{"id":11468,"date":"2010-10-21T11:46:59","date_gmt":"2010-10-21T17:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.keloland.com\/lund\/?p=788"},"modified":"2023-07-20T21:00:11","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T21:00:11","slug":"trust-me-im-a-meteorologist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/trust-me-im-a-meteorologist\/","title":{"rendered":"Trust Me, I’m A Meteorologist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Weather forecasting is not an exact science, but it\u2019s getting pretty dang close.<\/p>\n

When I started in television, way back in the dark ages, forecasts were based, primarily, on barometric pressure readings. Our radar consisted of a black and white camera we had hooked up to the radar screen out at the National Weather Service. A dark grey splotch indicated rain..or hail..or moisture of some kind in the air. Keloland has always considered the weather to be important but, the only real requirement for being a\u00a0weather man was a quick course in understanding how to read the\u00a0weather wire..which is about all the information any broadcaster had to go on.<\/p>\n

Just for fun, though, we used to regularly consult with Leo Hartig\u2019s uncle; a crusty colorful an old guy named Tabbert, I think, who claimed to possess powers of prognosticating the weather with a reasonable amount of accuracy. \u00a0Anyway,\u00a0we\u2019d prop him up before the camera at the beginning of the season to find out what kind of summer or winter lay ahead.\u00a0 That would never happen today. We take our weather forecasting VERY seriously.<\/p>\n

\"Leo

Leo Hartig Weatherman in the 60's. Unlike his uncle, Leo used the latest scientific information for his forecasts.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0What was once a simple weather set consisting of a map on which you wrote numbers and symbols with a grease pen, has transformed into \u201cWEATHER CENTRAL\u201d which takes up a third of the Keloland studio and contains hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of sophisticated radars and computer equipment connected to similar systems from all over the country and the world. Our four meteorologists not only have to be skilled communicators, but “scientists” as well in order to decipher, analyze and relay all the information available to them. I have to laugh when I hear some people claim that \u201cThose TV weather guys rarely get it right.\u201d The fact is, these days, they rarely get it wrong! \u00a0<\/p>\n

I say all this because I’ve been checking the local forecast for next week and it appears my golf season is about to\u00a0come to an end for another year. I’m really going to miss not only the game, but the great guys that play in\u00a0our\u00a0group and\u00a0just being out on that beautiful piece of ground tucked into the Brandon Valley where I’ve spent so many memorable hours over the last thirty years.<\/p>\n

\"The

The view from the clubhouse patio is one of the lovliest anywhere.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a02010 has \u00a0been a rough go for most area golf courses, including and especially my home course at Brandon, mainly due to weather;\u00a0 lots of rainy stormy days have kept golfers away. Because of all the rain, Brandon was hit by a grass-eating fungus in August that gobbled away at the\u00a0 lush beautiful fairways. Hopes of fixing the problem with a major re-seeding were washed away last month when a torrential downpour caused normally tranquil Split Rock Creek to erupt out of its banks to unheard of high levels. There have been occasions when a couple holes would get flooded but this time the entire course was under water.<\/p>\n

\"Brandon

Brandon Golf Course underwater in September<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0Within a few days though, little Split Rock Creek had to face the reality that its designation as a mighty torrent was only temporary and it quickly and quietly retreated back to its trough. It did leave behind considerable amounts of silt which the remaining grass seedlings have taken a shine to. At least, the fairways are looking the best they have in weeks.<\/p>\n

I had my best game of the year when we played on Tuesday so I\u2019m anxious for a shot at one more round to close out the season on Friday. Next week it\u2019s supposed to be rainy and colder. But then, there\u2019s a chance those weather guys don\u2019t have it right. Or is there?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Weather forecasting is not an exact science, but it\u2019s getting pretty dang close. When I started in television, way back in the dark ages, forecasts were based, primarily, on barometric pressure readings. Our radar consisted of a black and white camera we had hooked up to the radar screen out at the National Weather Service.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lund-at-large","category-60","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11468"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11842,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11468\/revisions\/11842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}