Maybe I'm a bitter old Florida refugee who's seen one too many feeder bands, but I seem to remember a time when the Weather Channel (DISH Network channel 214) didn't even need a space in the newspaper's TV schedule grid-- which should tell you just how long ago this was. We got our TV information from the newspaper.
I'm married to a pilot and air traffic controller-- I mean, I'm married to one guy, who is both a pilot and air traffic controller-- and he minored in weather systems. He knows every website there is to know about radar and wind shear and temperature differentials. I haven't had to gather my own planning forecast since 2005.
But today, as my computer sat dormant, I peeked out the window to see cloudy skies while putting on my shoes for a jog, and thought to return to my old friend, the ever-scrolling Blue Screen of Forecast, with occasional radar appearances.
Oh. Well. Sorry, you're getting the temperature, and a little picture of a cloud, and an endless tornado footage shot from the back of a pickup truck. Enjoy! I waited through the destruction of several ranch homes, then gave up and logged on. Boom, radar and plenty of little green splotches. No running today.
What is the Weather Channel, then, if not a source of... you know... weather? It's a jazz CD, people; a global warming controversy flashpoint; and a five-part miniseries, 100 Biggest Weather Moments, hosted by that pinnacle of meteorological expertise, Harry Connick Jr.
At some point, between Forecast Earth Headlines, mini-documentaries on floods which took place two centuries ago, and Full Force Nature, the Weather Channel ceded the forecasting high ground to the Internet, and perhaps wisely so: The powers that be were wise enough to grab the weather.com URL, and the site offers a downloadable bug for one-click access to maps and forecasts.
The Weather Channel, then, in its shift to infotainment, broadcasts as a radar-flecked cultural indicator. That blue screen and that all-caps white type isn't enough for us anymore; we need flying debris and weather as politics. And you know what, part of the problem is typing in this here little white box... if I had perhaps waited around for six more minutes to see the forecast, I probably would have seen what I was looking for: The channel still offers "Local on the 8s."
