Bear with me here.... Last night they predict freezing rain here... maybe. I hate the "maybe" part. Wake up at 2 AM, check out Weather Channel (TV is up on wall in the bedroom so I can just click and watch). I watch for 1/2 hour. See couple of local reports but waiting to see composite radar so I can see if the green blob is coming our way.... local radar indicates no, but that really doesn't give me enough geography to tell if the main event is coming. No composite radar... lots of travel weather reports and color graphics. Emerick is the on camera announcer. I'm trying not to fall back to sleep. Listening HARD. Hanging on every word (eyes closed) to hear composite radar talk so I can see if it's coming. Back to sleep - set alarm for 45 minutes. Wake up and click on Weather Channel..... watch for 25 minutes... still no composite radar, but locals make it look like its going to JUST miss us to the south. Sure would like to see the composite so I can determine if salt trucks should go out and get ahead of it..... too much travel weather stuff. I thought travel weather was only twice an hour ?? Set alarm for 30 minutes. Wake up and click on Weather Channel.... something "feels" wrong. Deja vue all over again. Emerick has some nuances, phrases, movements that look very familiar. Still no composite. Set alarm for 45 minutes. Wake up, click on WC. Emerick still announcer. NOW it looks wayyyy to familiar. Same phrases. Same movments. Exactly the same movements and words. They are reruning the same 28 minutes !! It's a freakin rerun !!! What's up with THAT !!! I was hoping mad. Had to get up and go to the office to watch the DTN to find out what I needed (it did miss us and we didn't have to salt). No wonder there was no composite radar images. They have to be up to the minute (so to speak). Someone would have caught on if the composite radar didn't change. The only reason I caught on was because I was purposely waiting for the composite so that I could justify pre-salting and be sure SOMETHING would happen so I could bill for it. YA CAN'T TRUST ANYBODY ANY MORE !!! Thanks for listening........ [Edited by John Allin on 02-16-2001 at 01:04 PM]
Sounds like Mr.Allin is a little cranky with no sleep It does get aggravating when you can't even get the damn weather!To boot know ya got to get up and go to the damn office. John you could have sent Peggy! Boy I hope she doesn't read this or she will shoot me
John, Do you have room to mount another DTN on your bedroom wall? I thought of a new line for John... John "I plow more snow before 9am than most people do all season" Allin. We have had a great year here in Nebraska with 36" of snow, thats just one storm for John. LOL
John, the wc sucks between 12am to 5am. I think they started that repeat crap last year and that is when we need the radar the most. Your sig should read John the plow god.
John, have you checked into that remote program for DTN? I realize you'd still have to get out of bed, but at least not into work. I checked into it once, but never did any more about it, though. I still like the DTN radar better than WC or our local stations.
Give me a break...... I got your god.... right here. By the way... Peggy was already at the office when this went down.
I found out about the rerun deal 3 years ago. They have been doing it at least that long. I just log onto another website, for more recent data. http://www.intellicast.com I go to the US Radar Loop. That way you can see what's coming, and how it is moving / forming/ breaking up, ect. The weather channel is ok, when you can't get to a puter, and it's between 6 AM and midnight. On a side note, weatherbug is pretty good too. Not so much for the radar, but for the accurate temps in different areas. http://www.weatherbug.com ~Chuck
Any of the 24 hour news/weather or whatever channels just run reruns overnight; no money in putting more talent on tv; I get mine off the net so a quite walk into my office and get what I need.
Like chuck i prefer check on the Net, I have at least 5 related website, and by using opera, i open all this in the same time, all windows are tiled and i can watch few radar at the same time and see a lot of info at the same time. just need a pc beside your bed.
I totally forgot about using DTN online DTN.com We used it when we had a problem with our dish. I knew Peggy was already there,she probably couldn't sleep with all that rackett and fussing in the bedroom when you were trying to tune into the wc.
I was so danged tired, and so irritated that I completely forgot about coming into the office at the house and logging on.... duh....
John, I forwarded your comments to my friends at TWC. They don't use off camera forecasters during those overnight hours, hence the generic, non-updated wx information. Also, most of their radar is 5-7 minutes old anyway, although they say it's real time. What about the radar from your local forecast; that's from your local NWS office? FYI: Most of you know that the National Weather Services' NIDS contract expired that year, thus, allowing all of us access to their radar (at near real-time). Although it's free, during heavy net traffic, some images can take forever to download. Some here recommend Intellicast or TWC, etc, but it all sucks compared to http://www.weathertap.com If you don't mind paying $63/year, it's the best radar and satellite on the web and it updates every 3-6 minutes.
It still burned me up at the time. I was totally unaware that they did that. Lesson learned. However, it doesn't happen that much that I want, or feel the need, to see a nationwide composite radar during the night. The local portion is usually good enough. Ahhh well..... guess it's like the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus... another bubble burst.
I know what you mean, John. When we're out in the field storm chasing and Weather Center comes on (top and bottom of the hour) and they lead in with "Severe weathe in the nation's midsection, but first to Boston were you enjoyed a nice sunny day, 75*" (and then they spend 5 minutes on it). This drives me nuts! We've got a tornado watch around us, but they're driven by popluation and viewership. BTW; the only reason I forwarded your comments to them is that they need to have feedback about their programming. I complain to them all of the time . . . it's good for business; hope you didn't mind.
i have seen them repeat them during the day also i also use intellicast for my radar its about 30 minutes accurate which is good enough for me....the loop function is very helpful
Sorry, I didn't mean to insult anyone's use of a service such as intellicast or TWC. My needs for data are different than that of another person's. In fact, Intellicast does have some pretty good surface maps.
ITEM!!!! Bulletin!! Bulletin!! There's a huge storm brewing on Lawnsite.com Snow Plowing Forum...maybe. And now back to JAA in uhhh aww where the heck IS he anyway? Would someone turn off that *&^#$% tape loop and ANSWER ME??? LOL Bruce Just kidding John [Edited by plowjockey on 02-16-2001 at 08:53 PM]
I wasn't insulted, but I do think Intellicast is good enough for me, and I do like the FREE part. I'm not sure how delayed the info is, as it has been very accurate this winter. I don't even bother with TWC online. Weatherbug is a nice one to, as it is local, very local, and up to the minute as far as temps and barometer, highs and lows of the day go. I have found it to be a very useful tool for that info. ~Chuck
Wait a minute... did I hear correctly that the God of Snow, Keeper of all Snow, Mr. John "I'm not sharing any of this white stuff with any of YOU" Allin did not have to go out that day!?!?!?! Just giving you a hard time. From the sounds of things John, you could use the break. Those of us here in the midwest keep getting teaser storms. 1/4-inch all the way up to 1.5". For the record, what was the first day this season you went out plowing, and also, how many days have you had off??? Just curious. -Tim
