Meteorology has become way more advanced and technologically superior to previous generations of what was used even 20 years ago. Supercomputers have taken on a much larger role of forecasting weather from a few hours to a month out. Forecast models can often give a broad idea of what could happen in a week or two, and has been used to forecast tracks of hurricanes (called a "spaghetti" model) to help coordinate evacuations and give people an idea what to prepare for if and when it should strike.
But oftentimes, models don't get it right.
Such is the case of this recent snowstorm across the US. As I type this, we are in the conclusion of this recent winter storm and setting in for a deep freeze. The week prior, Youtube and some weather channels were going completely crazy because at least one forecast model was predicting nearly 30" of snow for Knoxville along with up to 5" of ice mixed in as well. As you can imagine, people were a tad concerned. My phone started blowing up with people asking me what my "expert opinion" was.
What gets me are these "Social media-rologists" who take these opportunities when the worst-case scenario is even remotely possible to hype up the possibility that weather MIGHT get bad.
On the plus side, it's good that social media has made people more weather aware. On the flip side, these social media-rologists have a bigger responsibility to sponsors and their own wallets than to truly be doing a public service. They need clicks, views, subscribes, and likes to be sure to drive up the algorithms on Youtube and other platforms (Tiktok, X, etc) and get paid, and also get their sponsors exposure. So as the adage goes, "If it bleeds, it ledes", meaning that for these influencers to get more clicks and views, they have to bring terrorizing stories to the table with over-the-top thumbnails, AI-driven drivel or bombastic text wording that screams gloom and doom.
Because boring doesn't make money.
So people panic, click on these videos, get worked up and start hoarding bread and milk and toilet paper, and then get pissed off at their LOCAL media's weather folks or the local NWS because some shill for a weather product no one can afford who lives somewhere else and has really expensive software and fancy graphics said we MIGHT get an inch of ice, a foot of snow, or frozen bodies all over the landscape, when in fact nothing near that scenario occurred.
Forecast models are just fortune tellers when it comes to trying to predict what MIGHT happen in a week or two. They are NOT forecasts. At their best, meteorologists can often be accurate about 48-72 hours out when it comes to a severe weather, winter weather, or hurricane event. And even then, things change at the last minute. Hurricanes have often been shown to go right through a particular part of the coast, when it suddenly shifts due to a wobble in the eye, or an external push from a high pressure system, or something that was not seen in any model or map until the shift occurs.
And yet, if it bleeds......
There are a lot of forecast models in use globally. Some centered on particular areas of the world, others on a more global scale. They are all different in some way or other, depending on the type of software, AI, and computational programming that is fed into the computer to "predict the future". For the most part, no two models are alike. Some are programmed to give the "worst-case scenario" so that they can allow local officials to prepare accordingly. And it's these predictions that the social media-rologists feed off of to scare the bejeezus out of the simpletons who don't grasp that seldom does this ever play out, and then these social media-rologists can simply offer "free shrugs" when it doesn't happen. Or they will play it off with the "I'm not a REAL meteorologist" mumbo-jumbo, or even delete the videos and pretend that nothing happened. After all, we agreed to the terms and conditions when we started watching them that it's "for entertainment purposes only", right? RIGHT???
So we need to just say "NO!" to social media-rology. We have to stop giving these so-called experts a reality check instead of a paycheck. All they are doing is hyping up the next big weather event to put cash in their pockets as you spend yours buying all the milk and bread you can find. They need to STOP creating events that do not happen or have the likelihood of occurring at <1%.
I posted the above video last week as we were approaching the Snowmageddon of 2026. I was frustrated more than anything at the complete lack of candor some of these Youtubers have that when they hype up these storms, they intentionally omit key pieces of data that would prevent people from blowing up my phone and others' when SHTF.
Now, I am all about preparing for the worst case scenario. I'm not exactly a "prepper" but I do have supplies at the ready when SHTF. I have water, propane and propane accessories, plenty of radios, and adequate supplies for most scenarios that I can think of. But it's always the scenarios you DON'T THINK OF that get you. On the one hand, yes, making people aware of what COULD happen is not a bad thing as long as you explain that to your audience. Honesty builds trust, and that's more important than likes or views, and in the end, trust builds the likes and views and makes your content reputable, not laughable.
