Chronicle of Higher Education interview with Reed Timmer

[joel ewing]

QUOTE=Rob Hurkes;312969]Doswell's blog post (and a follow-up conversation with him after said post) left me with kind of a bitter taste in my mouth. There's a lot of "oh, how I pine for the olden days!" but never really any good commentary on why it was better or how to make the current state of things better. Yeah, it's great being the only one on a storm, but using that as the sole basis for comparison comes off as selfish.[ If you can't see any silver lining to the expanding interest in meteorology and have no interest in helping steer the hobby, then you just come off as an old man yelling at kids running across the lawn.

The thing Reed has going for him is that he's charismatic and optimistic towards the future. He's got 5000 Facebook friends and 80,000+ fans. When EAX says it's a gustnado and Reed says it's a tornado - 80,000 people start saying "to heck with the the NWS, I trust Reed!" That blind allegiance to a weather celebrity is scary to guys that have spent their whole life busting their ass off trying make scientific discoveries. I really respect Chuck's work, but I'd rather have dinner with Reed, partly because I feel like Reed wouldn't hit me with a stick if I said something wrong

So Reed will have his PhD soon, and he's arguably the public's favorite weather face. I completely agree with the detractors on certain points - he should focus more on the science, he should get some articles published, he should use his pulpit to correct his fans when they slight the NWS, he should teach them the difference between a watch and a warning and get them to buy weather radios. I think he's trying to do some of this, but I'm sure there are plenty of constraints on him. He's also getting paid to do what he loves - and any of us would have a hard time not doing the same if we were in his shoes.

He could be doing more, but I don't know his situation, and I won't blame him for "ruining" chasing - because it's not ruined. It takes millions of viewers, millions of dollars, several large media companies, and all sorts of resources to push a product like Reed on Storm Chasers to the masses. Even then, it's just a TV show. It might help inspire some idiot to use their cell phone camera on an EF-5 headed right for them, but I'm guessing they'd do the same even if Twister, Storm Chasers, Reed, etc. never existed. I still have hope that Reed will help steer the future generation of weather enthusiasts (and I don't mean this negatively) in a beneficial way. Throwing him under the wheels for not being a perfect chaser seems excessively critical.



Is calling Jon Davies a hobbyist pushing the limits of the definition? He's certainly had some useful publications in the time that he's called himself a "private meteorologist".[/QUOTE]

 

[joel ewing]

Sorry guys, I goofed up trying to capture a quote from Rob Hurkes' post. He had referred to Doswell's response, loosely saying "it must have been great in the old days to have the entire storm to yourself etc, but, there's never any commentary on why it was better or how to make the current state of chasing better".
I began posting in this thread early this morning prior to heading off to work. Now that it's evening and I'm back home, I've been re-reading the thread to refresh myself on it. As I was reading, what kept coming to the forefront of my mind is the realization that yeah, I guess I need to admit to myself that all of a sudden, I've become older (56) and over the last several seasons of chasing I HAVE become a guy that wishes for the olden days of chasing....at least one facet of it. If you began chasing in recent years, you can't relate to this really, but try to imagine being on a tornadic storm and you being the ONLY chaser on it! I can assure you, to guys and gals like us (chasers)...it was Heaven on Earth. Envision yourself driving up to the highest point in the area, turning your car to face the storm, and shutting off the engine. Unless you were near a highway....you had complete silence...just the sounds of the fleeing birds and the storm and it's immediate environment. The only others around you might have been the local farmer parked in his pickup and the end of his driveway...praying that he wouldn't get hailed out, or perhaps a local designated spotter or the fire department. If you can actually remember or envision this...then I'm sure you can understand the disappointment and angst that some of us old timers carry with us. Bearing this in mind, sometimes I really have to work at not being reactionary and pointing the finger of blame at anybody or anything that continues to advect more bodies into this once pristine endeavor. For the record, I have ALWAYS defended Reed, and I've never even met him. Although I have zero doubt that his antics and actions on television only serve to bring more people out into the field, the freedom-loving American deep down in me knows that it's against my beliefs to try to deter him in any way. As far as the "good old days" go, I think that once a person begins continually pining for them, it's healthy to try and remember that those good old days were not always as good as one's memory makes them out to be. Sure, a hundred years ago there was a lot more "elbow room" in America....but when it came time to get your tooth pulled, you had to sit there and let them do it....WITHOUT novacain. Chasing a quarter century ago....definitely more elbow room...but no computers.
How to make "it" better in the present?? Without a doubt, I feel the very best things that a chaser could do to advance the good name of chasing would be to always call in worthwhile info to NWS offices and/or 911. Secondly, stopping and offering emergency help to those who have just been hit by a tornado...with a caveat. Do NOT overstep your bounds while doing this....this is key. Not only do I feel this is the RIGHT thing to do in certain circumstances, but I believe that a mountain of positives could be reaped for the so-called "chaser community" as a result, and many of the negatives that have been perceived by the public/lawmakers up to date could be reversed.