OKC Weather Coverage Wars 2013

[Easy180]

Many of the people I know, refer to him as Mike Morgasm and consider him a "fear" monger. Everything with him is or is going to be the biggest, fastest, hottest, coldest, worst, wettest, dryest, you get the point. I wish Ch 4 would go another direction, as it appears it is already rubbing off on Emily Sutton. It's all about grabbing and holding the audience with that bunch at 4.

They have recently set a new world record of describing tornados as violent...We all kinda know that by now

[bluedogok]

Even a little one is violent if you are in its way.....

[SomeGuy]

I remember one time when I was watching KFOR a year ago during a severe weather outbreak I believe Morgan has said this a few times, but he said something in the lines of " This storm is coming your way your time is up". I watch KOCO because the storm chasers and the meteorologists are calm and don't freak everybody out

[Jon27]

I know this wasn't smart, but we ran from the storm. However, I've lived in the Yukon/Mustang area for the majority of my life. When a wall cloud forms from the SW going NE, when it hits Canadian County, it has been known several times to move East, then start drifting to the SE. Knowing this, we went to the Love's in Guthrie off of I-35. The storms were moving out of Logan county while we were heading that way. Mustang Rd to get on I-40 was packed. We took NW 10th, and got on Kilpatrick. Just had rain in Guthrie. Waited there for over 2 hours. There were several others that showed up there that did the same thing. That being said, a storm shelter will be put in hopefully by the end of the year. The tornado touched down just a little over 5 miles west of our house. Had it not have started moving south, would've been terrible. I have heard there is an old indian legend that Yukon is at the fork of 2 rivers, therefore will never be hit by a tornado.

[OKCisOK4me]

I watch News9 cause they don't have Jessica Schambaugh.

[bchris02]

I always prefer listening to Mike. He may be the most sensational but he's also the most accurate. Damon Lane earlier this week said he didn't think we would see a huge outbreak with this three-day system and to not worry. Mike was forecasting severe weather as far back as last week and was the first to say Friday was going to be the most dangerous day. He is the best forecaster we have in the OKC metro and I hope he doesn't lose his job.

[boscorama]

* like *

sometimes i wonder if we need a better way to shut down interstates when severe weather is crossing. Now i am thrilled that odot finally pulled their heads out and posted a weather alert on the large signs. However, i still think they need to be posting things like "tornado watch until 12am" or "tornado warning oklahoma county"...something to just get in the drivers faces of stay alert or even don't proceed and find shelter. Heck maybe the digital billboards should show live radar or something to. Who knows.

[boscorama]

Like

Ok, give me a minute here. Even in this now infamous Mike Morgan video, there is another thing he did that is quite questionable.

Telling people to pick up the phone or knock on your neighbors door if they have a storm shelter is not a good idea. We all need to personally be held responsible to have a plan for ourselves and our immediate family long before a tornado is ten minutes away. To put it bluntly, and meaning no disrespect, it places a tremendous burden on those who DO have shelters as to what to say. If having done the responsible thing and you have a shelter that is for 4-6, and all the neighbors know it, what do you do when they are knocking on your door one after another? At some point, and at a very emotional time, you have to make choices and say yes or no to him or her or the other. A small shelter for you and your family does not equal a community shelter. It's really unfair to these people for Mike Morgan to be on the air telling people to call your neighbors or knock on their doors. You have a shelter that maxes at 6 and all of the sudden you have 20 (or more) following the TV guys advice and it just puts those with personal shelters in an extremely uncomfortable position. They already have that problem without the TV meteorologists jumping in to add gas to the fire. Anybody with shelters know it can be a very stressful thing to have to make these judgement calls. It sometimes means losing jilted neighbors forever. The reality is the personal home shelter can only hold so many people.

[venture]

I watch News9 cause they don't have Jessica Schambaugh.

Well...they have Amanda Taylor who is HORRIBLE. They need to fire her and get Robin Marsh to take her rightful (and long earned) spot as Co-Anchor of primetime.

[yukong]

Sad news...just saw a release that 3 of those killed in El Reno were storm chasers. One was the well known and renowned Tim Samaras from the Discovery show Storm Chasers. His son and a crew member were also killed. Tim was considered one of the safest and most cautious of chasers. Sad, sad, beyond sad. I really admired Tim and his work.

[venture]

Sad news...just saw a release that 3 of those killed in El Reno were storm chasers. One was the well known and renowned Tim Samaras from the Discovery show Storm Chasers. His son and a crew member were also killed. Tim was considered one of the safest and most cautious of chasers. Sad, sad, beyond sad. I really admired Tim and his work.

