Don't confuse me!

Sorry!

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What in the Wide Wide World of Sports is agoin' on here???

Sorry!

 

To be fair it's not hard to do

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I used to work with a guy who was a professional surfer when he was younger, was very successful on the east coast. He told me he was surfing at the Jax Beach pier when a hurricane way offshore was creating some nice surfing conditions, and Tim Deegan was also there surfing. As they were waiting for a wave Deegan was describing how the meteorological conditions were affecting the surf. I forget the details, but my friend said he had it essentially opposite of what the facts were.

Sadly, many of the "meteorologists" on TV today, especially in areas like Arizona and Florida where the weather isn't all that unpredictable, are getting meteorology degrees specifically geared towards broadcasting. The difference between the two meteorology degrees is that one actually requires you to learn complex mathematical and scientific principles and apply them to water and air to understand what's going on and infer patterns from it. The other? Minimal math or science, just two years of classes that tell you what the different cloud types are, a class or two in the different types of forecast models and when to use each one in your broadcast, two years of general education, and a lifetime of telling people that hurricanes don't hit Jacksonville because it's "protected by the coastline", that the government controls weather by putting chemicals in aircraft fuel and that a weak tropical storm is going to shut down the city for days.

 

Those are all things I've heard TV "meteorologists" say, btw. It's kind of a joke. Makes me wish they'd hurry us along to the day where weather in the vast majority of markets is handled by an anchor reading over an Intellicast graphic of what the weather will be like tomorrow. At least no one will count on the anchors for real, in-depth understanding and explanations of what's going on.

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