Messages

901

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: January 28, 2012, 01:00:32 AM »

I've gone back in time...with weather.com!  

So maybe it's just my cache again, but I've tried loading the homepage several times with both IE and Firefox, and I get top stories from October 2011!

902

OCMs & Personalities / Re: Best OCM Currently

« on: January 27, 2012, 09:19:48 PM »

I voted for Cantore, Forbes, Goodloe, Walker, and Knabb. Jim for obvious reasons, Forbes and Knabb just do to their expertise, and their sense of humor (Knabb dancing on a desk, anyone? ) I wish Goodloe was on more, and I personally enjoy watching Nick Walker on the afternoons.

Me too!  I miss seeing Paul Goodloe doing the primetime slot (formerly EE).  He should definitely be on more often; is he just a freelancer now?

Carl Parker - Hey, he's becoming our next Jim Cantore/Dr. Greg Forbes hybrid child, he's great! 
Vivian Brown - "Were All Together In Weather!" Any OCM who lives by that motto is a fan favorite by me. 

I couldn't agree more, Tavores!  Carl definitely seems to know what he's talking about, and I enjoy watching him.  He and Heather also make a fabulous team, IMO.

Vivian is also a good meteorologist.  I hope she makes it another 25 years at TWC!

903

Local Forecast / Re: General LF Discussion

« on: January 27, 2012, 09:14:56 PM »

Alright, I've got a couple questions to ask about this e-mail:

Thanks for writing to Shentel. I did not have immediate answers to your questions, so I had to go investigate. Here is what I have found out.

You are correct. About three weeks ago, the Weather Channel changed the Star Platform to only show local on the 8s at :28 and :58 past the hour. We will not be upgrading to Intellistar because TWC has announced an entirely new platform that is supposed to be even better and they have run out of Intellistars. So we have to make do until the new option is ready which our engineering guy said it would be mid-1012.

What do they mean by TWC has "run out of IntelliSTARs?"   I didn't think something like this could "run out."

Also, to respond to some of you, I can't imagine that TWC will be developing a new STAR, considering they just released the IS2 a couple of years ago.  This "new platform" almost sounds like the squeezeback will be the new "LOT8s."  This does not explain what the fate will be of the IS2; can't believe they would ditch something like that so quickly, unless it's got to do with money.

And, unless TWC gains great profits from it, I don't think the playlist disappearing would matter to the company or the average viewer.  I know some might miss it, but I don't think that's their primary concern.

904

Local Forecast / Re: General LF Discussion

« on: January 27, 2012, 02:01:31 PM »

I won't be surprised if the L-Bar is gone in march with a new playlist starting.

Not to try to bash you here, but honestly, what does a playlist have to do with anything?   I wouldn't think that TWC would develop a squeezeback and air it for two months just because the playlist was getting stale.  Could be wrong, though.  I'm not the mind of TWC.

905

Local Forecast / Re: General LF Discussion

« on: January 27, 2012, 12:00:46 AM »

Ugh, you too TWC.

You upset, Mike?

To my knowledge, the squeezeback was not used during WCL this evening.  I think this was the case before, so what are the shows that use it?  IMO, as much as we all hate it, I think TWC should be consistent with its use.  Either use it for all programming, or not at all.

906

Your Local Weather / Re: Dallas-Fort Worth weather

« on: January 26, 2012, 10:51:42 PM »

Rain...is a good thing!   Although the Texas deluge did cause some flooding, the rain is extremely beneficial.  Here is some data from the past couple of days, as well as data showing where the Metroplex stands in its rainfall amounts, as of January 26, 2012.

RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
1255 AM CST THU JAN 26 2012

...RECORD DAILY MAXIMUM RAINFALL SET AT DALLAS FORT WORTH...

A RECORD RAINFALL OF 3.54 INCHES WAS SET AT DALLAS FORT WORTH
YESTERDAY JANUARY 25TH.  THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 1.28 INCHES
SET IN 1973.

3.54 INCHES OF RAIN IS ALSO THE MOST RAIN THAT HAS EVER FALLEN
WITHIN A CALENDAR DAY DURING THE MONTH OF JANUARY. THE OLD RECORD
WAS 3.15 INCHES SET ON JANUARY 4TH 1998.

