the shrewdness of apes

the Weather Channel's "Local on the 8s" forecast is the staid and safe choice when you want to know whether to wear a hat or pack an umbrella for the day. it's kid-tested, mother-approved, recommended by 4 out of 5 dentists, and according to Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, "if you only check one forecast this year, make it this one". plus you never have to wait more than 10 minutes for it (unless the tiresome "Storm Stories" is on), and they've even started including traffic information. as with anything deisgned to appeal to the broadest possible audience, the background music tends to be innocuously irritating smooth jazz or occasionally some funked-up Muzak. maybe some Vince Guaraldi around the holidays. you put up with it to get what you need, like listening to some inane conversation about their trip to Buffalo while in line at the DMV. so imagine the shock at hearing the opening riff of Devo's "Gut Feeling" over the display of the current conditions. perhaps the folks at TWC are trying to hip things up, if playing a 25+ year old song by a band of spuds from Akron can count as hip. perhaps the strains of "Psycho Killer" will accompany the next Winter Weather Advisory.

the Weather Channel and weather.com have long been the epicenter of weather coverage and information, creating their own world where it's all about reporters getting pummeled by wind and rain to get you a first hand look at whatever devastation nature is visiting upon some unfortunate outpost. really, how long until this fake article about Weather Channel Addiction becomes real? but for those with a craving for a real inside fix from the world of weather, then Weather Underground is the place to go. on the local forecast page, at the bottom of the Forecast for [Your Location Here] is a small unassuming link that says "Scientific Forecaster Discussion (NWS)". therein lies a treasure trove of machinations that go into creating the forecast, direct from the folks at the National Weather Service. as someone who got so sick of incorrect or too-sporadically-updated forecasts that i once started a spreadsheet to track the accuracy of forecasts made 1, 3, 5 and 10 days ahead of time, i find it highly engaging to read the internal dialogue that goes on between the meteorologists who are trying to combine multiple models and their own experience into something resembling accuracy. if the forecast is the table of contents, then this is the meaty part of the story where our heroes fight mother nature and Old Man Winter to safely deliver us from precipitation. some current highlights:

"Very difficult short term forecast on our hands for tonight inland as column temperatures waffle back and forth either side of the 0c line. There's really no telling at any exact point in time what type of precipitation will be falling and exactly where."

"Its hard to say whether or not accumulating snow will get into the coastal areas before the good forcing moves east. It may not snow...but think there could still be a period of sleet or ice by Tuesday evening even at the coast. The midnight shift will be able to look at the whole suite of 00z data and use them to make a better decision than I can at the moment (0230z)." (extreme nerdiness note: time indicated with a "z" refers to Greenwich Mean or "Zulu" Time).

oh the drama! will the snow fall mainly inland or will the coasts also get a dusting? can the midnight shift solve the puzzle before the freezing rain wreaks havoc on the evening commute? and what of the potential for flooding and coastal erosion? tune in tomorrow! i love the more personal touch that these discussions convey. so much more interesting than a 30% chance of rain on Friday or what have you. so if you're looking to learn what GFS stands for, or if you're dying to know what's going to happen when that ridge builds in behind the departing low, then this is the place for you.

as a final note, i also love the National Weather Service logo. i can't think of another government agency with anything quite like it.

bonus link: Google's first listing for "Local on the 8s" takes you to Weather Mario's forecast for the mushroom kingdom (warning: link contains automatic sound). Sonic has a page too.