I just cannot find analysis. I don't trust the forecasts. They can change dramatically in 4 to 5 hours and that is more typical than not. That's not to say The Weather Channel is not ever wrong, but they are more accurate than the others. Now during almost all hours I can get only the forecast from The Weather Channel or many other sources. Like their severe weather coverage, their analysis was where they really shined. Instead, they took what anybody can get anywhere (the local forecast) and stuck with that.

When I'd go to North Dakota I could see what was expected for up to 7 days along the way in one convenient graphic on the Weather Channel with only a few minutes watching and real world use proved their forecasting skills to be more accurate than other sources. Now, I have to pull cities along the way and know those forecasts will likely change much more than what the Weather Channel predicted. Likewise, I could see their graphic that showed where the front would be at 10 tonight that promised frozen precipitation so I could plan my multi-hour drive to be complete before the freezing rain starts. Does anybody know where I can go to get that info now? I'd love to know.

On a related note, Weather Underground used to be pretty good but not so much now. Their "Clear with a chance of thunderstorms" sort of says it all. They tried to explain that to me saying most of the day it would be clear but it might cloud up and rain. I responded we call that Mostly Clear today with a slight chance of thunderstorms. It is hard for it to rain under clear skies.
 
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