Saw that this morning as well. There are just some storms that aren't worth chasing. HP/rain wrapped sups are one of those in my book. If I can't see things clearly a couple miles out, with plenty of escape routes, I don't mess with it. Too many put themselves in position to get overtaken by the storm.

[yukong]

Well, word is now that they were killed because they got "stuck in storm chaser convergence." I guess that is too many chasers in too small a place without adequate escape routes. Just so sad. I heard he refused to chase the May 20th storm because he thought it was going to be unsafe.

[Uncle Slayton]

You see, we share the same opinion that being on the road is bad. And encouraging it is worse.


Everyone blasting Morgan and KFOR is uncalled for is all. There is no evidence to back it.


Instead this should be about "NEVER GET IN YOUR CAR TO RUN FROM A TORNADO" and not "MIKE MORGAN KILLED 9 PEOPLE AND KFOR SHOULD GO OFF THE AIR FOREVER, IT'S HIS FAULT!"


If you think that is exaggerating, look @ social media right now. Mike Morgan is getting roasted.

Mike Morgan has some roasting coming and he should feel a medium-high fire under his butt. That being said, I agree with the comments about storm shelters and cars as refuge. Mike Morgan bears, ultimately, no more responsibility for your personal safety at the individual level if you get killed by the weather, even if you took a suggestion or acted on a comment he made, than he owes you for your ruined food if you ignore him and your cookout gets rained out.

You alone are responsible to be an active agent in your own safety and those in your care. This means plan, prepare, practice, execute and have contingencies. Sure, there are going to be times when you are caught by an impossible-to-predict event, that's life, but this thing went PDS around mid-afternoon and most of us who didn't live in a cave knew days in advance it was could be dicey.

Morgan is a crier of doom that would be better suited, perhaps, to a street corner with a sandwich board than a broadcast studio, but he didn't put the individual keys in the ignitions.

Is it possible that some of what he said last Friday led people to make decisions that cost lives? Yes. Is he responsible for their deaths? No.

They're weather forecasters, not life coaches, therapists, stock brokers (although that is more operationally akin to what they do). Guess they're going to have to run a disclaimer with every tornado warning that says "taking our advice is no guarantee against injury or death."

As for the urging people to go find a storm shelter or whatever, the response was perfect. There's a guy two houses down who has a storm shelter that for some reason half the neighborhood feels is 'theirs' and he's too nice to say no, so his cellar is always crowded. How do you say no to the 92 year old woman who can barely walk, or the family of six, etc?

I have been invited a couple times but always politely declined because 1) it's his and for his family, and 2) I'm not going to leave my dog (another decision for which I'm responsible and which could cost me my life. I'm ok with that...no one wants to be in a confined space with a 130 pound dog w/ gas, and he's too good a friend to leave).

[Anonymous.]

Wow. I am truly saddened. I cannot believe Tim was killed. What a great guy he was. I am still in shock.

[Anonymous.]

Does anyone know where the 7 vehicle deaths were? Location wise? I know the Mother/Child combo out in El Reno.


Per media sources it looks like most of the injuries (and I assume deaths) were along I-40 West heading towards Yukon.

This would mean the people are sitting there since they closed I-40 in Yukon. Mike Morgan told people to drive south and only mentioned specifically for people to go south on I-44. I would like to see how many deaths were on I-44 from the tornado.


Need more evidence before you can bring out pitchforks, so if anyone knows - please post.


EDIT: After further research - it appears several of the deaths reported are actually from flooding incidents in rural areas.

Just to set some things straight here on the Morgan pitchforking.

Of the 7 confirmed vehicle deaths:

Mother and baby out in El Reno on I-40. 2 deaths
Tim and chaser crew just south of I-40. 3 deaths
Associated rural flooding. 2 deaths

This is what is confirmed, and I think there are still people who are missing in flood waters.


So there has been no confirmed deaths on I-44 or associated southbound traffic areas out of OKC area in which Morgan told people to drive to if they could.


Evidence is a b!tch when it doesn't support your personal pitchforking agendas. Yes Mike was incorrrect and it could have been worse. But using these people above as examples of who Mike put in danger is incorrect.

[venture]

Well, word is now that they were killed because they got "stuck in storm chaser convergence." I guess that is too many chasers in too small a place without adequate escape routes. Just so sad. I heard he refused to chase the May 20th storm because he thought it was going to be unsafe.

