The boob tube. The blue eye. The idiot box. That's right, we're talking about television, that mind-numbing thief of intellect and arch enemy of the art of conversation. However, like it or not, most people receive the bulk of their information and entertainment from television. The statistics are startling. Some experts think the average American spends four hours a day parked in front of the tube; others say that children put in an average of six tube-hours per day.
But for pilots, watching television often is a lot more constructive than idle Barca-lounging. Ever since the early 1970s, more and more programming has been devoted strictly to weather. A dedicated following of pilot-viewers has grown with the phenomenon, and today, it's a rare pilot indeed who doesn't consult his television as part of the preflight weather briefing process. For pilots without computers, graphics boards, and customized software, the television has become an indispensable tool — sometimes the only tool — for visualizing current weather and forecast trends, as well as identifying any areas of severe weather.
There are two main sources of televised weather-only information. One is Maryland Public Television's A.M. Weather, a show that's aired Mondays through Fridays over the Public Broadcasting Service's network of some 314 local stations. The U.S. Virgin Islands and some Canadian stations also carry A.M. Weather.
The other source is Landmark Communications' The Weather Channel, or TWC for short. TWC runs nothing but weather information, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
(Interesting fact: A recent AOPA survey of 408 members revealed that 57 percent of respondents tune in to "a cable weather channel" before going on a cross-country flight. One third said they watch A.M. Weather.)
Of course, commercial broadcast stations (i.e., those using standard television VHF and UHF frequencies, as opposed to TWC's cable) also cover the weather, and many of them do an admirable job. But that's fodder for a future story. For now, let's stick with the shows that live and breathe weather, the ones that weather nerds like myself — and a few others out there, I suspect — watch time and again, even on the days we aren't flying.
I visited both shows recently and thoroughly enjoyed the goings- on. Let's take a look behind the scenes to see how A.M. Weather and TWC do their thing. Barca-loungers correctly positioned? Remotes at the ready?
A.M. Weather
A.M. Weather has been on the air, in one form or another, for 20 years now. It began life as Aviation Weather, a three-part, half-hour show that debuted in 1972. After the first segment of Aviation Weather, there was a short feature on some aspect of flying. I recall one in particular that covered the multiengine-rating check ride. Then came the final segment of the show, which provided forecast information and prognosis charts. Aviation Weather aired Thursday and Friday nights until 1976, when a funding crisis stopped the show for two years.
When it reopened, it was with a new name and focus. Now called A.M. Weather, the revamped format drifted away from the aviation-only tack, but the show was extended to five days a week — and reduced in length to its current 15 minutes.
Still, some things haven't changed very much. A.M. Weather is still produced by Maryland Public Television, and its on-air personnel are still National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration staff meteorologists assigned specifically to the show — not PBS employees. AOPA and the AOPA Air Safety Foundation have always been major sponsors of Aviation Weather and A.M. Weather.
There's something else that hasn't changed. It's the sense of urgency about a show with duty hours that start at 2 a.m. and that must present information dense-pack style in just a quarter-hour. There's just one rehearsal, and the cameras roll at 6:45 a.m.
Owings Mills, Maryland — a rural suburb of Baltimore — is a very dark place at 4 a.m., so it took me awhile to find A.M. Weather's studios. Ten years ago, when I first visited the show, WMPB-TV had the A.M. Weather staff in a trailer that adjoined the back end of the otherwise-modern building. Now, the local PBS authorities have seen fit to move the staff into the building proper.
In the trailer days, a small cadre of graphic artists was kept busy creating the show's maps and charts. That meant many hours bent over light tables with X-acto knives and a thousand overlays. Now, graphic arts are supported by a bare-bones team consisting of designer Roman Korotynski and the on-air meteorologists themselves — with the help of weather- specific software from WSI and MentorPlus, computers from the National Weather Service, and graphics boards from Number Nine Computer Corporation. X-actos and T squares are things of the past.
So when I walked in two hours before air time, there was Korotynski and meteorologist Wayne Winston tap-tapping away on their computer screens. Define, select symbols, press, click, and presto — a forecast map for today's expected areas of icing and turbulence. More defining and clicking — and there will be maps for current weather; 12-, 24-, 48-, and 72-hour forecast conditions; zones of today's anticipated IFR, MVFR, and VFR weather; jet streams; and severe weather watches and warnings.
Winston is quick to point out that all forecasts are really the products of the NWS. "But we still do some of our own analysis," he says, referring to the personal touches that the staff adds to the standard NWS products. "For example, our database performs a computer analysis of all surface observations, and that makes it very easy for us to plot current areas of IFR, MVFR, and VFR weather."
In an adjoining room, on-air meteorologist Joan Von Ahn scans the data pouring through the NWS's special communications gateway to the A.M. Weather staff. She pointed out that it takes the staff just an hour or two to pin down the real trouble spots and identify the major weather features of the day.
