Friday, July 24, 2020
Showing a regard for SALIENCE
In a time when all agencies and corporations are piling on new fake panics and fake emergencies every millisecond, it's nice to see one agency trying to turn down its own panic generator.
The Weather Bureau is simplifying its structure of Advisories and Watches and Warnings and Special Statements and Short Term Forecasts. Basically they're going to leave Watches and Warnings in place, and simply issue texts for the other conditions, without any automatic triggers attached.
Watches and Warnings are REAL information about REAL dangers. The others are arbitrary. For instance, one inch of snow doesn't generate anything, but sometimes two inches generates an Advisory. Silliest of all is the Pollen Advisory.
All of these messages flow through automatic systems in the media and weather websites, and most of them are NON-INFORMATION. In snowy places nobody needs to be warned about two inches of snow. In windy places nobody needs to be warned about 30 MPH winds.
The real info and non-info look the same in the media and automatic websites, so the REAL info loses its SALIENCE and CREDIBILITY.
A survey about the proposed change is here.
¶ 11:07 PM 
