For all the fancy schmancy gadgets used by meteorology today, they still have very slim chance of predicting lake effect snow. For example, Doppler radar can tell you where precipitation is falling and where lightning is striking and the clarity can tell you where tornadoes are likely to develop. That is wonderful around here in the warmer months when we tend to have those sorts of things. But snow bands off the lake and where they will go are a creature of an entirely different stripe. Yes, we can know where they are falling currently. Fine. But when the wind shifts on the lake, that shift doesn't necessarily work into creating snow.
Ok. Maybe some people need to be worked into a frenzy about the possibility of snow. Me, I hate having my chain yanked. Why can't they just say, "Hey, wake up a little earlier than normal tomorrow before work. You might have to shovel yourself out of the driveway." The weather used to say things like a system snow was on the way or that the wind would be coming off the lake with the potential for snow. Then you knew A) to wake up and make sure to warm the car and be ready to shovel; B) to leave early for work so as to make sure you were safe and on time; and C) to dress appropriately for the cold and snow (ie. gloves/mittens, woolen hat, scarf, and big heavy coat). Now, I feel as if I get babysat through the winter and half the time they are completly wrong (not usually about temperature, just snowfall).
If Doppler can pinpoint to the neighborhood where storms are rolling through, why can't the TV stations just localize weather coverage? For example, if a blizzard is pounding through Cass County in Michigan (just 7 miles from me) but doesn't cross the state line, why can't the cable companies direct line the news coverage directly to those affected? All local advertising done through the cable companies can pinpoint the ads by zipcode--so why not weather? When localized things occur, obviously it is fine to give general warning to the whole area in case someone is travelling through. But why freak out 6 counties when only one is getting pounded by the weather?
The only time I want minute by minute coverage of weather is when we've got the big storms moving through. Not snow storms--spring, summer, fall storms. The kind with thunder so big your house rattles with every peal. The kind where when lightning strikes an electric transformer in the neighborhood it sounds like a cannon and makes you deaf for a few seconds. And those are really good at bringing tornadoes. But there are other tornadoes that just happen--the sky gets a sick green. My mom, who lived through the Palm Sunday outbreak, said if the weather is oppressive and the sky is green, go to the basement.
Although this happened several years before I was born, I am sure this is a picture taken down US 33 just outside of Dunlap not a quarter mile from where I grew up. This picture is from the files of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). The story can be found here.
These are the kinds of things that make me scared enough to want minute by minute coverage. Not snow. Snow is cold. It shows up and we should slow down and have enough safety provisions in the car to keep warm/hydrated until someone finds us. The ass-jacks who think that black ice is a myth or that roads are safe to drive "normally" when the plow has gone through--natural selection. And you know what, 90% of the time it is safer to drive on the back county roads away from traffic because you can drive down the center of the road at your own pace. The other 10% of the time it sucks because you get stuck in the unplowed road. So bring a shovel and cat litter and ice melt.
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