Back on December 19th, nearly six days before the much-hyped 2012 Christmas Blizzard that never happened, I posted this pic of KFOR's Mike Morgan forecasting either a life threatening blizzard or a cold, windy mostly dry day. Oddly enough, we had neither.
To be fair, pretty much everyone missed on that storm. I just thought the image properly conveyed and symbolized the winter weather hype machine that runs rampant in this market whenever snow is in the forecast. It's either going to be cold or YOU WILL DIE SO YOU BETTER WATCH US EVERY DAMN NIGHT OF THE WEEK!!!!
And I know the public is partly to blame. If we didn't get all anxious, excited and glued to our TVs whenever they mention "snow" in the forecast, guess what, they wouldn't always mention snow in the forecast. But we're stupid and take the bait, and they're smart and dangle it in our faces. It's just how the system works.
The media outlet taking the lead in today's winter weather hype machine is surprisingly KOKH Channel 25. It's surprising because no one likes to get their weather from Channel 25, do they? Here's a screen of their website taken at 1:00am:
Yep, two giant huge colossal maps of Oklahoma winter storm warnings...with nothing on them. But maybe there will be. Who knows, I better hit refresh on the Channel 25 website all day.
The map I really enjoy is the one on the left. Here's a bigger view:
I know they're trying to be prepared and everything, but is the giant map of watches and warnings that's almost empty really unnecessary? This is an "only in Oklahoma thing, right?" They might as well put a watch on there for the Green Dragon spotted flying across Oklahoma City.
Anyway, I guess let the hype machine officially begin. I wonder who's going to be the first reporter to spot snow in the metro? I'm hoping it's Courtney Francisco. She's new and attractive. Also, which intersection will get the most "poke a ruler in the snow" coverage? I'll go with 63rd and Expressway.
