Weather forecasting is serious business, not entertainment

I’m sure by the time this is published, it will have blown over with but lest we forget the mass of hot air that came in storming and raging against meteorologist Cindy Day. Whoever would have predicted that, but I hope we never see the likes of it again.

I don’t know Cindy and I don’t watch her forecasts much anymore for the simple reason we don’t have cable. But I have seen her at numerous charity events treating everyone with respect and charm.

Not to long ago, I remember seeing a Twitter post from a school visit she made, remarking she had met a few future meteorologists.

I don’t watch Frankie MacDonald either. His predictions always cause me to break my diet when he suggests I need junk food as part of my storm preparations.

I’m not a pop drinker and suddenly I have an urge to buy a case of coke, order pizza and Chinese food.

While that’s not entirely true — I only get the coke and Chinese food — it’s a light-hearted attempt to say that Mr. MacDonald isn’t a meteorologist working for a media source I check for weather.

His face will pop up on my Facebook feed shared by a friend, and by that time I already know the prediction down pat from about 15 other posts, so I just scroll on by.

Someone I know is a senior meteorologist, and he is my source for weather. I know the years of study he did so he can do his job, and by all accounts, he does it well.

He will say, “Well, it looks as though it’s this way, but if something else happens, then it’s going to go that way.”

It’s not being indecisive or wrong, he’s giving his best assessment given the uncertain aspects of a system, and we trust it.

I’ve also met the people from the NOAA and military hurricane tracker planes who actually fly into the eye of a storm to get as close as they can to get weather data for Environment Canada, Ms. Day and others to interpret.

That’s definitely not something weather-watchers want to try at home.

My guess is that if there was perceived frustration on the part of Ms. Day, it stems from the whirlwind around “weathertainment.”

It makes her job, and those of other professional meteorologists working for recognized media outlets, a lot more difficult.

She’s not able to give her forecast if she has to debate the merits, or misinformation, of someone else’s forecast.

I can see it now, coming up next to cable: weather forecast reality shows.

In winter and during hurricane season especially, weather predictions are an emergency-response service to help us plan to keep ourselves and our families safe.

The weather we get these days is making people nervous, particularly seniors. Just ask any grocery or hardware store staff, they’ll tell you.

If we’re advised not to yell “fire!!” in a crowded theatre, then “storm!!” in a winter-weary province in the middle of February is probably not a good idea either.

Personally, I prefer issues of public safety to be in the hands of trained, certified people held to a professional standard. It’s serious, not entertainment.

Heather Desveaux is living life in the fast lane, but at the speed limit, with her husband and two children in rural Hants County.