(The other member of the on-air crew, senior meteorologist Carl Weiss, was off that day.)
Von Ahn says that, in the rare case of ambiguous data, the staff uses their "gut feel" to make predictions. "We stick pretty close to the NMC [National Meteorological Center] products, because there's just not enough time to do our own full-blown analysis and forecasts," she said.
"The only time we really go out on a limb is when we make the last two forecast maps on Fridays," she added. "Those are our own products." And important ones they are, because they cover the weekend's forecast weather.
By 5:45 a.m., the show's final touches are added. This includes the latest radar summary information, as well as any noteworthy, late- breaking special observations, severe weather watches, or warnings. The graphics are taped, timed, and put in sequence, then it's off to the studio for Winston and Von Ahn.
What happens next — after the five-minute mini-rehearsal — is a fast-paced blur of facts. In a no-nonsense fashion, Winston and Von Ahn run down the national weather scene. If the delivery seems deadpan, it's only because time is at a premium.
First come the satellite views for the previous few hours; Von Ahn points out a tropical storm well east of the Bahamas that she promises "to keep watching over the next few days."
Then comes the radar summary, updated just an hour before air time, then the surface analysis, daily high and low temperatures, precipitation amounts, and the next five days' temperature and precipitation outlooks. This initial part of the show gives good general background, but those forecast precipitation amounts hint at the show's attention to agricultural interests.
Next comes the aviation segment. After covering any airport delays, Winston and Von Ahn go over the morning's surface map, which has areas of MVFR and IFR clearly outlined. The day's freezing levels are the subject of the next chart, followed by areas of turbulence. Then it's the afternoon's synopsis, complete with forecast frontal positions and expected areas of MVFR and IFR conditions. Forecast winds at the 2,000-, 10,000-, and 18,000-foot levels are the subjects of the next charts, and the show is capped off with visuals outlining any severe weather watches or warnings.
It's amazing how quickly 15 minutes zips by. Before long, the studio and control room are empty. But in 18 hours, the whole process begins again.
The Weather Channel
Where A.M. Weather is confined to 15 minutes somewhere near the crack of dawn, TWC is a full-time operation. In fact, it's a television station and weather show all rolled into one. As long as there's a signal and a cable- ready television at the other end, TWC puts out the weather.
The station facilities are located in a modern office complex in northwest Atlanta. From the outside, it's a quiet, nondescript-looking place, like so many other office parks in suburban America. But once past the receptionist, you can see plenty of activity.
I visited TWC last August 24, a few days after the trip to A.M. Weather, and a date that many south Floridians will remember for a long, long time. The small blob of cloudiness that Von Ahn had spoken about was now Hurricane Andrew, a huge vortex of wind and precipitation. At that moment, Hurricane Andrew was slamming into Dade County, causing record damage. It was the worst hurricane to hit the United States in 30 years, and the TWC staff was jumping.
TWC has access to the NWS's national radar network and was devoting a lot of time to broadcasting real-time radar imagery of the storm. In fact, most of TWC's 235 staffers were now focusing almost all their energies on covering the storm. The forecast center (visible behind the anchor desk and manned by several experienced meteorologists) was filled with activity.
Two of TWC's 26 on-air weatherpersons had drawn this exciting shift — Marny Stanier and Will Annen.
As most viewers know, there are so many segments in TWC's programming — up to 12 an hour, depending on the time of day — that the on- air staff is on-air more or less constantly but in short bursts. I spoke with Annen and Stanier in-between bursts.
After a short conversation with Stanier, she cut me off, saying, "Sorry, got to do 'Wakin' Up Weather.' " She steps to the end of a strip of tape on the studio floor, gets her cue, and immediately begins her rap.
Behind her is a huge blue screen. But to the viewing audience, the blue wall is filled with a color map of the United States, complete with highs, lows, fronts, and symbols depicting precipitation. It's one of more than 1,000 computer-generated weather graphics created every day by the TWC staff.
A video process called Chroma-Key allows the map to be electronically superimposed on the blue screen. On either side of the screen — out of camera range — are monitors that show Stanier the final product of this electronic merging.
As she talks about a cold front in the Midwest, Stanier gestures to areas experiencing precipitation. In the studio, though, it looks like she's waving her hand in some random pattern.
She doesn't need to look at the side monitors to know where to put her hand. "Look, after you do this four times an hour for five years, you get a pretty good idea of where certain locations are on the map," she explains. "I can put my hand out there and know exactly where it is." I asked her about the new regional maps used in the radar updates, the ones that show each states' counties. "Same thing," says Stanier. "It's just practice, practice, practice."
During a Folger's coffee commercial, Stanier and Annen prepare to give yet another report on Hurricane Andrew. Annen steps next to another blue screen, and this time, the graphic is a real-time radar image of the entire hurricane. Like Stanier, Annen deftly points in midair to a line of heavy precipitation in southern Dade County.
