Calling out WSAV

Update: after an invitation from the station manager, I met with WSAV and had a very interesting and productive discussion. See the follow up at this link.

I often get a lot of messages from scared people during weather events, and today is no exception (sorry I can’t respond to all of them). A big reason is because of irresponsible reporting such as that by WSAV. Here is the graphic and text from the report on their web site as of around 1pm today (Thursday):

There’s just one major problem with this: it’s wrong. The NOAA Storm Prediction Center (SPC) never had central Georgia in a “High” risk category for this storm. The risk as of the morning update (which is already obsolete, the new one is at the end of this post) was “enhanced”:

Here is what the SPC categories mean (again, from the SPC web site):

Yes, there is some risk of severe weather tomorrow (although that risk seems to be decreasing). But it’s not “High” or even “Moderate”. The terminology means something, and if weather warnings are to be taken seriously you have to stick to the established terms. If deliberate, for these media people to play on fears and exaggerate for the sake of engagement and ratings is unconscionable.  If this is a mistake, then other questions need to be asked of WSAV such as what their review process is (did an actual meteorologist approve that graphic and text?) and how (and why) they feel they need to rephrase SPC forecasts. If they are using a commercial vendor (which I suspect is the case), the vendor needs to be fired for using misleading terminology that mirrors NOAA/SPC but exaggerates. Either way, WSAV botched this. Fortunately our other stations seemed to do better (see update below).

Trust in the media is at an all time low. This kind of crap doesn’t help. Just report the facts, put the hazards and risks in to context, and leave the creative writing and film-making to Hollywood. I shouldn’t have to do severe weather commentary, and certainly shouldn’t have to calm down people misled by their bad reporting.

The latest (as of 12:30pm Thursday) SPC outlook looks like this …

You should still have your weather radio handy (and for all the reasons I outlined in other posts, don’t trust apps or phone alerts unless you have no other choice), but the risk does seem lower except in the Gulf States. Be alert for tornadoes or severe thunderstorms, but be prepared, not scared.

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Additional Note: Here is the graphic WJCL had. They are correctly using the SPC terminology and categories … looks like they are even using the SPC color scheme! Nice job.

I didn’t see a graphic on the WTOC site, but Dave Turley’s noon update text had the right tone, based on the latest SPC guidance, and is what I expect to see in a professional forecast: