Radharc na Sleibhte wrote: » I was being sarcastic!!! Sorry!
GreeBo wrote: » A few gob****es are not a good reason to stop giving weather warnings. How can you possibly give any weather warning if thats your criteria? Sure then you could only give them retrospectively!? People who ignore warnings are gob****es, in your own words...who cares what they do?
Christy42 wrote: » An Orange warning is not a you may get very serious weather. Warnings are given out based on the severity of the weather event. Not the probability of it occurring. To begin with people have a tendancy to be really bad with probability. You tell people there is a 30% chance of a severe snowstorm I guarantee people will complain they were not properly warned if they have to trek home or their kids get stuck in a school. Finally people are seriously, seriously over hyping the damage caused by an red alert that ended up not being needed in parts. Some even seem to be embarrassed by the response and praising the UK. I don't know about others but if I was a foreign observer and I saw area with red warning sees no snow and 1000 cars stuck on motorway I know which country I would judge a lot more.
Gaoth Laidir wrote: » So common sense prevailed in Glasnevin and they got rid of that red warning for the northwest. It was never needed. Hopefully lessons will be learned for the future.
firemansam4 wrote: » So then maybe the definition of an orange warning needs to be changed. What if there is a 1 percent chance of severe weather, do you still issue a red alert? I think that the red in most other counties was definitely warranted, just not a nationwide red alert
Radharc na Sleibhte wrote: » All I can do is speak for my own experiences and my own region with the red warnings issued to date. I have to drive Rossnowlagh-Crossmolina-CarrickOnShannon every single day and what was warned for our region never even came close to the whole “red warning stay indoors”. Maybe met need more investment or outside help to issue more accurate forecasts and so, more accurate warnings.
MJohnston wrote: » Disappointing to hear you say something like that.
beefburrito wrote: » What happens if the wind decides not to do what the weather forecast suggested. That's like telling a flock of starlings to stand still. Does an eel swim straight.... I think some people think this cold spell came from a big freezer, kind of like kids thinking cod comes from the fridge.... Millenials ffs
Radharc na Sleibhte wrote: » Ha, I’m no millennial. I don’t expect starlings to stand still, but I do expect Met to get their upppermost highest level red warnings at least somewhat correct, especially considering the drama, hype and subsequent shutdown they cause nowadays.
beefburrito wrote: » I can see where you're coming from, and if it's been a hindrance on you,sorry to hear that. I suppose I'm fortunate not to have to get to work since Wednesday afternoon and I'm getting paid for it. Well stocked up with food here,and my misfortune is I can't collect my son,but we're in regular contact via the phone. Hopefully in the morning I can get him from his mum's. Sorry for jumping to a conclusion that you're a millennial. Hope you get to do what needs doing....
Christy42 wrote: » Of it happens people will complain and the consequences would be far more serious. There is no point giving warnings in percentages as people won't understand them. Weather severity is easier. It is also more important for helping people decide what to do. Red warning tells people if it happens it will be serious
firemansam4 wrote: » Leaving it down to common sense for local schools and businesses to close as the situation develops.
Graham wrote: » I can think of 2 flaws in this approach. 1) teachers and business owners aren't qualified to forecast the weather. It's a tough enough job for those who are qualified and have access to all the information. 2) there are weather conditions where if you wait until it's developed, you're already too late.
firemansam4 wrote: » They wont need to forecast the weather, just look outside and check the conditions. There was one ocasion earlier in the year here in Donegal we had snowfall and the roads were treacherous, so they made the decision to close the school. There was no weather warnings on that ocasion. Yet this time the roads were perfectly safe and there was no settled snowfall, but the school had to close due to the national red alert.
Radharc na Sleibhte wrote: » Yes, by community and postcode too.
MJohnston wrote: » I think that's likely to be far too expensive for ME to ever be able to do, and the forecasts are not even vaguely close to being capable of that kind of precision.
GreeBo wrote: » You seem to be under the impression that snow only falls at night and so everyone is in a position to decide to close or not in the morning. Are you maybe confusing weather with the moon? 12" of snow fell today during the afternoon...how does that work if kids are sitting in the classroom since 9am when it was fine to travel?
CelticRambler wrote: » No need to apologise, nor be sarcastic, because that kind of forecasting is not expensive, and is entirely reliable. I'm on the organising committee of a music and dance festival in the summer, and we get hour-by-hour forecasts of what weather to expect in terms of wind speed and direction, volume and duration of rain, and the risk of lightning strikes, all so that we can shift ten thousand bales of straw int the carpark field, or drop the canopy over the main stage, or put back or bring forward (or cancel) the next act. It's not rocket science, it's proven meteorolgical forecasting - but you need to have people who can interpret the information and act accordingly. When you're dealing with a general public made up of people are determined to go to work even though there'll be nothing for them to do, bosses who are determined to make their staff put in the hours, children who may or may not get stranded at school because their parents couldn't be bothered to think for themselves, a whole host of reasonable adults with reasonable fears about whether their insurance will cover them for damage/cancellation/injury/third-party claims/whatever .... not to mention the folk who are desperate to criticise the government for whatever they do, the relevant authorities have no choice but to choose a simplified "lowest common denominator" plan of action. I have a friend in Dublin who was banging on about it all being hyped up; I also have two cousins in Meath who ended up abandonning their cars at lunchtime, well before the Red warning went live at 16h00. It'd be far more constructive for the critics - here and out in the real world - to propose workable suggestions for future weather events so that everyone can learn from the experience.
firemansam4 wrote: » Why are you being so condescending? I am talking about a region that was never even forecast to get much snow. where you are talking about was completely justified in having a red alert, and is not what im talking about at all.
spookwoman wrote: » I think a lot of people these days want to be handheld through everything and they are not as aware of their surroundings. I don't know if its people being naive or as they say the attention span and ability of make a sensible decision is lacking these days.
GreeBo wrote: » 12" of snow fell today during the afternoon...how does that work if kids are sitting in the classroom since 9am when it was fine to travel?
GreeBo wrote: » Apologies.:o I find it very frustrating when people are using hindsight to complain about weather forecasters trying to save lives with rapidly changing data. What do you think is in it for them whether its Orange or Red Warning? Its not a bonus driven profession. There have already been posters who have shown charts that show red warnings were applicable everywhere, and thats without the wind shifting. Do you not agree that its better to warn and be wrong than not warn and be wrong?
GreeBo wrote: » Do you not agree that its better to warn and be wrong than not warn and be wrong?
spookwoman wrote: » There is a a certain amount of over hype, calling it beast from the east is one. It's like everything has to be hashtagged and dramatised, it's getting like American TV . Also it looks like some of the met lot are trying to out do each other and adding to the hysteria. Gerry and Evelyn were the only ones that didn't actually sound nearly hysterical when doing the forecasts on RTE.
Rodin wrote: » As regards the west/northwest the government got it completely wrong. No need to shut down the northwest as well as the south east. Hospital patients cancelled. Shops shut. Schools shut. Transport stopped. All completely unnecessary in the north west.
Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: » It worked though, what with the snow melting.
Rodin wrote: » Hospital departments closed. Cities shut down. Transport shut down. Tourists stranded. Schools closed. Areas of the country got barely a sprinkling and this was obviously always going to be the case looking at the weather reports A nationwide red-alert was a nonsense. Yeah the duck and cover method worked well.
