Complaining about the weather
By Joe Rector
The weather forecasters are warning folks in our area of “possible” dangerous conditions. In fact, they tell us that multiple winter storms are stacking up on the west coast and are heading, one after the other, for the east side of the country. If all of these storms develop and follow the paths that prognosticators tell us, much of the country will be trapped inside for quite some time.
On whom we are relying for planning our activities and lives are folks who are trained meteorologists, or maybe not. Is it possible that all of the weather people on all of the television stations are meteorologists? I seriously doubt that every person on our local stations is so trained. Perhaps many have certifications that allow them to present the weather conditions and to pass along what the National Weather Service says. Hey, don’t get me wrong; I appreciate the work that those television people do. I could never stand in front of a camera with a green screen behind me and point to specific locations that appear on an empty background. If it were me, my pointing to Tennessee might move it to the northeast or even the west coast.
Weather around this area is particularly difficult to predict. To our west is the Cumberland plateau. Weather systems seem to be zeroing in on our area, but once they reach the plateau, those storms shift to the north or south. The mountains also protect the region from severe weather. The winds might gust to sixty miles per hour there, but our homes enjoy much calmer breezes.
I firmly believe that our careless actions have altered the weather. Snow used to be a regular occurrence in Knoxville. For the last few years, however, our accumulations have been sparse. To the west of us, Nashville has now become part of tornado alley, and that location is socked with many more severe storms and weather situations than in years past. Our winters are dominated by rain instead of snow. In the 60s, a snowstorm could hit as late as April and as early as November. Temperatures also seem to fluctuate more. Even this year, we had days in the upper 60s the week before Christmas.
Bad weather isn’t as much of a concern around our home these days. Both Amy and I are retired, and our daughter lives too far away for us to know what’s going on in Hendersonville. However, the best kind of snow accumulation is the kind we used to receive when I still taught school. Snow could fall all night and into the morning, just as long as most of it melted by about 11:00 a.m. Being stuck at home because of snow used to drive me nuts, even though I had no place to go or nothing to do. I just hated the feelings of being trapped.
Before this day is over, I’ll see what actually befalls the area. I hope ice isn’t one of the possibilities because that stuff stops everything and everyone. In past years, such weather has trapped me on the UT campus after a night class and in Winston-Salem on my way home from a business meeting. As for weather predictions, I don’t pay much attention to them. Like Lewis Grizzard used to say, “I have a weather dog. If she comes inside wet, it’s raining. If she doesn’t come in at all, it’s windy.” I possess no powers, other than prayer, to affect the weather. Like most people, all I can do is watch what happens and complain about it. If the bad weather does plague us this winter, please drive carefully and be safe. If you’re my age, stay inside and don’t risk falling and breaking a hip.
