For more than two decades, I have suspected the weather reporters have sensationalized weather just as much as the MSM exaggerates and creates new stories. I was kicked off of a hurricane and weather reporting site in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina for telling people that the damage in Katrina wasn’t as bad as was being reported.
I was there, on the ground as a rescuer in the area of Pascagoula, Ocean Springs, and Biloxi. Damage was pretty severe within about a mile or so of the beach, but outside of that, it really wasn’t that bad. We watched as reporters told their viewers no one was there helping, while we were standing right next to them distributing food, medical aid, and searching neighborhoods for the injured and dead.
I had pictures. That didn’t matter. I disagreed with the consensus there and was expelled from the website.
About ten years ago, we had a hurricane pass almost directly over our heads, and the damage was nowhere near what the winds being reported would have done. So I bought a personal weather station. Nothing I’ve seen from that PWS has supported what the weather folks report.
The same is true about Hurricane Isaias. It was reportedly a CAT3, then weakened at the last minute to a CAT2, and even that lower bar wasn’t seen on shore. The highest wind I could find in the storm’s path was a wind gust to 116 mph with a sustained wind of 91 mph reported at a station near Santa Rosa Sound, Florida. That’s category 1 strength.
We are seeing this time and time again- a hurricane makes landfall and the wind speeds are nowhere near what was predicted.
21 Comments
Steve · October 11, 2026 at 5:33 am
This reminds me of the Weather Channel reporter in a canoe, implying the flood water was so deep she had to be in a canoe to be able to report. And then 2 men walked by her in waders with the water around their ankles. Pure MSM theater.
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Boneman · October 11, 2026 at 6:20 am
Used to see this up north when reporting on an incoming Snow Storm.. Channel 4 is calling for a dusting to maybe an inch… Channel 7 looks at that and they gotta up that to pull in ratings. They call for 2 to 4 inches. Channel 2 then has to one-up that to 4 to 6 inches… and on and on.
School administrators PANIC… close all the schools THE NIGHT BEFORE THE “STORM” is supposed to arrive…. What happens? Yeah… original “forecast” of a dusting. IF that.
So based on sensationalist meteorology, entire systems are shut down costing MANY parents a day’s pay, etc.
And they are NEVER held accountable.
Of course, having been on ground zero for Hurricane Ian, I hold nothing but deep respect for the powers of nature. And oddly, one of the things the govt. seems to do well is the NHC website. That’s really the ONLY site I trust for “reality” based predictions and tracking.
McChuck · October 11, 2026 at 6:47 am
Then they “adjust” the data to make it match the narrative. And then they delete the raw data.
Don Curton · October 11, 2026 at 7:40 am
It’s been like this for decades. Those of us who have lived our entire lives on the gulf coast know better, but they still lie and lie. Just recently in my area the temps dropped from the mid-90s to the mid-80s, yet all the weather maps are still in shades of red and orange to show global warming or whatever. Bullshit. Complete bullshit. And yeah, most hurricanes drop a category or two in the shallows before landfall. Still damaging, but the whole OMG it’s a cat 5 storm – nah, it’s a cat 3 on landfall you dumbass.
SiG · October 11, 2026 at 8:35 am
I’ve been on this topic so many times, that I don’t even know what to mention in particular. They repeatedly put everything in the worst possible way to say it. When they come up with the wind numbers, they include the forward motion, so always on the right side of the storm, and always in the direction that gives the highest numbers. I talk about hurricane Nate in 2017 and include examples from the NHC itself (including their picture). Nate’s forecast talked about winds at 85 while moving north at 20, so the strongest winds in the storm were actually 65 mph. If the storm was moving at 20, that means the winds on the west side of the eye were 40 mph below that stated 85. So an 85 mph hurricane is actually a 45 mph tropical storm.
https://thesilicongraybeard.blogspot.com/2017/10/is-hurricane-nate-hurricane.html
Then there was Irma. I went through data reported by robotic systems floating on buoys. Winds were reported at 150 (!!) and yet the highest number I could find was 69 mph.
https://thesilicongraybeard.blogspot.com/2017/09/one-last-irma-post.html
While I think this is largely the NHC justifying its existence one might be considered rebellious to point out that when it’s a declared hurricane, most homeowner’s insurance increase their deductibles, so reporting a Cat V storm when it’s really a Cat 1 (to be generous) saves the insurance companies money. Not to mention things like Helene that flooded North Carolina a couple of years ago where it has now been confessed that FEMA was ordered to ignore houses with Republican candidate’s posters outside. “Got a Trump sign? No hurricane aid for you!”
madmarc · October 11, 2026 at 8:36 am
All summer we have to listen to the psycho fear mongering weathmen squawk about how much hotter it is with the HUMIDEX!!!! Yes, I understand the science behind it, but I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, when it was rarely mentioned in Texas, because it was just DAMNED HOT. Then all winter we are told about the WIND CHILL!!! and how much colder it is. The underlying message is to stay inside. I don’t know about you readers, but if I had to stay inside with my family all the time because of wind chill or humidex, the murder rate would likely rise exponentially.
YourAverageJoe · October 11, 2026 at 10:21 pm
The Galveston Jetties are still as visible as they were when I first saw them in 1965.
