Are all these weather warnings really meaningful?
By Fleur
@Fleura (30541)
United Kingdom
November 2, 2023 4:08am CST
When I was a child we didn’t have weather warnings as such. If the forecast was for stormy weather we just dealt with it when it came.
Nowadays we have yellow, amber and red warnings for high winds, heavy rain etc. and storms are given names. We are told they are coming, to stay at home, schools are closed and all sorts of things.
Today for example we are apparently being battered by Storm Ciaran. We’ve had a lot of rain and we’re expecting winds of over 40 mph later. Last month we had Storm Babet. And I don’t dispute that some small towns suffered badly from flooding and a couple of people died. But still I can’t help feeling that we’re making a big deal out of things.
In some areas the situation is undoubtedly dangerous but issuing warnings covering most of the country where largely, nothing much happens, means that it’s hard to take things seriously. When a named storm hits the country and the news is full of pictures of cars driving through a couple of inches of flood water, people holding umbrellas, and reports of one or two fallen trees and of garden furniture being flipped over – seriously?
So far this autumn we have been warned of three dangerous storms and if it hadn’t been for all the warnings we would barely have noticed.
I don’t know what they will do if some really massive storm is on the way because I imagine most people will be ignoring the warnings by now.
All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2023.
11 people like this
11 responses
@LadyDuck (472114)
• Switzerland
2 Nov 23
You are right, we had no warnings in the past, if the weather was really bad we dealt with it at our best.
We also had the warning because of Storm Ciaran. We decided to stay at home instead going grocery shopping as we usually do... nothing is happening, only a little rain.
3 people like this
@Orson_Kart (6842)
• United Kingdom
2 Nov 23
I’m surprised you’ve had a warning about the storm as its path is directly over the UK moving north-east and misses Switzerland/ Italy. You’re one of the lucky ones. This time! 
3 people like this
@Orson_Kart (6842)
• United Kingdom
2 Nov 23
I’ve seen reports of 100mph+ winds in the channel isles. That’s scary speeds. The weather predictions are much more accurate these days and I for one agree with having the warnings. It could save someone’s life or prevent emergency services having to try to get to incidents. When I was little, we didn’t even have a tele, so the weather just ‘arrived’ without announcement. ?? Sometimes it was welcome, but sometimes not. Also we do seem to have more storms now, which the experts are putting down to climate change.
Luckily for me today, it’s not as bad as what’s being reported down south. Sorry, to disagree with you, and I hope it hasn’t taken the wind out of your sails. 
2 people like this
@Orson_Kart (6842)
• United Kingdom
2 Nov 23
@Fleura Cool. After my “discussions with Sharon, I’m now a bit paranoid. 
According to the Beaufort Wind Scale, a wind only needs to reach 55mph to be classed as a Storm (10 on the scale). At these speeds trees are uprooted and much structural damage occurs. 100mph is hurricane force winds (the max 12 on the scale) Devastation. You must be in the eye of the storm today. I think we get the worst of it later on. 
Oh, and how cool to have lived in Minnesota. Are you an American who lives over here or a Brit who came back? I know the mylotter Faye lives there and the winters sound harsh. Brrr
According to the Beaufort Wind Scale, a wind only needs to reach 55mph to be classed as a Storm (10 on the scale). At these speeds trees are uprooted and much structural damage occurs. 100mph is hurricane force winds (the max 12 on the scale) Devastation. You must be in the eye of the storm today. I think we get the worst of it later on.
Oh, and how cool to have lived in Minnesota. Are you an American who lives over here or a Brit who came back? I know the mylotter Faye lives there and the winters sound harsh. Brrr2 people like this
@Fleura (30541)
• United Kingdom
2 Nov 23
Ha ha. Of course polite disagreement is what discussions are about!
I have lived in Minnesota where sirens would go off to warn of impending tornadoes. The warnings here though keep on coming and basically for us anyway nothing keeps happening - which is good of course! - but it is making me essentially tune out the warnings now.
And yes strong winds are scary, but it's all relative. The other day I was listening to 'Farming Today' from the Isle of Lewis were they said winds of over 100 mph are relatively common.