DROUGHT MONITOR
Data valid for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

907

Local Forecast / Re: General LF Discussion

« on: January 26, 2012, 06:15:41 PM »

Guys, I think the return of the L-Bar/squeezeback is for good.   Remember several months ago when they removed it, the reason being for "little tweaks?"  Well, I think the addition of the ad-crawl, and whatever else they changed, are the "little tweaks" they did.  Why it would take that long to ad an ad-crawl and make many miniscule tweaks is beyond me.

What I don't understand is why TWC is only showing this 2 times an hour.  Maybe it is still in a "beta test" and will soon be implemented?  Also, from the videos you all posted, I noticed that they are showing an ad in the video screen section instead of live coverage.  Seems odd to me, unless TWC is now despearately relying on more ads, but I will admit that a squeezeback with live coverage was very distracting.  What do I focus on?

I think you got that mixed up with full-screen locals.. the squeezebacks are 4 times an hour.

Oops.    Well, that make more sense then.

Two more things I don't like:
1. I wish they would bring back the rotating logo (TWC, weather.com, TWC mobile)
2. Though I don't want a debate on this, I wish the clock was back.

908

Local Forecast / Re: General LF Discussion

« on: January 26, 2012, 06:02:58 PM »

Guys, I think the return of the L-Bar/squeezeback is for good.   Remember several months ago when they removed it, the reason being for "little tweaks?"  Well, I think the addition of the ad-crawl, and whatever else they changed, are the "little tweaks" they did.  Why it would take that long to ad an ad-crawl and make many miniscule tweaks is beyond me.

What I don't understand is why TWC is only showing this 2 times an hour.  Maybe it is still in a "beta test" and will soon be implemented?  Also, from the videos you all posted, I noticed that they are showing an ad in the video screen section instead of live coverage.  Seems odd to me, unless TWC is now despearately relying on more ads, but I will admit that a squeezeback with live coverage was very distracting.  What do I focus on?

909

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: January 25, 2012, 05:10:35 PM »

Why is TWC not pre-empting today?  Is flooding and the possible severe weather for the south not important enough to be covered?  Also, why is the "radiation storm" the top story on weather.com right now?  How does that take predecence over the current weather?

One thing that really frustrates me about TWC is their inconsistency in coverage.  How is this severe weather event less important than the one the other day?  Is it just because it's not going to impact their headquarters in Atlanta or the high-populated northeast?  Or maybe no tornadoes means less coverage?  I'm sorry, but this really aggrivates me.   If anyone can answer my questions, feel free!

910

General Weather Chat / Re: What's the weather in your area?

« on: January 25, 2012, 12:18:00 AM »

Yikes, I see the current conditions on my profile is reporting "Unknown Precipitation" for Norman!  That's a little disturbing...I guess I'm not going outside then.

911

General Discussion / Re: The Pot Belly Stove

« on: January 25, 2012, 12:16:33 AM »

One thing I remember hearing about frost bite (and I hope this is true and I'm not just spouting off false statements here) is that, if you have it on your hands for example, you should actually run your hands under cool water, NOT hot water.  Obviously the instinct is that "I'm so cold and need to warm up right now," but that can be dangerous.

Notice how he didn't specify what the temperature of the shower was.

912

Severe Weather / Re: Severe Weather Season 2012

« on: January 24, 2012, 12:52:53 PM »

*Severe Threat for the Deep South today*

I think the primary "threat" will be heavy rainfall (which we desperately need, so bring it on!), but we may need to watch out for some hail and tornadoes.

913

General Discussion / Re: Sports Thread

« on: January 23, 2012, 06:47:00 PM »

2007? Wow it felt like this same match occured last year lol

Actually, it was 2008.

914

Severe Weather / Re: Severe Weather Season 2012

« on: January 23, 2012, 06:05:25 PM »

Unfortunately, for those that thought the 2012 severe weather season couldn't possibly be as bad as last year's, you may want to think again.  As Patrick said, coming out of another La Nina winter is really going to trigger the storms.  And it's only January!

915

General Discussion / Re: Sports Thread

« on: January 23, 2012, 06:03:17 PM »

No offense to any Giants or Patriots fans, but I am not really looking forward to this SuperBowl.   We just had the same game a few years ago, and I don't really care to see a "re-match," so to speak.

(And NO, I'm not being a poor sport because the Cowboys suck. )