If you dont listen to anything else that I say, you need to listen to this because its important. Today, social media really picked up on the East Coast storm potential, and I saw many articles and snowfall maps being shared. In fact, some of these social media Facebook pages had content that went viral. Now if you were to ask the people who run those pages WHY they believe that there is going to be an East Coast storm this week, then I can promise you that 95% of them would not be able to give you a solid reason. The reason for that is that they take snowfall maps and post them just to increase the views on their pages. A weather forecaster or meteorologist must be aware of their limitations as a forecaster. Its completely okay to post snowfall maps, but posting them without giving anyone an explanation is irresponsible and unprofessional. Quite frankly, it makes the rest of us who know our limitations as weather forecasters look really bad. As many of you know, I have been criticized quite heavily in the past for some of the long-range forecasts that I have put out two to three weeks in advance, but I have never put anything out on Firsthand Weather that I havent backed with solid meteorology and have always given a reasonable explanation for those predictions. I say that to acknowledge that everyone doesnt agree with my way of doing things (even meteorologists sometimes); however I think most meteorologists would agree with what Ive said so far. For example, I decided to wait until tomorrow afternoon to put out a detailed forecast on the potential East Coast storm, because I will be better prepared to make that forecast. Yes, I could have put out that forecast a couple of days ago, but I want the forecasts that you get at Firsthand Weather to be accurate and reliable. Luckily, if youve been following Firsthand Weather over the last two or three weeks, you shouldnt have been caught off guard by this East Coast storm potential. I couldnt give you specifics two or three weeks ago, but what I was able to do was let you know that a storm was probably on the way and make you aware of the region where this storm could develop. I wrote all of that to finally say this. PLEASE be careful what you share on social media. I know its easy to hit the share button and get excited about snow. Trust me, this is my favorite time of year! You must let your weather sources prove that they are reliable though. That includes Firsthand Weather. If youre new to this site, let Firsthand Weather prove to you that it is a reliable weather source that you can trust. I highly suggest that you also do that for other websites/social media pages before you share them. If one of those sites or pages have just now become aware of the East Coast storm potential in the last day or two, then you probably shouldnt be sharing their stuff. I hope all of this makes sense and gives you a heads up on all of the bad information going around. This East Coast storm could be highly disruptive depending on its track, so always make sure you choose your weather sources wisely. :) -Matthew
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 01:11:11 +0000
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