The DC Weather Report Fiasco

It was Monday; I finally recovered from this Flu bug was all set to get back to work. As I woke up in the morning, I made the mighty mistake of checking the weather reports on the local TV. Wow! All the stations reported “team coverage” specials. Yes, they place 4 to 6 local anchor people in various important spots around the DC metro and provide live minute by minute information on something they refer as the “developing condition”, the important places includes city Salt storages, Metro stations, under bridges and every other place a reporter could penetrate.

It was 5.30 am; I looked out of my window to see there was no sign of snow, as if they read my mind, the reporter on TV warned that it was the “calm before the storm”. The weather report followed, the weather pundit first starts of by tracking this storm right from Hawaiian cost, he then explains how it devastated CA area, then how it moved to lower southern states , then reached the another tourist paradise, Florida. Finally it is now pushing across Carolinas, and on its way to pound DC metro with 7 to 10 inches of snow. You should see the animated dance on the green screen that displays a huge map. Lord of weather dance. To test my patience he walks around talking about the entire nation; he gives information about every other city other than Gaithersburg. Finally he predicts about 8 – 10 inches of snow.
The best joke is the lead new anchor acting out an artificial anger on the weather man as if he/she is god.
“Thanks Bob” but next time you say more than 5, hey! I am going to hate you.

Weather Pundit Bob: Hey that’s my job for you but you know what, I will give you some good news for the weekend after we come back,

“Anchor: better be good, we will be right back”.

After tons of early morning prescription medicine commercials, we get back to live show, The next teamster is on Air, She gives the sermon live from a metro station, it seems metro was working hard to keep up to this mammoth of a storm however metro rail would stop running ground service if the snow level exceeds 8 inches or more. Under ground service would continue on a 30 minute gap between trains. Wow! I was worried about his snow, what If I get stuck in the snow some where in DC and could not return home. Fear was spreading more than the snow and sleet, slowly based on these fearful weather predictions schools were shut down, and kids were to stay home.

7.26 am, I check out side and I see some flurries, the weather man once again reading my mind, appears from no where and says the snow has began in my area, I decided to skip work fearing the snow. Completely unlike me, I use to live in Minneapolis, MN, hence I really care don’t care much about the snow. But the weather man talk made me “assume” too many things.

11.40 am, the weather man spins a “doosra” by saying storm might move in some other direction, there might be a change in the weather. It might stay on the lower end.

2.45pm, a light puny little amount snow, by 4.30pm that melts and roads are as clean as cucumber, it is now 6.30pm, finally it starts to snow all thorough evening and about 3 inches of snow on the ground by mid night. That’s it.

I like to know how the weathermen get away every time after confusing people with hyped wrong predictions. Why was the schools closed? And who will account for the wasted amount of salt that was sprayed to keep the roads clean?, this so called precautionary slat spraying could crack the roads as well. Lesson learned - Never trust the DC metro TV, weather man in particular.

Frankly DC is one of the most guarded city in the world. For the city to function, they monitor every thing around the city. But a crate full of snow and a weatherman is enough to bring the entire city to a stand still.