Benjamin Haslem
Those who know me know about my weather obsession. It ranks just slightly below train spotting on the weirdness scale. But there's plenty of us out there.
I am forever annoyed and concerned by the Australian media's appalling coverage of the weather. Be it forecasting or reporting current or recent events. The tendency to exaggerate is huge. "Absolutely" huge.
Take this from one on-line report this morning:
Overnight some 500 people have been evacuated from areas around Kyogle and South Murwillumbah where more than 300mm of rain fell in just three hours (emphasis added).
I have scoured through all the rainfall figures from the NE of NSW for the 24 hours to 9am. No gauge has recorded more than 200mm. That 200mm total was in Murwillumbah.
Perhaps the journalist has spoken to a resident with their own gauge or heard a report second or third hand. Did he or she verify it with the Bureau of Meteorology? Perhaps.
This isn't simply pedantry on my part. The weather affects people's lives. It kills. The reportage should be spot on. Not alarming hyperbole.
Imagine if the ASX200 fell 100 points and some journo heard from a broker that it had fallen 200 points and reported that. Or one mining stock fell 50% so the journo decided to report that all mining stocks fell 50%.
The problem is that few if any news outlets have reporters with more than a basic understanding of meteorology.
UPDATE: Since posting a 24-hour rainfall figure of 347mm to 9am came in from Bald Mountain, west of Murwillumbah. But my point still stands.
Yeah, LOL.
Still, I'd doubt the 300mm in three hours line and Bald Mountain is not Southern Murwillumbah. It's the other side of Mt Warning! My point still stands, journos are shit on the weather. But you already knew that (image of Trevor at JWM, placing a pistol in his mouth has Haslem raves about the weather!)
Posted by: Account Deleted | 05 January 2008 at 18:05
ooops
Posted by: Trevor Cook | 05 January 2008 at 17:50