This summer’s heat and humidity had almost all of us talking about the weather. The air was like soup, punctuated with rainforest-like thunderstorms. And when it wasn’t tropical, the outdoors felt like Saskatchewan on a fall afternoon. You didn’t have to be a weather nerd to talk about the weather.
But are you a weather nerd 24/7? I am, and I’m proud. Do you get excited when you hear, “The radar is lighting up like a Christmas tree,” or, “The snow will be measured in feet, not inches, with this storm”? Did you think getting Doppler radar images on your cell phone was the greatest technological advance since, well, the invention of the Doppler radar? You might be a weather nerd.
Do you think “The Day After Tomorrow” is a documentary and that it is as fact-based as the “Sharknado” movies? Social media has allowed many of us to share this passion, sometimes unknowingly. Many of our hobbies and interests become known to the world via online postings, so you can share with like-minded people the approach of that frontal system.
Enjoying the development of a thunderstorm or watching the snow pile up out on the deck is not the same as wishing for bad weather. As weather nerds, we are keenly aware of the toll dangerous weather takes. In fact, many of us are able to use our higher-than-average knowledge about things meteorological for the benefit of those around us (e.g., “Twister.”)
Many first responders and emergency management people can be counted among the ranks of the weather-imbued, and their experience and gut instincts can be counted on every bit as much as an official weather forecast.
So, are you a weather nerd? See how you do on this short quiz:
When you hear a really bad storm is coming tomorrow, you rush to the store to get:
a) Microwave meals.
b) Milk and bread.
c) Beer and Doritos.
d) You don’t have to go to the store. You knew this storm was coming a week ago.
A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is canceled. You feel:
a) Relieved, knowing people will be safer.
b) Thundersnubbed again.
c) There’s always tomorrow.
d) There was a warning?
The correct way to spell a weather radar system is:
a) Dopplar.
b) Doppler.
c) I could spell “doppler” before I could spell “cat.”
A barometer is used to:
a) Measure distance driven.
b) Measure air pressure.
c) I don’t know, but I think there’s one in my Elvis in Vegas wall hanging.
So, are you, indeed, a weather nerd? If you read this far, you probably are.
You are among friends. Welcome…
Joe brings decades of journalism experience to the Ridge View Echo, covering everything from local school boards to the U.S. Supreme Court. A former National Law Journal editor and Columbia Law School press officer, he now enjoys telling community stories in Blairstown, where he lives with his wife, Rose, and their two dachshunds.
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
