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100 degree temperatures in Houston! We are all going to die!

posted by cyclops1771 on Whatever

For the past three days, we have been bombarded with "DIRE ALERTS!" that temperatures are going to reach 100 degrees on June 20th, and how this is "NEAR RECORD TEMPERATURES!!!"

First off, it's Houston, it is on the coast, so 100 degrees is about the limit due to the humidity and closeness to the Gulf of Mexico. (oceans tend to smooth out temperatures swings while increasing precipitation.) So we don't usually ever get higher than 101-102.

Second, the news just mentioned that the average first day of the calendar year for triple digit temperatures is June 19th (today). The first day this year MAY be tomorrow. This is being broadcast as the world is ending, we are all going to die, unusual, aberrant weather behavior.

I don't get it - it's Texas. It's summer. It's HOT!!! It's been this way since I first moved here in 1978. Why this is such a big story is beyond me.

For the past three days, we have been bombarded with "DIRE ALERTS!" that temperatures are going to reach 100 degrees on June 20th, and how this is "NEAR RECORD TEMPERATURES!!!" First off, it's Houston, it is on the coast, so 100 degrees is about the limit due to the humidity and closeness to the Gulf of Mexico. (oceans tend to smooth out temperatures swings while increasing precipitation.) So we don't usually ever get higher than 101-102. Second, the news just mentioned that the average first day of the calendar year for triple digit temperatures is June 19th (today). The first day this year MAY be tomorrow. This is being broadcast as the world is ending, we are all going to die, unusual, aberrant weather behavior. I don't get it - it's Texas. It's summer. It's HOT!!! It's been this way since I first moved here in 1978. Why this is such a big story is beyond me.

9 comments

[–] COFfeebreak 2 points (+2|-0)

I'm not too far north of you and we had 103 today, same tomorrow. We don't have your humidity though. It's ratings for them, same as every year. Along with this the ambulance companies posting their (almost) heat stroke numbers. The bad part is we can't be like some foreign countries where the weather bunnies wear bikinis to demonstrate just how hot it is.

[–] cyclops1771 [OP] 1 points (+1|-0)

We get the humidity, you get the tornadoes and other High Plains remnants. These West African tropical storms we get here can fuck right off!

So, it's visual clickbait. I'd like to run a test. Have them do 1 week of shows using every overblown rhetoric tactics, clickbait traits, and Mike Greenberg teasers they can throw out. Check ratings.

The next week, do the news, but then just be factual and human. Not just, "weather is next" robot talk, but just normal "Hey, it's Texas! It's hot! Weather forecast next, as if you need it!" type of promotion. See ratings.

If there were an actual HUMAN interacting group, they'd soar to top of ratings. Look at Howard Stern and Dan Patrick. Their shows went to the top because they can imitate human conversation in the midst of doing their job.