Once again this month, the sports program I recorded was wiped out by storm coverage. Last week was more than understandable. I saw some more of that damage along Fremont Ave N. this afternoon. Today, however, it was an unconfirmed tornado, a couple of funnel clouds and some hail, which we saw over and over for nearly two hours of continuous coverage. I seem to write a post or two every year about this, that over-coverage can lead to complacency, perhaps fatally so. And I may again this year but not this occasion. We're all a little on edge given last weekend.
Instead, particularly in view of last weekend, I ask: can we do better? We have the National Weather Service and an increasingly impressive array of radar systems at the TV stations. And it was over before all that technology could be brought to bear.
In my case, the tornado that tore through North Minneapolis and Fridley came within two miles of us at its closest point. It was windy, very wet, with a little pea-size hail. And then it was over, a strong thunderstorm, yes, but one that gave no clue what was happening nearby.
These days, we carry weather radar in our pockets on fancy phones, another "app" among thousands. We could we use this locality to get more local information, what's happening within a mile or two, and what's coming our way. A system of local readings of temperature, pressure, and wind could refine the image so to speak. Access to nearby traffic cameras (and the others they haven't told us about?) could be accessed locally rather than wait your turn on TV.
Another approach would be a network of designated agents that post their specific conditions into "the cloud" or a social network like Facebook for others to see and perhaps correlate. The idea remains the same: make severe weather reporting more local, just like the severe weather, much as sirens don't sound everywhere in the metro, just in the areas threatened. Picture a "Richfield Weather Channel" that quietly notes severe weather in Blaine but otherwise continues to focus on genuine local threats.
A more localalized system of detecting and reporting dangerous weather could ultimately save the lives of those numbed by our current system of broad, overly-cautious warnings.
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