Inflation Hits the National Weather Service... Hail must now be a quarter... or Size Matters...

Inflation has definitely hit the weather world!

Where once all hail had to be to get a severe weather warning was the size of a dime, it now must be the size of a quarter to deserve a severe weather warning.

I'm sorry, that to me is a pretty big difference and you would have thought they could have compromised on the size of a nickel but I guess not.

You thought the post office was raising it's prices fast. Can you imagine if they raised the price of a first class stamp from 44 cents to 59 cents everyone would freak and scream "WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY????" "Why not raise it to 50 cents or even 55 cents?"

I'm sorry but there is a big difference between a dime and a quarter sized hail just short of a quarter can do a lot of damage and is pretty severe by my point of view. A nickel can be really problematic...especially if you are caught out in it with a small child.

But, suppose in this day and age when eggs are closer to $2 a dozen than a dollar a dozen it would only be a matter of time before hail would need to be the size of a quarter to get any real respect.

Personally, I love hail!!! I remember once when I was a child that it hailed hard, and big fat white balls of hail covered the ground and looked like snow. I had never seen anything like it, it was love at first sight. We were in school, and all the kids ran outside to see what was going on or huddled around the door to our classroom while the green grass began to disapeer under what looked like a blanket of white frozen ping pong balls. A few cute boys ran out and tried to body surf or make sleds with cardboard before the shocked teacher could gather her wits and insist everyone come back inside and stop throwing the hail like it was snowballs. Never saw hail like that in Miami ever again, was amazing.


Link to an article about the change with some great graphics:

http://www.examiner.com/x-34478-Ft-Myers-Weather-Examiner~y2010m1d3-New-severe-thunderstorm-warning-criterion-for-hail

You can even listen to a weather man with a very nice voice explaining carefully, in depth why they have dropped the historical criteria. Now, mind you not every one gets baseball sized hail falling on and destroying their corn crops. In Miami we rarely get large hail, very rarely but even small sized hail can create havoc and make already crazed drivers to slam on their brakes. In Miami, marble sized hail pelting tourists sunbathing on the beach run for their lives. I mean such a bad press tourist event would cause an economic downturn in the economy, I mean couldn't some bronzing sunbather sue the Ritz Carlton employees for not letting them know they might have nickle sized hail? I mean should the lifeguards totally ignore a possibility of hail of any size and just sit back and watch with their rulers before calling in the National Weather Service with reports of quarter sized hail? I'm sorry but I am sure this calls for a funny article by Dave Barry.

And, isn't it funny how it's called a "weather iniative" and has been made politically correct?

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crh/One_Inch_Hail_Podcast.wmv

I'm sorry but I think hail is hail and in Miami I would want to know a thunderstorm has hail in it just as I would want to know there may be dangling funnel clouds.

What's next? A funnel cloud is not a funnel cloud unless it's a certain size?

You see, you heard it first here.

Size does matter when it comes to the National Weather Service...

So, next time you see hail falling from the sky, get out your rulers and see how large it is because trust me... we usually see pea sized hail...dime sized is pretty big, nickel sized is much bigger and if you see quarter sized hail falling from the sky run for your life... you won't need the National Weather Service to warn you that you are in trouble....

If you are in Pennsylvannia... and have hail damage to your car you might want to check out this great site:

http://www.raysdentshop.com/id1.html

Send the NWS a bill if it was only nickel size and you didn't put your new ferrarri in the garbage because there was no warning.............

Love it.. inflation comes to the National Weather Service...

Besos Bobbi...

Going to the gym...going to zumba...enjoy your morning video with some cuban coffee!