Local OKC weathermen - what grade would you give them?

[Dustin]

Mike Morgan, although a little dramatic, is NO DOUBT the best... I really don't get the hype of Gary England the "OK's #1 meteorologist".... I know he's been around a while but I think he's getting a little too old for the job.

[adaniel]

Mike Morgan, although a little dramatic, is NO DOUBT the best... I really don't get the hype of Gary England the "OK's #1 meteorologist".... I know he's been around a while but I think he's getting a little too old for the job.

I respect Gary England for who he his but I'm going to second this.

Sometimes, channel 4 can be exhausting to watch but I'll give them this. As far as accuracy is concerned, they nailed this storm, from what time it was going to hit and what areas where in the highest risk. And they've been saying this for like 3 days. At the same time channel 9 was predicting a "slight chance" of severe weather without going into the details. And truthfully speaking, channel 4 has pretty much nailed every major storm to hit this area since the Christmas 09 snowstorm. At the very least, David Payne's hyperventalating is no worse than watching Gary England chew out his storm chasers live on TV.

With that in mind, all 3 channels would be top weathguys in other markets if they didn't have to compete with each other, and OKC is lucky to have them. Yes, there were fatalities, but countless lives were probably saved yesterday through their actions.

[jstaylor62]

I agree.

As someone who lived in the panhandle and in western Oklahoma it’s irritating to say the least to see people complaining about the WX coverage when these areas are threatened. They are people too!

But in Guymon, they watch the channels out of Amarillo. So why waste a bunch of time on a market that is not even watching? I agree that you can have something brief because it is in Oklahoma, but you dont need to go to live shots and send chasers...

[bretthexum]

Never fully understood why basements are so popular in Colorado and not in Oklahoma, while both have soils that make it more difficult to build them.

Easy answer, they cost about an additional 25K (or more)

[earlywinegareth]

The OKC viewing area is not a perfect circle. It extends northward to the state line (Ponca City and Enid). Then far northwest past Woodward but not the Panhandle. Then far west to the state line. Then partially southwest to Lawton and Hobart. You won't see warnings for Altus or Frederick since their warnings come out of Wichita Falls and Lawton. Then far south to the Red River. Then partially southeast to about McAlester and only partially east to about Henryetta and partially northeast to Stroud. If you see a warning on an OKC station, it's because the storm is in the viewing area.

[ou48A]

But in Guymon, they watch the channels out of Amarillo. So why waste a bunch of time on a market that is not even watching? I agree that you can have something brief because it is in Oklahoma, but you dont need to go to live shots and send chasers...

I know what you’re saying about the warnings is true but Guymon and a few others in the panhandle do receive KFOR CH 4 mostly on cable I believe.
I have known more than a few people mostly from eastern OK who think places like Alva and Woodward are in the panhandle.

[BB37]

I don't know if this was commented on in another thread, but I noticed Tuesday morning that there was a lot of discussion in the media about the atmospheric conditions being so favorable for severe weather and extended duration tornados. Later in the day, I saw announcements that the State Captiol and the Oklahoma Health Center campus (where I work) were closing early because of the high possibility of severe storms. This is the first time I recall seeing entities close early because of the **possibility** of severe weather. I think this demonstrates how seriously we take weather, and the investment the local media stations and government have made in weather monitoring and storm prediction.

[kevinpate]

I know what you’re saying about the warnings is true but Guymon and a few others in the panhandle do receive KFOR CH 4 mostly on cable I believe.
I have known more than a few people mostly from eastern OK who think places like Alva and Woodward are in the panhandle.

I thought they carried 9 on cable up there a while back, but as that's been near on a decade, my memory could be a tad fuzzy.

I used to know a chap from the panhandle who called Woodward area central Oklahoma. From his perspective, measure across the top of the state from the NM line on the west to the MS line on the east and sure enough, Woodward is fairly central. He tended to call the metro as eastern OK or sometimes he'd just refer to it as downstate.

[BB37]

I thought they carried 9 on cable up there a while back, but as that's been near on a decade, my memory could be a tad fuzzy.

I used to know a chap from the panhandle who called Woodward area central Oklahoma. From his perspective, measure across the top of the state from the NM line on the west to the MS line on the east and sure enough, Woodward is fairly central. He tended to call the metro as eastern OK or sometimes he'd just refer to it as downstate.

