Oklahoma Weather Tracking Licensure Legislation

[Warren Faidley]

Please do repost. You can attribute it to me or to StormTrack the Forum because it’s a product of our debate.

it’s important to get as much info out there as possible. That’s all that matters.

What name do you want it credited to?

 

[gdlewen]

Geoff Lewen is okay to use.

 

[Ken Perrin]

I do find it comical how we are supposed to take this bill proposal seriously and right at the top of the proposed bill it mentions how these conditions may be warranted when a BROADCAST METEOROLOGIST issues a warning! How uneducated must one be to actually include that in a bill? That is NOT how these things work and I know several at the NWS in Norman who if they saw that, might have an issue with it as well!

I would think that other County Emergency Managers, and the WFO's who rely on SkyWarn and other "amateur StormSpotters" for ground truth, would be up in arms about this bill.

 

[Mike Thornton]

I would think that other County Emergency Managers, and the WFO's who rely on SkyWarn and other "amateur StormSpotters" for ground truth, aren’t up in arms about this bill.

You'd be surprised, I've talked to many of my EM partners and they are very much against this bill and want to see it die.

 

[Ken Perrin]

You'd be surprised, I've talked to many of my EM partners and they are very much against this bill and want to see it die.

I have to run over to Tahlequah and speak to (or at least call) my county Director of EM and discuss this with him.

 

[gdlewen]

You'd be surprised, I've talked to many of my EM partners and they are very much against this bill and want to see it die.

The Legislature needs to hear from those folks. From “non-chasers”.

 

[Mike Thornton]

The Legislature needs to hear from those folks. From “non-chasers”.

And they will!!! I am the SW VP Alternate for the Oklahoma Emergency Management Association and well respected by my colleagues in the SW. I'll make sure we look into this on our legislation committee.

 

[Warren Faidley]

Part of the big problem is the way people are arguing against this bill. At face value, the average person and uninformed chaser would not think it's a threat. However, we all know the truth. When chasers say things like, "it bans all chasing," that is not true. It will make it more difficult, dangerous and it throws in a bucket of monkey wrenches. There is also the possibility of arrest and heavy fines. The death of this bill will come from pointing out the dangers of media crews racing through OKC and rural highways, blowing through lights and passing unsafely. This is the winning argument, not pissed off chasers concerned about themselves.

As I said last night, I've been told a few of the news stations have very "ill intent" and want to completely strop amateur chasing. This is their "first step."

 

[Mike Thornton]

Part of the big problem is the way people are arguing against this bill. At face value, the average person and uninformed chaser would not think it's a threat. However, we all know the truth. When chasers say things like, "it bans all chasing," that is not true. It will make it more difficult, dangerous and it throws in a bucket of monkey wrenches. There is also the possibility of arrest and heavy fines. The death of this bill will come from pointing out the dangers of media crews racing through OKC and rural highways, blowing through lights and passing unsafely. This is the winning argument, not pissed off chasers concerned about themselves.

As I said last night, I've been told a few of the news stations have very "ill intent" and want to completely strop amateur chasing. This is their "first step."

And that's exactly what I am pushing for in my letter to legislation and will push in the EM Community is looking at how this will affect public safety if passed. I will not mention anything about having been a chaser. I think if we focus on the risks associated with this bill passing, we have a winning chance. But like you said, so many haven't actually read the bill proposal and think Oklahoma is attempting to take away their freedoms to chase. Lol. When people like that start sending in letters, it doesn't help our case.