Words to the Weatherwise

How many ways can a broadcaster say, “sunny and mild”? A challenge of the weather broadcaster is to communicate information to society, extemporaneously within time constraints, often multiple times in a traditional TV newscast. Only by objectively examining one's work do redundancy, jargon, vagueness, and cliché become evident, and how they may impede efficacy in the transfer of knowledge and safety information.

Another challenge is minimizing the number of words to deliver a message. Reducing words and sentences allows the presenter to breathe more naturally and put more effort into telling a compelling story. Well-chosen words improve weather alerts and weather presentations by limiting misinterpretation. This applies to written weather forecasts and discussions too. The simple way to economize is to rid redundant words, repeated thoughts, and jargon that may cloud the message or cause confusion. The best weather forecast is only as good as the audience's attention, comprehension and retention.

Can lightning ever not be dangerous? Can a downpour not be heavy? Can a tornado not be on the ground? Through a humorous review of commonly used weather words, we see how basic ideas may take on unintended meaning. We focus on words and phrases that can be limited, for the benefit of the audience. We take a light-hearted look at "top ten" lists of weather cliché’s, redundant weather phrases, and wasteful words, all to improve communication of weather information.