Weather 2015

For broadcasters, the big payoff from mobile and social media comes when viewers tune in to watch the local weathercast. When they do, they’ll find several new presentation and forecasting tools that make weather on the big screen even more accurate and easy to understand. One impressive new presentation tool finding its way into weather and traffic reports is augmented reality, or AR. Above, KWTV Oklahoma City displays wind shear warnings using Baron Services tech. This is the final installment of a three-part special report on weather. Read all the stories here.

Many local broadcast meteorologists say that the national reporting on severe weather is out of control, with sloppy reporting and almost incessant hyping of events. What this is doing, they add, is spreading misinformation that may be desensitizing viewers to actual weather risk.

AccuWeather founder Joel Myers explains how his State College, Pa.-based company and the business of TV forecasting have changed over the decades, the qualifications needed for calling the weather on TV and the role of government in the now heavily commercialized business of forecasting. This is the first of a three-part special report on weather. Part 2 will appear Wednesday morning and part 3 will run Thursday.