So much for rising sea levels.
Steve S6 · October 11, 2026 at 10:07 am
Sex, blood and drama sell. Bonus ratings for combinations thereof.
Anonymous · October 11, 2026 at 10:17 am
Other than to get a topic to comment on, why exactly do you waste your time watching tv “ news “ ?
Divemedic · October 11, 2026 at 10:33 am
LOL. I didn’t watch TV news. I found this online, where I get most of my news.
C · October 11, 2026 at 10:58 am
I have a feeling that the bad parts of Katrina were probably concentrated in diverse areas. Where preparation and preventative maintenance were a secondary concern. With the worse parts being made that way by the federal, state, and local government entities.
Divemedic · October 11, 2026 at 11:35 am
Look, I was there, even if it WAS only in Mississippi. I worked the entire Gulf Coast from the hole in the wall in Mobile all the way to the John Stennis Space Center. Within a mile of the coast, the damage was bad. I have pictures of the I-90 bridge over Bay St. Louis completely collapsed. Downtown Biloxi was devastated. I still have hundreds of pictures from that period. The Walmart in Waveland that was completely wrecked from storm surge. The homes crushed into matchsticks. There were no, and I mean no, reports or incidents where the Constitutional rights of the local citizens were violated by anyone on the task forces, all of whom were from Florida and Georgia.
I can’t say the same for the responders in Louisiana, who were all from California.
KevinM · October 11, 2026 at 4:27 pm
I live in Biloxi and yes it was bad esp. water wise but I still think Camille(there to) was worse wind wise.I would say that Zetta some years back was stronger in the wind than Katrina?I lost three roofs the wind in that storm was at the surface and their lies the problem.The storm Nate was a POS storm came right over us no rain and little wind I assumed the winds never made it to the surface.The same with that D named Hurricane just E of Navarre in FL cat 4 maybe did nothing at the surface nothing.Lots of hype but what are you to do?Georges was rough!
Elrod · October 11, 2026 at 3:06 pm
It’s frequently repeated elsewhere, but “you may hate the media but you don’t hate them enough” applies.
Phil B · October 11, 2026 at 5:02 pm
What part of the newsman’s mantra “If it bleeds, it leads” don’t you understand?
If it doesn’t bleed enough, then add more blood. Hence the hamming it up for the camera while the area around the 10 foot radius around our intrepid reporter suffering the severe weather is … normal for the time of the year.
Paul · October 11, 2026 at 5:44 pm
It is Ocean Springs, not Ocean City. Ocean City is either Maryland or Jersey. And yes, destruction was severe within a mile of the beach, maybe a little further north. But with the focus on New Orleans most folks think that the storm breached the levees and not their sub-standard construction.
We were on the west, best, side of Isaias . It started raining about 1130. Total rainfall was less than 1/4 inch with gusty winds topping out at 40mph. The sun and blue sky were out by 5pm.
Thanks for the post Katrina storm support.
Divemedic · October 11, 2026 at 6:08 pm
Of course you are correct.
Danny · October 11, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Friday, as the storm was approaching land, I switched to the Weather Channel … and sure enough … there was that smug asshole Jim Cantore standing at some pier near Panama City blabbing about the hurricane. I’m sure he was coming off a deluxe breakfast at the hotel and preparing to go to lunch – all on the company dime of course – then a stop at the lounge before preparing for a steak dinner. Nice gig, eh?
WTF was that name anyway.
Elrod · October 12, 2026 at 6:33 am
Sorry, had to comment again.
From Danny (above:
“,…. I switched to the Weather Channel … and sure enough … there was that smug asshole Jim Cantore standing at some pier near Panama City blabbing about the hurricane…”
I gave up on the media years ago when they could not stop sending some Brain-Dead Blow-Dry out to either stand in the dark where something happened 12 hours ago and they weren’t there either, but standing in the dark “at the site” is, somewhow, supposed to create “authenticity” about their reporting, or the same thing out in the rain anytime there’s some sort of weather disturbance. Ditto to the idiots “reporting from downtown city X” when they’re just standing in front of bushes in the TV station’s parking lot.
Worthless MFs.
Watching the 6PM Propaganda Broadcast is 30 minutes you’ll never get back.
Bryce · October 12, 2026 at 7:30 am
First they changed the commonly used term high pressure system to the scarier term “heat dome”.
Now instead of a blizzard, we have the terrifying “bomb cyclone” which is neither a bomb not a cyclone.
TRX · October 12, 2026 at 10:56 am
We used to have weather reporting here. It was no more reliable than any other weather reporting at the time, but I think they were at least trying.
About 20 years ago they got rid of their entire citizen spotter network, who used to report tornado sightings, hail, etc. Some of those guys had been doing it for decades. Nope, they weren’t “official”, so they got flicked away like a booger. All the stations had then was radar and satellite imagery, which is a poor substitute for on-the-scene reporting.
Shortly after that, they started playing games with the tornado sirens. They’ll go off at random intervals. I hit the internet and look for tornado sightings. Nothing. But there might be “conditions” or “straight-line winds” in Texas or Oklahoma, 150 or more miles away. Meanwhile, they’re wardialing people’s cellphones telling them “SEEK SHELTER NOW!.”
That’s terrorism, not reporting.
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