Hurricane Harbor: RDU 6+ Inches of Snow. City Closed. Rant on Local Media Coverage ;)

Life after a snow storm in the South... Raleigh specifically...but could apply to Dallas, Atlanta, Charlotte or anywhere that snow rarely falls.

Snowy woods, small branches in the snow...

Small branch, LOUD BANG when it hit the roof & ground

Bigger branches fell around town taking out power lines.

Like any on air weather event the local channels send people out reporting who is open and who is not open and then tell people not to leave the house. An hour later they are surrounded by people who suddenly needed pancakes cause IHOP was open . . .

Think a Hurricane and the way every station lines up along the beach warning kids not to come down and join the kids already there surfing in the storm surge.

Staying home inside as I don't snow well. I mean I put on a few layers, find my socks, boots, coat and go outside a bit... take pictures... come back inside and watch it melting from inside in my warm house. Happy to have power as many nearby do not have power. My friend who lives nearby goes skiing, hiking, she made a snowman!

There were at one time over 200,000 customers of Duke Energy without power. Not everyone is happy about the snow, but many seem to be rolling with the punches. It's not like we didn't buy out half the stores in Raleigh yesterday. Got food, firewood and we know it will be 60 degrees in a few days. Okay, maybe 4 or 5 days but it will be up in the 60s again. Yesterday I didn't even wear a sweater when I went to Trader Joes; boots but no sweater.

The Governor is speaking. He says rarely have we seen two storms cover the entire state back to back in one year. (Note trees are covering some of the streets . . .) and he's happy with the way the State is handling the winter weather event. Personally I'd like someone to pick up my garbage as they missed the pick up with the last storm, then the surprise snow "event" threw their schedule off further and then this "winter weather event" has made me skeptical we are getting it picked up before Wednesday :( Hey it's cold, it's not like it's rotting food after a hurricane in Miami with temperatures in the 90s.

Elizabeth Gardner is on WRAL smiling and telling people not to worry so much as if you just got a boo boo and she's looking for a Hello Kitty Band-Aid. That is not a sexist comment it's an annoyed comment on the way WRAL covers weather "events" spending most of their time trying to make a skunk not smell like a skunk and explaining how it's not that bad. WRAL doesn't want anyone to think it's melting, the temperatures are not that warm. Listen, I don't know how high up the thermostat is set in their studio but snow is falling off my roof and the tall pines in my yard like an Avalanche and expecting the ghost of Topper to show up any minute on the deck. Honey, it's melting fast............. wake up and smell the coffee.

She's a good meteorologist, but it seems to be the method of WRAL to make Raleigh feel they are the official Raleigh News Service. They remind people every 20 minutes "Wake County Public Schools are Closed Today" (uh huh...and yesterday and tomorrow.......) naming which colleges are not having classes. In Miami we just scroll that information during a Cat 3 Hurricane as it's pretty clear no one is running out in the middle of the eye to see if Miami High has opened for classes.

I don't like chit chat when there is real news out there. I'm not a big fan of the View or the Chew or whatever the rip off of the View was . . . If I am watching the news I want info, hard facts, reporters on the ground and people who look like every day people disseminating information that is really needed. Reminders how to handle a traffic light that is out (treat it like a 4 way stop) and where the traffic lights are out. I also don't want to hear Greg Fishel (told you this rant was not sexist) endlessly hem and haw about how and where he was wrong with his pre-storm forecast. There is so much apologetic discussion and patting themselves on the back it feels like someone there is running for office.

Time Warner Cable has a local news channel that shows the news round the clock. Every 10 minutes they show the weather. Yes, it was one of the first things in Raleigh I fell in love with . . . Everyone who is watching WRAL is watching on cable as .. most the dish users are complaining they aren't getting a good signal on Twitter. Message from Taylor Swift: SHAKE IT OFF!! When an "event" called a "weather disaster" in most other parts of the country is going on... Channel 14 is LIVE and wonderful.

