After all the hype about an impending winter storm whacking Ashvegas, we’ve gotten zero precipitation so far. The sun actually peeked out about an hour ago.
At noon, Jay Seltzerwater updated the Mike Cuervo forecast of last night – a forecast that was pretty bad – by telling us that the storm wouldn’t hit until evening time and we’d be lucky if we got an inch of anything – rain, sleet, snow, slush, freezing rain or whatever a "mixed bag" of precip includes.
Still, the scary forecast did nothing to stop area school systems from shutting down and sending kids home. A number of counties in Western North Carolina announced a midday closure despite the fact that not a single snowflake had fallen. It also didn’t stop Susan Mundane from interviewing grocery store shoppers out buying bread and milk. Thank goodness they’re stocking up supplies for this horrible storm.
Sigh.
3 Comments
Actually, I thought WLOS did a rather appropriate level of coverage, given their past history in such matters. They led the 5 & 6 with just two or three stories about the weather, nowhere near the whole first segment, like they usually do. They also managed to finally cover the "why did they let out school early?" story in a balanced way.
Especially given what the National Weather Service was calling for (and which those of us without a Gannett bias must point out the Citizen-Times duly reported, too, as they and WLOS have a duty to do) with Special Weather Statements and Ice Storm Warnings, it looks to me like all the local media did a fairly good job this time.
Should we start laying bets on how soon they call off the City Schools after the precipitation starts?
again with the panic. wlos loves to spread panic. unfortunately, it’s what wlos seems to do best… and, unfortunately, you’d be hard pressed to find another group of people who love to panic buy as much as wnc folk in general. (remember the katrina fuel shortage? that really brought out the best in people. here’s to you, wnc!)
wait another hour or so… i’m down in hendersonville as i type this. i just looked out the window, and the clouds seem low enough in the sky to cause some sort of "event". and the mountain on the other side of i-26 (not sure what it’s called, but we jokingly refer to it as "yon hill") is getting harder to see through the haze it’s being enveloped in. historically, that usually means impending snow. plus it’s getting close to quitting time. panic + wet weather + freezing temperature + stupid drivers = a potential nightmare…