Thunderstorm Forecasts Have Been Largely Overhyped

I'll never say for us not to let our guards down. Oh, no. But you have to wonder just how much hype the people at the National Weather Service have given recent rain and storm forecasts, at least where some parts of Dallas are concerned.

Now, I don't wish to downplay the isolated incidents which have occurred, like a recent tornado ripping apart a roof in North Dallas. The flood warnings, however, are very real and must be taken seriously. And there has been more severe weather in West Texas and Central Texas than there has been in my area in the last several days. My neighborhood has had off-and-on rain, but not much in the way of thunder or lightning. I've slept like a baby during this whole time and hadn't awakened in the middle of the night. As I've shared in a previous post, the Red River is what needs more rain than the cities and farmlands themselves. I'll be dipped if I hear one word about drought anywhere near the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We've had some good rains, but there will be more to come. The aforementioned Red River has gone from a mud trail a month ago to a significant water covering two weeks ago. After this series of events, we should see a good rise in water in the Red River once again. Hopefully, when we get to the weekend, all the rain activity can finally taper off. As I've stated in my last post, this critter wants to head for Oklahoma on my next days off from work. And Norman is usually a very volatile area in May and June, so all eyes will be kept open. Early forecasts for that trip keep changing, but the latest calls for a slight chance of rain on Sunday, with Monday looking fairly good.

Where the victims of severe weather events are concerned, my heart does go out to all involved, directly or indirectly. You never want to get caught unprepared, and that's actually better than to hear a hyped forecast and see nothing of consequence happen. Sometimes, meteorologists do get a bit trigger-happy with their forecasting techniques, and not every prediction has to include doom and gloom.

It's like I've said before: Never let your guards down when it comes to potential severe weather. The key word here is potential, and you can't take that for granted.