Cliff Mass: National Weather Service ‘not as good as it used to be’

Following the faux-windstorm that was said to bring heavy destruction in parts of Washington on Christmas Eve, many critics of the false information took to social media and criticized local weather analysts for the severe weather event that never occurred.

Cliff Mass, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington, argued the National Weather Service has declined in recent years, claiming it’s simply “not as good” compared to other outlets.

“A serious problem is the fact that the weather service is not as good as it used to be, and the fact that they messed up the forecast,” Mass said on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “If you look at the skill in the National Weather Service compared to what you get on your phone, they’re not as good.”

Financial incentives drive weather hype

Mass mentioned there may be a financial motive for certain weather analysts, and by drawing more attention towards a dire weather event, they can receive a better payday.

“Sometimes, but quite frequently, they hype things up. They have an economic model to do that. They have these YouTube channels, and the more hits they get, the more money they get,” Mass said. “They try to make things exciting. The problem is that these people have no background in what they do. They don’t have a degree in atmospheric sciences. They make these pronouncements and forecasts, and often they’re wrong.”

KIRO host John Curley asked why Mass believes the National Weather Service’s overall quality has dropped.

“The first reason is that the main weather model they use is inferior at best. The European Center has the best weather forecast model; the U.S. model is patently inferior,” Mass responded. “That’s a real problem. They start off with bad material, and then you know that they’re spending their time doing stuff that’s not very productive. There are a number of reasons why the National Weather Service forecasts are not as skillful as they should be. To me, that’s the real problem.”

Amid a flurry of misguided weather information, Mass recommended some of the best services people can use to get the most accurate weather reports.

“For your daily forecasts, you’re much better off using the Apple Weather or the Weather Channel. The trouble is, for the real extreme stuff, you would like to have state-of-the-art forecasting at the weather service; it’s really important,” Mass said. “In this event, they exaggerated. They went for this high wind warning that didn’t verify. Remember the ice storm a few years ago? They missed that one. The most extreme events they often have missed, and that’s a problem.”

Listen to the full discussion below.

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