OMG there's a snowstorm again this winter

Several years ago I wrote a short story for Alaska magazine about a storm in the Aleutians, a place notorious for violent weather. In the course of the research I spoke with a woman named Peggy Dyson in Kodiak. Her husband was one of the original deadliest catchers, pioneering the king crab fishery around Kodiak and eventually in the Bering Sea.

At that time, in the 60s, weather forecasting for such remote areas was pretty rudimentary. So, Peggy set herself up with a radio that would reach out there and she'd send Oscar the weather forecast as best as she could find out about it. In time other fishermen picked up on her broadcasts and listened in, giving her quite a fan base. There were even special cases where a fisherman would ask Peggy to deliver flowers to his wife on their anniversary or pass along a message now and then.

In time the weather service realized what a gem Peggy really was and they hired her, set her up with better equipment and she became the voice of the weather along the entire coast of Alaska.  

There was nothing as reassuring as hearing Peggy's call at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. every day: "Hello all mariners." It was always a good idea to tune in to 4125 on the single side-band a half hour early because vessels along the coast would report actual conditions where they were, and one of them  just might be where you were heading.

So, one sour day Peggy broadcast a forecast for a severe storm. Had it been in the early days this might not have happened, but working for the weather service she was limited to using official terminology.  So, with winds forecast for well above the lower limit of 64 knots, she sent out hurricane warnings.

All hands survived that storm, but not without some bad feelings. Upon returning to Kodiak at the end of the season, Peggy said, one fishermen read her the riot act. Why?

In his terms, "We get 110-knot winds out there all the time, but you went and called it a hurricane and scared the hell out of everybody."

That came to mind today as I watched the newscasts and web sites screaming about the coming winter storm in the Midwest and eastern United States. Good grief, it's winter and there's a snowstorm coming. Imagine that.

Of course with all the new services around, Accuweather, Weather Underground and The Weather Channel, which went ahead on its own and named the storm Hercules, and not to mention all the usual news outlets, there's a lot of competition for who can scare the hell out of people the most.

Of course tomorrow will bring intrepid reporters broadcasting from outdoors and telling people to stay indoors.

The thing is, just report the forecast, forget the shrill warnings and the video of empty store shelves caused by people stocking up for the long haul. This forecast came fairly early in the process and usually those far out forecasts change for the most part into conditions a lot less formidable than originally predicted.

There's nothing wrong with being prepared, but a constant bombardment of severe weather warnings and advice on how to survive are a little much every time a storm moves across the country. And, they may make people jaded enough not to worry when a really big storm comes along.

It's just that "hurricane" forecast all over again, scaring the hell out of people about conditions they have encountered probably several times in their lives.

OMG it's going to snow in winter