Trend Of The Week (4)
I was marooned in Shropshire last weekend as over 12 inches of snow fell on the county in what some of the more excitable parts of the media described as a winter snow bomb. Leaving the inconvenience to one side, it was all rather pretty.
But there is a definite trend these days to what can only be described as sex up the weather. Weather is a fact of life and if we do need to know what is in store for us, we want it delivered in a matter-of-fact manner. But these days we have to suffer forecasters who seem to think that they are providers of entertainment, gurning madly, gesticulating wildly and attempting to inject humour into their delivery.
This lamentable trend seems to be contagious. Even the RAC have got into the act. They described last Monday as if it was some kind of hip-hop act, Black Ice Monday, forecasting that there would be 11,000 breakdowns on our roads. The cynic in me felt that this was a PR campaign to explain away, ahead of time, why benighted members would have to wait even longer on the roadside than normal to get their car fixed. Yes, it was icy and, yes, it was a Monday but Black Ice Monday, get out of here. Of course, like economists, they were never called back to explain whether their prediction was in any way accurate.
The gold standard for me in forecasting is the Shipping forecast. I know Rockall about it but in its simplicity and hypnotic rhythms, it is a thing of beauty – quite the best thing on radio. We need to get back to this before we are overrun by weather entertainers.
Filed under: News Tagged: beauty of shipping forecast, Black Ice Monday, marooned in Shropshire snow, Rockall, shipping forecast, winter snow bomb
