Severe Weather Coverage in Kansas City

Kansas City has certainly had it's share of tornadoes. 50 years ago, a huge tornado rolled through the south side of the Kansas City metro area and wiped out a good portion of Ruskin Heights. The 1957 F5 tornado occurred only a few short years after the government began to take a greater look at relaying severe weather information to the public.

The tornadoes that hit Kansas City, KS and the northland on May 4, 2003 marked another major turning point in the relay of severe weather information in Kansas City. Ever since the 2 F4 and 2 F2 tornadoes ripped through the city, severe weather coverage in the media has gotten extreme. Non-stop and sensationalized coverage of severe weather has people beginning to turn off their televisions when severe weather begins to fire.

Have we gotten to the "cry wolf" scenario where people won't get the warning because the choose not to listen to the coverage any more? Today, in a special edition of the Kansas City Weather Podcast, I look into what the coverage has become, the force driving how much coverage is done, and if the increasingly sensationalized weather coverage is good in the long run.

Is KC Weather Coverage Too Extreme?

You knew it was coming. Severe weather season is here, and so has the wall-to-wall coverage of severe weather on Kansas City television. I’ve been asked by many friends lately what my thought are regarding the increasing hype over weather events in the local media. Having the unique perspective of being in broadcasting myself for 5 years, I too have started to get somewhat annoyed at the dramatization of severe weather as of late.

But, my viewpoints are somewhat skewed being a meteorologist myself AND having knowledge of how things work inside of the broadcasting realm. I would love to hear YOUR thoughts regarding this topic, and would like to start a discussion. Do you feel that local media is going overboard with their coverage? Do you feel their coverage is good? Is there something more that they could be doing?

I’m planning on assembling a special show that addresses this. I plan to use some of your responses, as well as my own opinions in the show. You can respond to this blog post, send an email to Ed [at} KC Weather {dot ] org or a voice message to 206-350-KCWX.

Let’s get a discussion going….