Terms that spotter/Media use that bothers me

[Tim Shriver]

"I'm looking at live radar"

Unless your a Met or working for a company with a large dome sitting
outback somewhere, I doubt that they are actually seeing "live radar".

The other, and it's not something you hear, but something you see.

Fake radar sweeps...It seems the contest is to see just how many
radars, with fake sweep graphics, you can stuff on to a single large map.

I admit, it looks cool, 'til you think, "hey, that's fake!" then ya
kick it to the curb.

Tim

 

[John Farley]

"I'm looking at live radar"

Tim

Extreme case of that on TWC this evening. Alexandra Steele, who I generally like, pulled a real boner, saying something close to "These radar images are right now! Not even seconds old; right now!"

 

[Jason Foster]

"I'm looking at live radar"

It is live off the feed...which is the point...describing it as opposed to "recorder earlier" or "archived" images. It's a TV thing and I believe the best way to describe the radar image they are showing. The slight delay is nominal in regards to the TV audience. Knowing your audience is key. Around DC they got a good handle on things!

 

[James Aydelott]

I hate using tornado on the ground, and I'm sure open for suggestions on how to bridge that gap, on-air, between wall cloud/funnel/strong rotation/could produce and an actual tornado.

I hate that "tornado on the ground" is insanely redundant, but it does serve to drive home the point.

 

[Tim Shriver]

It is live off the feed...which is the point...describing it as opposed to "recorder earlier" or "archived" images. It's a TV thing and I believe the best way to describe the radar image they are showing. The slight delay is nominal in regards to the TV audience. Knowing your audience is key. Around DC they got a good handle on things!

Nah. So if I play a record on the air its live off the feed?

Dont think so...

Tim

 

[Shawn Rutherford]

I'm not crazy about NWS Tornado Warnings for "T'Storms capable of producing tornadoes"... so many times that gets used without anything actually showing evidence of that on radar or/nor any actual sightings of said event.

I know it's all in the wording but it's far too often applied when a tornado watch would work just fine.

I'm with you on the "tornado on the ground".... or how about "non-rotating wall cloud"... not sure what's meant by that.

-shawn

 

[Paul Knightley]

Yes, I think tornado on the ground is completely redundant, as it's really tautology. A tornado is defined as being 'on the ground' (for want of a better description).

 

[cedwards]

I love this statement from a newspaper last week. "NWS Doppler radar indicated a funnel cloud near Sterling"

 

[Andy Wehrle]

Yesterday, one of the TWC OCMs repeatedly described video that clearly showed a tornado in progress as a "funnel cloud." The lower third super used the same wording. Dr. Greg Forbes needs to go in there and *****-slap some of these people.

Speaking of Forbes, they had the poor guy doing tounge "twisters" when they asked him to analyze a video of the previous day's tornadoes near Dupree, South Dakota. It cut from scene to scene so fast that he didn't have time to describe what was going on with each tornado, so he ended up stuttering out basically the same thing about each one.

 

[Jason Foster]

Dr. Greg Forbes needs to go in there and *****-slap some of these people.

Now that would get me watching TWC more often...

 

[Shane Adams]

I don't get "confirmed funnel" reports second-hand. The only way to confirm a funnel (since they cause no damage) is to witness one, and therefore reporting "confirmed funnel" second-hand seems inaccurate IMO. Rather, "a funnel was reported" seems more in line.

Anything non-severe shouldn't be reported....SKYWARN nets are for reporting severe weather, not current conditions. The non-rotating wallcloud drives me nuts, but the one I hate the most is "developing funnel". Really? You've got to be pretty intuitive to predict a funnel developing from a rotating wallcloud before it appears.

 

[rdale]

Anything non-severe shouldn't be reported....SKYWARN nets are for reporting severe weather

Ehhh, not really. Skywarn nets should not RELAY non-severe reports to the NWS unless asked, but there's no harm in knowing 3/4" hail is with the cell if there's a SVR out and nobody is getting anything.

The non-rotating wallcloud drives me nuts

Many NWS offices specifically ask for that. I think it's a remnant of the 70'/80's when wall clouds were the "precursor" for all tornadoes, and it just never got deleted from literature. But you'll find many a NWS presentation still asking for wall clouds - rotating or not.

 

[Zachary Lassiter]

Extreme case of that on TWC this evening. Alexandra Steele, who I generally like, pulled a real boner, saying something close to "These radar images are right now! Not even seconds old; right now!"

I have not watched TWC in years... but like 5-6 years ago I swore there radar they used for broadcast was always 20-30 minutes old.

 

[rdale]

The "on the 8's" radar segments used to be 10-20 minutes delayed, I'm not sure if that is still the case.

 

[Mike Smith]

The decluttered radar is 10-15 minutes old. The single site radar while virtually live at the moment it is updated (if they are using Level II data, and only about ten seconds old if Level III) but only updates every 4.1 minutes, at best.

I have never seen a "live" radar on The Weather Channel; but some TV stations have them, for example KSNW and KWCH in Wichita.