What’s
The Weather Like?
This
is a question heard in every home every morning. As we all start our days, we
want to plan our wardrobes and adjust our daily plans accordingly. There’s
no better medium to get that information out than radio. Is your station doing
its part in informing people of “what the weather is like”? Have you
listened to your station’s forecasts lately? How are your announcers delivering
the information? Do your announcers just “rip and read” your forecast
from the National Weather Service?
Many of us are taught to make eye contact with our listeners. It’s what
radio is all about: one to one relationships. Your DJs are not Meteorologists,
and shouldn’t try to sound like them. They need to be themselves and speak
to their audience on terms that the audience can understand easily. Here are
some ideas on how to make your forecasts get to the point without being so precise
that they become boorish. Think of it in terms of telling your friend what the
weather will be.
Here are nine easy steps to a better sounding forecast:
Drop all the
“mostlys.” It’s either going to be sunny or cloudy. The mostly
is not necessary. When dealing with those “partly” days, it’s
fine to say partly cloudy or partly sunny. Think about saying, “a few
clouds” or “some clouds” or “a few rays of sun”
or “we should see a little sun today.” Avoid the words “variably”
and “variable,” too. How often does a person, other than a meteorologist,
use that word in normal speech? Just use “partly” instead. Avoid
the phrase “increasing cloudiness,” too. Instead, just say “becoming
cloudy.”
Drop the
percentages. It’s either going to rain (or snow) or it isn’t.
It’s really not that important to throw more numbers at your listeners.
For example, if the chance of rain or snow is only thirty percent, then
just say “a slight chance for some rain.” If the chance is higher,
then try, “there’s a good chance we’ll see some snow tonight.”
Make the
highs and lows exact. Say, “a high of 87 today, low tonight 55”
instead of “highs in the upper 80s and lows in the mid 50s.” It
doesn’t hurt to be precise here. Using one number, rather than a range,
gives people a goal to look for.
Think about
dropping the word “degrees” in your forecasts. Everyone knows
that the number associated with a high and low temperature is in degrees.
It’s just unnecessary verbiage. Also remember when stating the current
temperature, it is understood that the reading is taken outside. Therefore,
pointing out that the current temperature is “34 outside” is not
really necessary. Think about it, are you really gonna be giving the inside
temperature?
Avoid the
wind speeds. How many people do you know that know what a 15mph to 20mph
wind feels like? Not many. Instead, use one of the following descriptive
terms, if necessary. Calm (no wind or less than 4mph), light winds (5-10mph),
breezy (10-20mph), windy (15-25 or 30mph), very windy (above 30mph)ˆ.
If you want to relay the fact that the wind will be out of the South, then
say “a warm breeze...” Avoid the phrase “diminishing winds,”
instead, say “becoming less windy” or “the winds will be
dying down later today” or “not so windy tonight.” Unless
the wind and wind speed are a factor in how your listeners plan their day,
I would mention that part of the forecast sparingly.
Avoid the
term “listening area.” Trust me, people do not know your coverage
area. They don’t know if they live in the “Northern counties of
our listening area.” It’s a term that makes me cringe every time
I hear it. TV people are really bad about using this phrase (“viewing
area”), but at least they have a map right behind them to explain what
that area would be. Instead, in your statement, use a landmark to help describe
the area affected. “Watch for rain especially North of I-70” or
“most of the storms should be near Springfield and Raintree County.”
That gives the listener a real reference point as to the location of the
area being affected by the weather condition in your forecast.
Consider
giving your weekend forecast starting on Wednesday. Most people really start
planning their weekends by the middle of the week.
Personalize
the forecast. Think about your listeners’ lifestyles.
How will the weather affect their plans. Include local and area events in
your forecast. “It’ll be nice and sunny Saturday for the big game”
or “looks like we’ll have a great Mainstreet Festival on Sunday
with lots of sunshine and a high of 75”. At the same time, though,
avoid clichés. Watch overused phrases like “throw another log
on the fire tonight, its gonna be cold,” or “you’ll need
an extra blanket tonight...”
When the
cold winter weather arrives and the temperature drops below zero, avoid
the terms “negative” or “minus,” and while you're at
it, saying the “zero” is not all that necessary either. Say it’s
“8 below.” At the same time, avoid the temptation to say that
the temperature is “above zero.” Say “today’s high will
be 10” rather than “today’s high will be 10 above.”
I believe that many broadcasters know that the weather is a vital part of their station, but how much thought goes into how the information is presented? In every one of these cases, you will see that when we speak to someone one to one, we don’t use the meteorological terms. We may be aware of these terms from hearing them on the radio or seeing them on TV for years, but we don’t use them in our daily lives. Radio announcers that are trying to connect with their audiences and make that eye contact, should consider making a more conscientious effort to personalize their forecasts. It will make them sound better and your station sound better, too.
•Special thanks to Dave Dombek at AccuWeather.com for the wind speed information. Dave says that there are regional variations to the terms listed. For example if you live in a place where you have constant and regular winds of 30mph, saying it would be windy when the forecast calls for 20mph winds would be incorrect. Use the wind speed information outlined above as a guideline, and always use common sense.
If you have any questions or comments about this article, please e-mail me.
This article was also published on the All Access Music Group Web site (www.allaccess.com) in October 2004.
© 2000 Peter J. Oleshchuk