The NCDOT spokesman is on the current press conference. He just called this a "Winter Weather Event" you see what I mean... it is not a storm.. or a disaster but an "event" here in North Carolina or as I like to call it Eastern Tennessee. I can't wait to see how they handle a Hurricane Fran or Hazel like hurricane... is that a "tropical weather event" ????

Hazel 1954

Fran 1996

(big snow year for Raleigh)

It's coming guys... will happen again...trust me.

Get your act together.

You are not ready for prime time in the tropics.

So if I don't watch Greg Fishel who do I watch? Mostly Wes Hohenstein ..

I've developed a real appreciation for his honesty, intelligence and honest explanation of what might happen, what is happening and what did happen without all the whiny excuses.

As he just said "it's pretty clear we are not having school tomorrow" so deal with it. He also explained how everything is slushy from the melting. His socks got wet trying to get into the studio. There are little "dams" setting up where the snow is MELTING.

Explain to me how WRAL doesn't want to get anyone's hopes up on the snow melting and WNCN Channel 6 is explaining the problems of the snow melting, falling from rooftops and snow laden trees coming down taking power out.

He doesn't apologize or try to explain where things went wrong he explains what happened. He's good. I'm very critical (you think..) of on air local weather people. So many look like people who would never talk to each other in a line outside of IHOP waiting to get served yet have forced fake smiles on the set. The people on WNCN look like they actually would talk to each other if there were not being paid to do so...

Mike Gonzalez, who I learned was from Miami, but found out before I thought he was doing a good job... does a great job. They all do a good job. They also look and sound extremely normal to me and in a world where we no longer want Ted Baxter type of newsmen that's good.

To be honest, I started watching them because I enjoyed Pam Salsby who is no longer there. I remembered her from the South Florida market, she's good. Then I saw Wes do the weather... and I thought why do I HAVE to watch WRAL??

http://www.wncn.com/story/20607740/pam-saulsby

I'll confess I switch back and forth and I do watch ABC that comes on at 4 PM after General Hospital (since I'm confessing) and they're good.

Mike Maze on WRAL is good.

So giving credit where credit is due.

Bill Reh is explaining the reason it looks like it's snowing is because the snow is melting, falling off of the pine trees and the concerns for old pine trees that could snap any wires. As I write this sentence a chunk of snow the size of a picnic basket just fell past my window.

So.............as I sit here under my nice winter covers watching the snow fall I ponder things like why when the snow falls it is silent, yet when it falls off the trees and roof it sounds like Rudolph is up there on the roof doing a tap dance??

I didn't get much sleep last night ... I was up watching the snow fall and talking to friends online.

I have tremendous respect for the job Nate Johnson does on Twitter and everywhere else.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nate_Johnson_%28meteorologist%29

I'm just a little picky about how weather is presented on air. Tell what might happen.. best guess and go with it. AS I have said before Bryan Norcross showed 3 possible tracks for Andrew, but he gave his own thoughts even when they didn't jive with the NHC.

I get it. Snow "event" develop in real time just before missing or slamming into Raleigh. You never know til you know. And, then the sun does come out and life goes on back to normal. Soon we will be complaining about the Pine Pollen. But, today all that is falling from the pine trees in my back yard is chunks of snow and sometimes small branches.

I put on ABC 11. I got tired of hearing about the IHOP.

Okay I'm not easy to impress. Been to way too many conferences at the NHC and been around so many legendary tropical meteorologists that chit chat on the local weather doesn't impress me much. Once you've seen Bryan Norcross or Bill Gray hold a large room filled with meteorologists spell bound... you have high standards. I've studied with climatologists and experts in demography and geography and how it affects International Relations. Hey once you have almost knocked over Bob Burpee at a conference you look at the world differently (I was distracted.....) and well to each his own. If I could I'd move to Charlotte to have Brad Panovitch doing my weather... but I'm here in Raleigh when I am not in Miami.

And, speaking of Miami.. it's HOT HOT HOT down there today.

Something to think on...