Non-Winter Weather Thread: 2016

[hawing]

If there's already a non-winter weather thread out there for 2016, my cursory search didn't pull it up.

 

My observation today is less about the weather itself and more about how/whether radio stations convey severe weather anymore. The hawing household has been in/near severe thunderstorms several times in the last month, but there hasn't always been commercial radio communication about it.

 

Example 1: The Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, we were heading for bensheeps' house for his son's graduation party. It was sunny in Madison but dark to the southwest, which is where we were headed. By the time we decided to turn around (at about Barneveld, which if you remember 1984, you'll realize why we had second thoughts then), there was a severe thunderstorm warning for Lafayette and Iowa counties - but no mention of it on WIBA AM. I tuned in to that station on purpose both for the Brewers broadcast and because they bill themselves as the news/weather station. We were home by the time the storms got to Dane County, and I gave up on radio coverage, so I didn't follow to see if they began to care only at the Dane Co. line.

 

Example 2: Two Sundays ago, we were driving from Kenosha back to Madison via Hwy 12. Between Fort Atkinson and Cambridge, a severe-warned storm loomed to the north of us, with a strong (not severe) storm in front of us. Still no weather information on whatever station we consulted - I think this time it was 94.9 from Madison. The severe thunderstorm warning was for portions of Dane and Jefferson counties.

 

Do radio stations just not make severe weather announcements anymore? Is that kind of local coverage too expensive for outfits like Clear Channel? Are commercial radio stations not staffed for weekend coverage? Is it only important if it's a tornado watch or warning? (Listening to today's Brewers game, I noticed that TMJ is occasionally mentioning the current tornado watch to the northeast of Madison.)

 

Might they all assume we're getting weather information from the internet or TV? TV doesn't work in a car, and even internet doesn't always in the parts of the state we occasionally visit.

 

I'm just curious, as well as a little peeved, about it.

[nate82]

Supposed to be 119 this weekend in Phoenix. Nope still don't miss the Wisconsin winters.

[AZBrewCrew]

Supposed to be 119 this weekend in Phoenix. Nope still don't miss the Wisconsin winters.

 

I moved to Minnesota in December for work. It's pretty funny hearing people up here complain about how hot it is when it gets above 85 degrees. I guess after 15 years in Phoenix,if it's below 100 it really doesn't phase me much.

 

 

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[NeedMoreFans]

I complain when it's 85+ because when the temperatures are that high, that generally means the humidity is high as well, and I hate humidity. I spend last week in Utah and it was in the mid-upper 90s everyday, but the dew point was in the 40s. Yes, it was hot, but I was able to cool down quickly. I got home and it was 91 with a dew point of 70, and it was miserable.

 

Hawing, I have had similar experiences with radio stations. They tend not to report anything about severe thunderstorm warnings. On evenings and weekends, I often wonder if radio stations have a person actually working who can interrupt in case of inclement weather. Most stations carry syndicated shows after 7, so I wouldn't be shocked if there wasn't anyone at the station to break in when needed. There has been only one station I have listened to that breaks in during weather, and that was WTMJ and only during a tornado warning where they interrupted a Brewer game until the warning expired.

[Baldkin]

As it's related to weather, I've experienced lake effect snow in Milwaukee quite a few times in my 10 years here, but today was the first time I experienced lake effect fog-mist-rain.... of course, I biked to work and (as a result) biked directly into it.

[adamb100]

The Milwaukee area hasn't really had severe weather yet this spring/summer. I think there was a tornado watch in the northern counties a week ago but otherwise no big storms.

[MrTPlush]

Yah I will take the cold over the heat any day. I can always add layers, but there is only so much I can take off before the neighbors start calling the cops.

[NeedMoreFans]

Southern and SE Wisconsin are under a Moderate threat for severe weather tomorrow afternoon. Could be interesting.