Is it just me, or is the weather report becoming high drama? It’s always been something that you can’t count on, but lately it’s been taking on a dramatic flair. When I was about 16, we experienced a bad inversion in the valley that lasted at least two months. When I say bad, I mean bad. We had no moisture for those two or more months. The inversion was so bad that everything–the trees, the grass, the buildings–had ice crystals all over them. We lived on the mountain bench and could usually see the entire valley across to the lake, but that year, we couldn’t see past a few blocks below us. Driving on the roads and the freeway any time of the day was like driving in a fog bank. It was bad.
We’ve had an inversion for about two weeks straight this month. Last night the news reported an upcoming story: The Inversion of 2011! Are you kidding me? It hasn’t even been that bad. When you drive about, you can still see several miles away. When you’re on a mountain bench, you can still see quite a ways out into the valleys. Silly. Then, we have been warned that this inversion will stay for at least a few more weeks. There will be no moisture! We need the moisture! Guess what we woke up to this morning? A snow storm. Uh huh.
Last winter they touted The Blizzard of 2010! That was the most ridiculous hype we have experienced in a while. We were supposed to experience this horrible blizzard that would keep us all indoors and wreak havoc on the roads. There was nothing. There was some blustery wind, but there wasn’t even any snow. There was one area that experienced some snow and high winds. That was it. We were all so unimpressed. It was a joke.
The media has become so high drama, so reality-TV based, that I find it hard to stomach anymore. Please, just give me the facts. That’s all I want. Leave the dramatization to Hollywood.
