Do We Still Need Weathermen?

As I was driving to work today I was listening to MPR. One of their weather people came on and said it was her last day on-air. I don’t remember her full name. Nicole something? Anyways, she said she was leaving because she had “a lot going on”. That made me wonder what it was that a weatherperson was too busy doing to not be able to do the weather. Was she doing weather for other stations? Maybe she had kids? I wasn’t sure. But this all got me thinking about something else: do we even need weatherpeople anymore?

I mean, sure, they’re great during broadcasts as tension relievers. They are the crackers at a news wine tasting. They usually have outrageous, oversized personalities and can often be humorous, as far as local TV news humor is concerned. But are they really necessary for their jobs anymore?

If you’re like me (and pretty much everyone else I know) you get your weather from your phone. Apple has a nice little app that uses data and forecasts from The Weather Channel. There are other alternatives out there as well. NOAA has a great radar app that costs a few bucks but I think is really worth it. That’s the one I use but only for radar. I feel pretty confident I can usually tell the weather from just looking at the radar. Oh hey, a bunch of rain is moving towards us? I think it’s gonna rain soon. Not exactly rocket science.

I grew up on the video posted above. And if you’re 35 or older you probably did too. The smooth jazz. The weird and out-of-date font that was out of place and ancient-looking even in 1995. The scrolling messages along the bottom. This was all we had before the widespread use of the internet. And even then, most of us still waited for our city to come around on The Weather Channel. But smartphones pretty much killed off the need for any kind of formalized weather forecast on TV. Even The Weather Channel knows this which is why they have segments like the ones below to grab attention away from the mini-computers we all have in our pockets.

Some of those are legit awesome but totally unnecessary. We don’t need a Hollywood blockbuster. Just tell me if I need an umbrella or not. Again, none of this is that complicated. Which is probably why they feel compelled to add in such extravagant nonsense. Also, The Weather Channel has pretty much abandoned the simple forecasting model and has lots of reality TV shows now. Look at this list of shows:

Pretty wild stuff.

So why does every local news program still have weatherpeople? The ones in the city where I live, St. Paul, MN are minor celebrities. The biggest name is arguably Ian Leonard from Fox 9. I cannot say strongly enough how much I really dislike him. Everything about him screams fake, which is probably why so many Midwesterners love him. His personality is fake. He’s arrogant. He tells bad jokes, ones that aren’t bad enough to be ironically funny though. They just suck. He sucks. And yet he’s probably the most famous local news personality in the Twin Cities. Maybe even Minnesota at large. Look at this frigging goober:

This is him at his most likable. And of course, he gets into the Halloween spirit every year with dumb gags like this one:

Gag me with a spoon. He’s also one of those people who are super into charities and my goodness does he like to let you know about it. Weathermen are a strange combination of science nerds, failed stand-up comedians, and overcompensating goons. Imagine Neil DeGrasse Tyson but a lot less famous and accomplished.

But this isn’t a post about why I can’t stand Ian Leonard. It’s a post about why we still have weathermen at all. And I think the reason is pretty simple. When it comes to stuff like the weather, it’s all well and good to get it from an app but it’s much nicer, more comforting perhaps, to get it from a person. There’s something about an “expert” telling us “hey, it’ll rain later” that makes it feel a bit more real and reliable. They can provide context and advice. They can speak in an empathizing tone and connect with viewers at home. Or listeners on the radio. For all the tech I have at my fingertips, there’s just something nice about having a person tell you.

Plus, the bloopers are awesome! What other “news” job requires the reporters to actually go INTO the story they are covering? HAHAHA look at these jokers.

Ultimately, there are a lot of jobs that exist that we don’t really NEED. But they do provide some kind of ancillary benefit outside of their stated purpose. And man, I love a good blooper.

Weatherpeople are harmless fun. They add a bit of joy to life. And of course, I would be remiss without mentioning one of the biggest highlights of having a weather person on the news. Sometimes, they are absolute babes. Granted, this is perhaps a bit misogynist of me. Maybe more than a bit. But since we’re talking about the superficial necessity of them anyway, we might as well talk about why half of them still exist. They’re hot.

Aye caramba!

Let’s conclude this post by saying that we don’t really even need news programs anymore at all, let alone the weatherpeople. Everything is online and easily accessible. Why wait around through commercials and the like? Because it’s nice. It’s comforting. And because of hilarious work-from-home bloopers with cats like these: