What Is Your Opinion Of Armchair Meteorologists?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

Poll question: What Is Your Opinion Of Armchair Meteorologists?

[sbj405]

1. Well, I am the latter.

Who do you consider to be "Armchair Meteorologists." Most of the folks on the Weather Channel are real meteorologists.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. No "other"?

what if we wanted to rail on Accuweather's effort to destroy govt weather services with the help of several highly placed GOP Senators?

Today's meteorologist is better in the armchair than in the field. Assuming he/she/it has a decent flow of data, and understands the underpinning of the programs used for modeling weather changes, then going outside would be a waste of time.

[whistle]

3. Who exactly are these armchair meteorologists?

[rman]

5. and how might they be creating panic?

[Mr_Spock]

4. Are you talking about Dan Rather?

?

[Sgent]

6. A lot of the "armchair meteorologists"

are pilots and ships captains.

Even though not formally schooled like what you see on TWC, they have a vast amount of knowledge and training in reading and interpreting weather, including weather maps.

For pilots, a weather forcast is 80% accurate within 4 hours, and goes downhill. It is often pilots telling other pilots of new weather conditions, that allow them to navigate a bad storm or plan a trip before they leave.

For ships, there is no weather forcast, they are responsible for it themselves. Things like water temp, barometric pressure, and surface temp are extremely important. They might get a weather map of the general area, but no one tells them the percent chance of rain that day or the chance of squalls.

For both of the above, both professional and "hobby", they put their lives on the line using their interpretation of weather. Although they may not be as accurate, or speak in generalities, or may not be doing advanced forcasting, do not underestimate their knowledge of various conditions.

[rman]

7. Maybe They Are Fake Meteorologists From RW Thinktanks

Must Hear Radio Interview with author of: "The Republican War on Science"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=228x12528

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4848808