It's been brutal over much of the country the last few days. Reminds me of the "good ol' days" of winter in northern Minnesota when I grew up, when -40 was pretty much expected each winter, and a groundhog predicting only 6 more weeks of winter was worth either celebration or derision, depending on your attitude. It always lasted a month longer.
It's a good reminder that global warming is not a straight line or the same everywhere, though it is here and worse than expected and sooner. But that's another story for another day. (For a heads up, research Thwaites Glacier progress.) No doubting however the added energy we've gotten into our weather systems, along with unusual patterns.
It's the variety of weather that draws us to our local meteorologists and their representatives on our favorite TV news channels. They are getting better at good predictions, but there's always something to poke fun at. For example, our favorite channel for news here in Phoenix gives us a different report in the morning than it does in the evening. One will say x number of days above 70, for last week's example. The other will have them under 70, then the alternating one will put them back above. At least their inconsistencies aren't life threatening, or even an inconvenience. And frankly, in summer there's not much difference between 110 and 115 for misery and danger, day after day after unrelenting month.
I was watching the 90-second intro to the morning national news the end of last week when they flashed a shot of an attractive woman (they're always pretty, right?) in front of a scene I was sure I recognized. But it was gone before I could make sure. A few minutes later it was back as a part of the larger super cold weather report from over a large segment of the country This time the introduction before giving her a speaking role verified it was indeed a very frozen over, ice draped Minnehaha Falls in southern Minneapolis. A significantly younger me visited there in winter, with a camera of course.
Our weather lady was nicely bundled up, though at those temperatures I'd have been bundled up in more than a short puffy jacket and stocking hat. But I rewound it to make sure I was seeing what I'd thought I'd seen. Sure enough, despite that cold weather, there was no fog coming out of her mouth to indicate the air temperature she stood in was actually cold, dangerously so. Her face wasn't red, or worse yet, with white spots inside the red. Sure, smart for her. I never wish those people to suffer from the risks they take... if they take them.
But try to convince us she was outside? With a "little white lie?" No wonder so many people ignore dangerous weather. It may be drama but it's not harmless.
Bless green screens for keeping our weather people safe, eh? But next time you want to believe your weather forecaster is out in the stuff, give it a second look. Rain better be running off their umbrella, not from a roof allegedly inches behind them, easily faked. Wind better be messing with their hair or blowing their script away. And the close part of the background, in this case the front short wall keeping folks from falling into the hollow carved by the waterfall, better have the same lighting highlighting and shadows as the person standing right in front of it does.
I call fake!
By the way, our local weather forecasters, when they give us those beautiful pictures of what the weather actually did or is doing, remind us these shots are green screened, or have very prominent frames around the green screen to show it is inside the studio, and usually thank the photographer. I like seeing real weather. I just like knowing if the accompanying person talking to us is there, or in studio.
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