I couldn't help but notice that neither Stanier or Annen used any type of script. "There's just no way you can script a show like this," Stanier said. "We just ad-lib the whole thing. Most of what we say comes from discussions we have before the show, with the meteorologists in the forecast center. But in the end, we wing it. We're picked for this job because we're communicators as well as meteorologists." (Though most of TWC's on-air staff are meteorologists, Stanier is still working on her certification.)
The Hurricane Andrew special reports have had their ups and downs, as might be expected of any live broadcast. A reporter was dispatched to the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables, Florida, but managed only one live report. Then strong winds blew away his antenna. (They blew away all the NHC's antennas, too, for that matter.) Soon, a decision would have to be made to send a reporter to Louisiana or Texas, where Andrew was forecast to make its next landfall. But which location would be best? TWC's veteran tropical meteorologist, John Hope, could shed some insight. But he was home, catching up on his sleep after two days' worth of back- to-back shifts.
TWC's coverage of Andrew was unique in its scope and ambition. Before TWC began broadcasting in May 1982, there was no nationwide source of frequently updated weather information. Today, at any given moment, some 100,000 viewers watch TWC for weather reports covering everything from "Fire Danger Potential" to the "Boat and Beach Report" to the "Travel Cities Forecast" to something called the "Pain Index" — a sort of misery report of cold and damp conditions that can affect arthritis sufferers. There are several ways of judging this wide variety of weather reports.
One is that they serve the individual needs of a wide viewing audience, which now stands at 52 million cable viewers. Another is that tailoring each customized report to a specific activity opens up advertising opportunities. It's certainly no coincidence that the "Driver's Report" is sponsored by Michelin tires, that the "Wind Chill Report" is brought to you by Chap Stick, and that "Garden Weather" is made possible by Troy-Bilt equipment. You get the idea.
Still, its hard to bad-mouth TWC. The local radar reports and surface observations are updated hourly — sometimes more often than that. Each hour, current surface synoptics are reviewed and updated. The station has developed a software package called Weather Star 4000. Weather Star 4000 permits selective addressing of each of some 800-odd individual weather zones. The software sorts out local surface observations, then transmits them via satellite to the cable providers serving the areas nearest each observation site. Similarly, Weather Star 4000 sends out local radar imagery and severe weather advisories (the red warning messages that crawl up the television screen) to the appropriate cable service areas.
What's more, the radar updates are enhanced versions of the raw radar returns issued by NWS radar sites. TWC uses a process that eliminates ground clutter and other false returns, and gives exceptionally accurate radar coverage and contouring. This makes TWC's radar coverage the largest, most frequently broadcast, highest quality single-source medium of near-real-time storm information.
Comparing the two
For pilots, A.M. Weather and TWC each offer special advantages. A.M. Weather is a hardball, quick fix of information tailored to pilot needs. It acknowledges the need to know where IFR and MVFR weather is located and gives winds aloft and turbulence information. A.M. Weather's downside is its once-daily, curtailed format and lack of weekend shows. The show's early morning air time (it's taped at 6:45 a.m., but there are several feeds to participating PBS stations. Check your local listing for A.M. Weather's air time in your viewing area) means that unless you catch it live, you have to tape it for viewing at a more convenient time.
TWC's big feature is its radar updates, its 24-hour flow of information, and the educational content provided by the banter of its many on-air staffers.
Earlier, I said that it was hard to find fault with TWC. But as a pilot and inveterate viewer, I think I'm entitled to some legitimate gripes.
One is the dearth of any information geared specifically to pilots. If TWC can do a segment on boating, why not aviation weather? At one time, TWC did include an hourly segment on aviation weather, but it was discontinued a few years ago. I asked why. "I guess we felt that the warnings and information from the other segments would be just as relevant to pilots," said a spokesman. "Besides, you have to call for an FAA weather briefing before each flight, anyway."
A feeble answer, I thought. TWC really should add aviation weather, if it's the be-all, end-all weather source that it claims to be. With a staff of 235 and all that software, how much extra effort could be required to add winds aloft, weather depiction charts, tops reports, prog charts, and late-breaking pireps? If it's staff they need, I'd be glad to pitch in from time to time.
The other annoyances are the abundance of segments. It's great that they provide all the information, but for pilots, it can be aggravating to miss the radar update, knowing that you'll have to sit through the "Travel Cities Forecast," the "Fall Foliage Report," and who knows what else before catching the information that really interests us. That dopey background music only worsens the wait. Then, when the surface maps finally show up, the on-air people always manage to stand in front of the entire East Coast, blocking the weather features that affect almost half the American population.
Wisecracks aside, A.M. Weather and TWC complement each other very well. A.M. Weather starts off your day with just the facts. TWC fills in the remaining hours with excellent radar imagery and updated surface synoptics. Take in both shows and add a good weather briefing, and your in-flight weather surprises should be few indeed.
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