There was an article that was published by the Washington Post today that warns people to be extremely cautious and not to trust any Facebook page or website that is not run by a credible meteorologist. They even publicly criticized certain weather pages that they considered not to be credible. While I agree that there are a lot of over-hyped forecasts that are published by some of these weather pages, I have actually found certain weather pages and sites to be quite reliable, which are run by non-meteorologists. Also, I will even go as far to say that some of the weather enthusiasts out there actually put out better forecasts than some of these so-called meteorologists. I find myself extremely blessed to be attending the University of Oklahoma, which is considered one of the best meteorology programs in the U.S. Since the age of 17, Firsthand Weather has given me the opportunity to grow as a forecaster and has given me experience that I would have never gotten in school. Thanks to social media and the internet, I and many other people around the world have been given the opportunity to get experience in our fields at a much younger age. With that said, I think it is extremely important that the owners of these weather Facebook pages and sites be honest with the public and make them aware of who they are and their academic background. If they are completely honest and have support from the public, then I say go for it, and keep becoming better weather forecasters. For all of you weather enthusiasts out there who are trying to make a name for yourself, you have my complete support! If I had listened to all of the criticism that I got during the early days of Firsthand Weather, it would not exist today. Keep your heads held high, and keep doing what you love. -Matthew Holliday
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 00:17:03 +0000