Stephen Abshire

I spent most of my time in undergrad preparing for a career using my spoken word more than my written one, so bear with me as I hopefully become a better writer. I think I have gotten a decent grasp of talking about weather while on camera but in the changing media world that we live in, I think it is important to diversify the methods in which we communicate weather information.

Beyond that, I think we are reaching a critical switch in how this country (and the world) understands and receives its weather information.

A 2023 YouGov poll found that 41% percent of 18-29 year old Americans rely on social media for some of their weather information, a staggering difference from the 45-61(9%) and 65+ (just 3%) age groups. All groups rely on weather apps as well, but reliance on local TV news among the youngest adults is more than half of that of the oldest (23% to 58%)

As someone who is both a member of the 18-29 year old age group and a local TV news meteorologist, I find this troubling! For most people, that is the closest day to day interaction they will have with a member of their community with professional experience in understanding weather models and deciphering NWS forecast discussions. Its not to say that you can’t learn how to create your own forecasts (I actually think everyone should learn to read models, understand radar basics, and hopefully I can help in this) but the reliance on weather apps without context is a messy practice and will lead your to carry an umbrella on dry days and even worse, soaked when it wasn’t supposed to rain at all.

So…what’s next? I mean, I don’t see a future of young folks running back to the local stations of their parents’ morning rituals. The question I ask is how should meteorologist adapt to this changing landscape to combat misinformation and help people become more weather-literate?

For me, I think it will mean doing more than just embracing social media and instead letting social media drive the style in which weather is presented. Go ahead and look up on YouTube a forecast for your specific area. Click on the first video and tell me what it looks like. The short answer is it looks like news. Which is fine if you want to watch the news! But that is not what most people go on YouTube (or TikTok or Instagram) to see.

So, for this blog and associated weather related social media accounts I hope to utilize in the near future, I hope I can begin mixing weather information that fits seamlessly into not only peoples lives but also their algorithms. Not repurposing news video or copying graphics directly from the NWS and popular weather model sites, but purposely crafted content that fits people’s needs.

I am not at all sure what will and will not work, but at a minimum I hope I can help some of you get a grasp at the world around us and how it might impact your life. And maybe I’ll have some fun doing it too ❤