I know this may go against the opinions of some here but I would honestly not like to see an advanced forecaster thread locked out. I'd be more than willing to try to learn forecasting and pass a test to be allowed access but I am one of those who uses the forecast thread as a way of being better informed as to what may lie ahead for me in my area as much as I use it to glean bits of education here and there. I respect and greatly appreciate the many informative posts and have gained a greater understanding of not only forecasting as a science but how to understand storms in progress through reading numerous posts on here in the forecast forum. I'm one of the many who does follow the SN icons on my GR3, to see where you all are and the action is at, along with catching streams but I do it from home and not on the road trying to ride coat tails. I find that activity repulsive, go do the work and figure out what storm to follow yourself if you're going out in the field. Otherwise, stay off the road and out of the way, lest Darwinism makes you a statistic. I bet 90% of clowns like that haven't even taken a basic spotter class, nor care about the functions of spotters, they just want to see a tube so they can brag that they "bagged a tornado", but will never mention they followed someone else to do so. lol
I've not been on a chase yet but hope to some day ride along with someone who does know what they're doing and I would NEVER jump onto someone's bumper and follow them without at minimum, asking permission to do so. Firstly, you'd never see me out there because I'm smart enough to know, I don't know enough to be in a vehicle by myself during a severe event. I admit to running around town in my car when there's a storm coming towards me, so I can see structure and watch its progress, unless there's rotation/possible tornadic acticity then I keep my butt home. I did learn something from spotter class!
I have learned a lot about reading radar but there's still a lot more for me yet to learn and forecasting, I've not even tried yet to be honest but I have begun to learn some things and where to go to get the products, by reading posts of the many good forecasters we have here.
While I understand and
fully support the desire to eliminate the bandwagon jumper "Stormchasers tv show wanna-be's", please keep in mind there are those like myself who 'lurk' quite a bit here in order to read and learn from the many great posts and definitely gain quite a bit of understanding of what may lie ahead in our areas personally. As chasers and spotters, you may not realize that your first steps in assisting the public actually start right here. I'm sure I'm not the only one who gains a lot from reading here, both educationally and in being better informed about severe weather that may impact my area.
I see where Andrew is coming from and do like the idea of a beginner's forum. Heck, it would be great to have that and if the experienced mets had the desire to pop in and critique the forecasts, it would be an even further benefit to novice forecasters and those with a stronger interest in weather than the average bear. It would also keep the 'clutter' out of the advanced thread, where the more educated could post the more accurate forecass and discussions.
I hope I don't offend anyone with this post, just wanted to throw out my .02 as a person with a strong interest in weather who greatly appreciates this site, what it offers and what all of you do both here and in the field.