2 people like this
@Fleura (30541)
• United Kingdom
2 Nov 23
@Orson_Kart The Beaufort scale always makes me laugh because there is no such condition as 'windy' (what the regular person would call it) - it goes straight from 'strong breeze' (force 6) to 'near gale' (force 7).
Yes you're right the winters are harsh. Open the freezer door, stick your head in and breathe in and you will feel ice-crystals forming on your nostril hairs, that will give you a pretty good idea! 
Great for cross-country skiiing and dog-sledding though. And ice-fishing and snow sculpting and all that sort of thing.
I spent three years in Minnesota then I had to decide whether to apply for permission to stay longer-term and become an American, or leave. I decided to return to the UK. Originally I'm Welsh.
Great for cross-country skiiing and dog-sledding though. And ice-fishing and snow sculpting and all that sort of thing.
I spent three years in Minnesota then I had to decide whether to apply for permission to stay longer-term and become an American, or leave. I decided to return to the UK. Originally I'm Welsh.2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137636)
• United States
2 Nov 23
It's the same here... We had warnings of heavy snow a few days ago with some school closings announced the evening before the snow was supposed to happen... I'm sure the students were ecstatic over the news. Instead of heavy snow, we had frost that morning but only half the students showed up for school. I don't blame parents for keeping their children home...
I've told this story on myLot before... When I was in kindergarten, we went to school like normal and my oldest brother still in school carried me the five miles home because the snow was so deep the buses couldn't take us home. My brother broke trail for all the kids who lived out near us. I remember watching kids stumble down the path my brother made through the snow... If they were bigger kids, my brother pointed down the correct road and told them how far they needed to walk to get home. For other little kids, my brother broke trail down the side road to their houses and made sure the kids made it to their door. We got home late in the evening after setting out from school at 3 pm to walk home.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137636)
• United States
2 Nov 23
@Fleura myLot didn't give me a notification for your comment.
We always got picked up at our house and dropped off at the house. Mom wouldn't have let us walk if the bus didn't show up.
@Fleura (30541)
• United Kingdom
2 Nov 23
I remember one year when we had a lot of snow, the children went to wait for the bus as usual, but when it didn't come some went home, but others were afraid to go home and say the bus hadn't come in case their parents thought they were making it up, so they walked to school (4 miles) to check whether it was open (it wasn't) and then walked home again. I confess I was one of the ones who just went home.
1 person likes this
@SophiaMorros (5044)
• Belews Creek, North Carolina
2 Nov 23
The Blizzard of '77 stranded a few school buses that were taking kids home early due to the weather. I lived close to school so I was able to walk home. There were 20 ft drifts along the north shore of Lake Erie. People were stranded all over the place and there were quite a few weather-related deaths on both sides of the border.
1 person likes this
@xFiacre (13155)
• Ireland
2 Nov 23
@fleura It’s November - don’t go out dressed for summer. Knowing that there’ll be a storm isn’t really all that helpful, and the knowledge is sketchy anyway. We were under a yellow warning that was then rescinded!!! People inventing their own necessity methinks.
2 people like this
@porwest (92589)
• United States
2 Nov 23
I think at some point, when all local news reporting became such a competitive environment, they simply had to make a typical weather report "amazing" so people would tune in to watch. Now they have all sorts of terminology that makes even a little wind seem like the end of the world.
1 person likes this
@porwest (92589)
• United States
2 Nov 23
@Fleura I have indeed. Shock value you know. lol And yes, I catch your suggestion it's not just limited to television, but just about anything in life.
"There was a woman who fell to the floor in a fit of hysterics, her legs flailing and her fists pounding at the floor crying no, no, no!"
"What happened? Somebody die?"
"No, the cook forgot to put the pickles on her hamburger."
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (47667)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
2 Nov 23
Danger, Will Robinson... Warning approaching!
The radio often gives tornado warnings for places I've never heard of, and that blasted klaxon going off! Very annoying,
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (108144)
• Marion, Ohio
2 Nov 23
I agree that we seem to hear more warnings anymore
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (181717)
• United States
2 Nov 23
In the past we didn't have the technology that we have today. I remember being in school when it was broiling hot, walking to school in the s**w...today they call school off a lot more than they did back then. I think that the storms may have the possibility of being very severe; but sometimes they don't hit your area. I think that the forecasters forecast on the safe side. Hope you are having a good day.
