Stormy (sometimes) Weather

At the risk of sounding like Jerry Seinfeld doing standup, I have to ask: What's with TV weather forecasters?

Why, oh why, do these men and women seem to take particular satisfaction in telling us of approaching misery? You know the drill. It starts with an on-air promo for the upcoming news that goes something like this: "Brace yourself for the biggest (pick one) blizzard, windstorm, deluge, heat wave...in years! Details at 10!"
Okay, so it's important to be forewarned of impending trouble. But so often it appears that the weather folks relish delivering gloomy news, and are crushed when the worst doesn't happen. Here's a recent example on a Chicago TV station.

All day, we heard about a big, really big, snowsorm bearing down on us. We braced, and braced...and the storm fizzled out, giving us only a dusting. When the weather guy came on, he was, to say the least, deflated. "It just sort of, well...fell apart," he told the audience dejectedly. "It...didn't materialize."

It was pathetic to watch. His dreams of five-foot drifts and massive traffic tieups had been dashed, at least for the present. Almost everybody in the Chicago area was happy that December night. Almost everybody.

Robert Goldsborough