This is drifting off topic, but the panhandle was a historical accident, and most residents there have felt ignored by the rest of the state (with some reason). Boise City, in the westernmost end of the panhandle, is closer in mileage to two other state capitols (Santa Fe, NM and Denver, CO) than to OKC. It seems like the DOK sends one of its writers out to Kenton (westernmost town in the state, one mile east of the NM state line and the only town in the state on Mountain Time) at least once a year.

[Brett]

KOKH-25 is last on my list when the tornado sirens start to sound.

[bornhere]

I'll watch Rick Mitchell gladly and Gary England reluctantly. I will just take my chances before I'll watch Mike Morgan. I mean that literally. I have turned off the TV during a tornado warning, with sirens going outside, rather than listen to Sgt. Morgan and his Howlin' Weather Commandos.

[MikeOKC]

I had the unfortunate experience of being in Atlanta during a severe weather outbreak with tornado warnings, the whole shebang. The coverage from the stations there made me realize how lucky we are in Oklahoma City. Gary England, Rick Mitchell, Mike Morgan (and their spotters) could have run circles around the weather staffs at the big stations in Atlanta. Personally, I like Rick Mitchell, but my Atlanta experience made me realize how lucky we are to have all three of these people here in OKC. It's an embarrassment of riches when it comes to storm coverage.

[YO MUDA]

Mike Morgan and David Payne are the best. I had to chuckle at Emily Sutton storm chasing. When asked where she was, she always had to ask her co pilot. But she is very calm chasing tornados.

[venture]

I had the unfortunate experience of being in Atlanta during a severe weather outbreak with tornado warnings, the whole shebang. The coverage from the stations there made me realize how lucky we are in Oklahoma City. Gary England, Rick Mitchell, Mike Morgan (and their spotters) could have run circles around the weather staffs at the big stations in Atlanta. Personally, I like Rick Mitchell, but my Atlanta experience made me realize how lucky we are to have all three of these people here in OKC. It's an embarrassment of riches when it comes to storm coverage.

Great point. We don't realize often how lucky we are to have all three of these guys here. Not to mention that we are pretty spoiled here with all the toys at the disposal of the TV guys and also the federal resources as well. There are areas of this country that desperately need better NEXRAD coverage, but Oklahoma has 4 main operational units (with pretty good overlap) and numerous others that are either research or in-development models.

[adaniel]

This is only slightly relevant to this topic. But anyone who doesn't think weather isn't serious business in Oklahoma should watch the following video:

[Achilleslastand]

Sarah Libby and Emily Sutton gets my vote......for obvious reasons.

[ou48A]

http://www1.whdh.com/video/7newslive

Boston area tornado coverage

[ou48A]

After watching some of the Boston Media coverage on line of the Tornadoes yesterday once again it made me appreciate the quality of coverage we get.

But this Boston station was horrific. It was by far the worst Tornado warning coverage I have ever seen..
They were more interested in telling you about the damage that had occurred than warring folks about the path of the tornado that was still on the ground. They talked more about the trees that were blown over than anything else.
There were no live reports from spotters.
The TV MET’s came on every 6 minutes or so with a brief update of the radar.
This was the only station that I could find from the area that was on line live with any information.

[OKCNDN]

On channel 9's coverage, I liked being able to see the spotters name on the radar to give me a sense of where they were and their perspective. I wish they had that capability on their chopper.

Rick Mitchell is my great but I wish he would quit "swallowing" during his forecast.

All are great when there is a tornado on the ground. However when there is not significant activity to report on I find it annoying that some tv stations are reporting live anyway. Sometimes there is too much coverage from these guys.

[venture]

On channel 9's coverage, I liked being able to see the spotters name on the radar to give me a sense of where they were and their perspective. I wish they had that capability on their chopper.

It is there. Just depends on where he is at in relation to the radar image. Sometimes they'll be zoomed in too close on radar and Skynews9 is actually a few more miles away.

[SOONER8693]

[QUOTE=bornhere;434477]I'll watch Rick Mitchell gladly and Gary England reluctantly. I will just take my chances before I'll watch Mike Morgan. I mean that literally. I have turned off the TV during a tornado warning, with sirens going outside, rather than listen to Sgt. Morgan and his Howlin' Weather Commandos.[/QUOTE
Amen, the people in the weather business don't call Mike Morgan, Morgasm, for no reason. And, I swear that David Payne squirts off when he gets to yell, "tornado on the ground". I feel these 2 are a little too enthusiastic about severe weather. With the channel 4 gang, it's always the biggest, fastest, hottest, coldest, strongest, lowest, highest, in the history of the world.

[Thunder]

Latest quote I so love by David was...

"It's a killer! It's a killer!"

That was enough to get most people to pay attention. lol