Messages

1996

Hurricane Central / Re: Tropical Storm Alex

« on: June 29, 2010, 10:13:27 PM »

I don't think Alex will be that  bad. If anything, the US will barely be affected by this.

I wouldn't say that. There's still more time to go before it reaches the coast, so things could change. There's a reason they have Hurricane Warnings issued for that area of Texas - the possibility is obviously there.

Yeah, according to Chris, Jim, and Dr. Knabb on WC tonight, because of Alex's enormous size, flooding and even high wind impacts will certainly be something that south Texas will be experiencing. In fact, I think Jim said that some impacts in some places could be worse than Dolly.

BTW, is Stephaine in Brownsville yet? I thought she said she was going there yesterday...maybe she will be there tomorrow.

1997

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: June 29, 2010, 10:09:59 PM »

A few notes/questions about the 8 PM CT hour of Weather Center (since I don't know if I've watched this much of it for a LONG time):

1) At 5 minutes past the hour, Chris was in front of a cool dark wave background. Is this a new part of the HD studio? I couldn't tell if he was sitting at a desk, or maybe a chroma key wall was being used. Anyways, it was neat.

2) Chris Warren is a really good OCM. I like his explanations and how excited he can get about some things. Cantore got all excited tonight, too...imagine the two of them on a show.

3) Chris was actually all over the studio today. At one point he was in the newsroom, showing us how to navigate weather.com to find the latest on Alex. I don't know if I've ever seen weather.com on air before. (And BTW, TWC uses Internet Explorer...in case some of you didn't know. )

4) Finally, there was an annoying AT&T-sponsored Weekly Planner opener. Is this something new, because I don't like it. It was more like an advertisement than an opener.

1998

Everything Else TWC / Re: Redesigned website coming soon!

« on: June 29, 2010, 06:07:39 PM »

Apparently, weather.com has been completely redesigned and will launch in the coming weeks. The post states that the last redesign was nearly 10 years ago. Wow, I had no idea it had been THAT long! Where I work, we generally recommend redesigning a site every few years.

I wonder what TWC considers a complete "redesign," then. They actually seem to have changed the look/layout of their website a few times in the past ten years. Just look at this screenshot from 2006 and compare it what the site looks like now. This is a big difference, but I guess it's not considered a re-design. (Which could mean that this will be a MAJOR facelift. )

weather.com in 2006


weather.com in 2010

1999

Hurricane Central / Re: Tropical Storm Alex

« on: June 29, 2010, 05:53:59 PM »

Yeah. Is there something hindering the strengthening of Alex? I thought it was going to strengthen a lot faster and become stronger, but now it's already out over the open waters.

EDIT
To prove my point, look at TWC's newly-updated projected path map. Alex is not expected to have winds above 85 mph now, and hurricane status is expected tomorrow morning, not tonight. I guess the more southerly track that this storm is taking is responsible for the lack in strength.


Map courtesy of The Weather Channel

I guess this should be good news for those residents in southern Texas and northern Mexico, though.

2000

Everything Else TWC / Re: Redesigned website coming soon!

« on: June 29, 2010, 05:16:04 PM »

I wonder if the re-design will look similar to the new Local Forecast pages. Those were "re-launched" just a few months ago.

But, nevertheless, I think weather.com needs a new design and hope that it is worth the wait.

2001

Hurricane Central / Re: Tropical Storm Alex

« on: June 29, 2010, 02:16:15 PM »

Geez, the red track from Martin's post takes Alex right through the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. It's hard to tell what the storm is going to do...the projected paths sure keep changing in both direction and intensity at landfall.

2002

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: June 29, 2010, 02:13:32 PM »

Is TWC in Storm Alert??

I was told that Storm Alert music is played whenever a Hurricane Watch/Warning is in effect for any part of the US (which it is). I am on vacation in ATL so I haven't really gotten a chance to turn on the TV.

Thanks 

Storm Alert is now only used on TWC if a MAJOR hurricane (Cat. 3 or higher) is expected to hit the U.S. Alex will likely not become a major hurricane.

Who said that?   Last I checked, I thought they only needed a landfalling storm.  Anyone remember Tropical Storm Alberto?

I'm pretty sure Tyler or someone here confirmed it. And if not, we can use our knowledge. We talked about this for the 2008 Hurricane Season. Dolly was a hurricane, but it was never a Cat. 3 or higher, so TWC didn't go into SA. I think they learned their lessons after TS Alberto/Ernesto.

2003

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: June 29, 2010, 10:36:55 AM »

Is TWC in Storm Alert??

I was told that Storm Alert music is played whenever a Hurricane Watch/Warning is in effect for any part of the US (which it is). I am on vacation in ATL so I haven't really gotten a chance to turn on the TV.

Thanks 

Storm Alert is now only used on TWC if a MAJOR hurricane (Cat. 3 or higher) is expected to hit the U.S. Alex will likely not become a major hurricane.

2004

Hurricane Central / Re: Tropical Storm Alex

« on: June 28, 2010, 11:42:06 PM »

Here are some maps of the Hurricane Warnings/TS warnings in effect for northern Mexico and southern Texas (easily accessible here...you don't have to go to weather.com to see them ).




I wish TWC would update the Alex storm track, though...that info is still from 7 PM CDT.

2005

General Discussion / Re: The Front Porch

« on: June 28, 2010, 06:29:04 PM »

Wow...thunderstorms rolling through really cool the temperature off. We've gone from 95 degrees to 77 degrees in about 2 hours.

2006

Hurricane Central / Re: Tropical Storm Alex

« on: June 27, 2010, 11:39:46 PM »

According to TWC's map (which has data provided by the NHC), Alex may become a Cat. 2 hurricane before hitting land! This storm is certainly taking a more northern track than was predicted yesterday.



But I guess we should remember that deviations in track and/or intensity from current projections could result in significant differences from the information on this graphic.

2007

OCMs & Personalities / Re: Kim Cunningham

« on: June 27, 2010, 11:08:14 PM »

I find it really odd that she has decided to be on-air with her married name.  You would think that someone who is such a familiar face would want to stick with the same name.

Or at the very least, go by Kim Perez-Cunningham for a while.

Or she could go by any name she wants as it's HER name?

not to mention, the board operator that keys in the lowerthird names wouldn't appreciate the fact that he was to mess around with the font size to get it to fit on the lowerthird...that name is way too long.

Her name is long, but it's not THAT long...I don't think the font size is changed at all on the L3rds.

Cunningham takes a little to get used to, but I see no problem at all with her using that name. She's still got the same first name and looks the same, so I'm sure viewers can figure out that she got married.

2008

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: June 27, 2010, 05:14:28 PM »

Will there be more Alex coverage today that replaces long-form? Since it looks like Alex will strike land as a Cat 1 hurricane, I guess it's something worth talking about.

Yes, long-form is pre-empted today. They've also been covering severe weather as well, so it's not solely Alex coverage.

Well, is this special coverage Alex coverage, severe weather coverage, or just oil-spill coverage? Because ALL I keep seeing when I flip to TWC for just a few minutes is a segment on the oil-spill.

2009

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: June 27, 2010, 01:35:29 PM »

Will there be more Alex coverage today that replaces long-form? Since it looks like Alex will strike land as a Cat 1 hurricane, I guess it's something worth talking about.

2010

Hurricane Central / Re: Tropical Storm Alex

« on: June 27, 2010, 01:34:17 PM »

Hmm, the track has now been pushed a little further north now. I still don't know if this will have any affect on the oil spill. But according to these projected paths, Alex will reach hurricane strength by Tuesday morning-afternoon.