IT'S THE WEATHER

I live in Iowa. Our weather sucks. I was born and raised in Iowa. Trust me -- it has ALWAYS sucked. Every summer, we brace ourselves for those days when you walk out the door and the air is so hot and thick you cannot breath. 100 degree days with 80% humidity are common...

And our WINTERS! Youza. We get "cabin fever" because we can't get out of the house for days or weeks because it's 20 degrees BELOW zero and there's so much snow, the county can't clear the road...

Our weather is our weather. It is what it is. The weather has NOT CHANGED. It has always sucked. What HAS CHANGED is the weather forecasting.

Which -- if you ask me -- has become ridiculous. At the first sign of trouble (by that, I mean -- there is snow in Nebraska) -- they interrupt television shows, put up storm warnings and weather watches (I don't know the difference and I DON'T CARE -- so please don't email me to explain it).

IT IS WEATHER, PEOPLE...YOU LIVE IN IOWA...GET OVER IT...

The first snow of the year was coming our way yesterday -- and the local stations all had crews out in the counties, sending in "real time" reports of road conditions -- including the "mile marker" information...most schools were closed...EVEN THOUGH we didn't get a hint of snow until after lunch...the mall was a ghost town....
The local weatherman said, "the snow should hit Interstate-80 in 15 minutes..."

My point is -- the weather has NOT CHANGED ONE LITTLE BIT. When I was growing up, we had blizzards and dealt with extreme weather in a very capable, safe and ordinary way. It was just another factor in our lives.

But, thanks to television, 24-hour news channels, cable competition and the internet --weather forecasting has become a spectator sport -- complete with a non-stop barrage of dire predictions and worse case scenarios all designed to create fear.