I'm really biting my tongue a lot on all of this news and the videos coming out. Why would you ever get to the E or SE of a rotation knowing what the wind profiles were that day. Not to mention, why would you be on the north side of it with baseballs falling and the chance if the circulation occludes it's coming back at you. Just a sad situation all around. I think greed for getting that amazing video is finally starting to be paid back. Not saying that is the case for those killed, but honestly - sometimes it is not worth it to put yourself in that position. ESPECIALLY...in a larger populated area where you know locals and the flood of chasers (which happens with any OKC area storm) are going to clog roads.

Sad sad sad.

[soonerliberal]

I'm so glad zookeeper mentioned this and I think it needs to be repeated over and over again, the vast, vast majority of the people who ride out even an F4-F5 tornado in their bathtub will survive. There will be horrible stories, but the risk of telling a collective city to leave their home, get in a car, and congest the local roads and highways is far greater than giving them sound advice to sheltering in place.

People need to be reminded of this by all... In any storm, your chances of surviving in a bathtub are much higher than your chances in a Camry.

[yukong]

The web site, theweatherspace.com has an article out wherein they postulate from info they have that Tim and crew were caught in a group of chasers and "tornado paparazzi" (my editorializing there) when the tornado moved from a direct eastern track to an almost due north track. In other words, they were running parallel to the tornado when it turned into them and because of the crowd and the limited space on the roadway, they couldn't get out. They posted this photo...

They claim the area circled in pink is where the team was when the storm turned back on them.

[damonsmuz]

Just a heads up on theweatherspace.com DON'T GO TO THE SITE (now that I say that you probably will). The kid that runs the site has had many run-ins w/ the NWS. He issues his own warnings and watches, says he's far more accurate than the NWS and claims that the NWS is trying to sue him, etc. It's gotten to the point that the NWS had to issue a statement to the public to be very careful about the site (Kevin Martin is the dude that runs it)

In other words I wouldn't trust a single thing from that site...

[venture]

Just a heads up on theweatherspace.com DON'T GO TO THE SITE (now that I say that you probably will). The kid that runs the site has had many run-ins w/ the NWS. He issues his own warnings and watches, says he's far more accurate than the NWS and claims that the NWS is trying to sue him, etc. It's gotten to the point that the NWS had to issue a statement to the public to be very careful about the site (Kevin Martin is the dude that runs it)

In other words I wouldn't trust a single thing from that site...

I figured it was your own personal site? I KID!

[damonsmuz]

Venture... good one. Even im not that cray cray

BTW, here is the statement from the NWS regarding that kid

NOUS41 KWBC 081429

[yukong]

Well that's interesting. I had no idea. I got the link for the site from the Denver Post. Since Tim was from Colorado and did work with a Denver TV station, I figured the Post would be reliable. They quote the story on Theweatherspace.com and provide a link. I had never seen that web site before today. I'm glad you pointed this out. But, I figure the story is probably close to right regarding what happened to Tim.

[jn1780]

Well that's interesting. I had no idea. I got the link for the site from the Denver Post. Since Tim was from Colorado and did work with a Denver TV station, I figured the Post would be reliable. They quote the story on Theweatherspace.com and provide a link. I had never seen that web site before today. I'm glad you pointed this out. But, I figure the story is probably close to right regarding what happened to Tim.

The Denver Post should be ashamed of themselves to linking to that wackos site. He just wrote an article based on what he read from other sources on the internet. I found it especially funny how he said Tim emailed him after every chase. I really doubt that.

[Uncle Slayton]

The scientist in me has to ask, and I mean no offense or disrespect to those who may have known Tim and his crew, but given the preponderance of digital media everywhere, what is the likelihood that cameras were rolling when the team got hit (ala Steve Irwin)?

I do remember him on the show and he seemed a voice of reason and sanity among the Imax guy and people yelling "DOMINATE!" Truly sorry he met his end this way.

[RadicalModerate]

The scientist in me has to ask, and I mean no offense or disrespect to those who may have known Tim and his crew, but given the preponderance of digital media everywhere, what is the likelihood that cameras were rolling when the team got hit (ala Steve Irwin)?

I do remember him on the show and he seemed a voice of reason and sanity among the Imax guy and people yelling "DOMINATE!" Truly sorry he met his end this way.

There is "preponderance" (e.g. Mike Morgasms) and then there is "postponderance" (usually 20/20 according to "myth")
Somewhere in between there is dealing with reality such as not getting stuck in a traffic jam or watermelon sized hailstorm in an attempt to dodge a tornado. I guess that would simply be called "ponderance" . . .

(and what about those flooded underground storm cellars in some isolated locations, not all of them?)

I will say this: The other night I was nearly as nervous as Steve Irwin in a tank full of manta rays
(and I decided not to go looking for trouble while hoping it didn't come to me.)