Dial M for Meteorology

Dial M for Meteorology

Call a 900 number to get good weather information – for a fee. (History of meteorology, situation in the 90s).

People planning vacations or business trips and who need accurate weather reports and forecasts for their travel destinations can turn to 900-number hotlines, the best of which are sponsored by the Weather Channel, USA Today, the Weather Radio Network, Accu-Weather, etc. All of these hotlines describe a selected city’s weather conditions, including forecasts that range from three to seven days.

Both the Weather Channel and USA Today outdo the other services by providing the most information. Those traveling by car can find out about conditions on major highways surrounding a selected city. International travelers can use these hot lines to learn about visa requirements, tipping customs, currency exchange rates, and State Department travel advisories.

Unlike USA Today, the Weather Channel sponsors a marine report of interest to beach-goers and boaters that includes tide information, wave heights, and water temperatures. The Weather Channel also presents slope conditions at over 400 ski areas. USA Today’s weather line even tries to give the traveler the chance of rain on any given date in the city.

The Winter Is Coming. Photo: Elena

Accu-Weather’s advantage over the other hotlines is its simplicity. Callers con get good, basic weather information and since there are fewer options, the call is shorter and so costs less money. All three services take about one and a half to two minutes on average to present a standard weather report and 36-hour forecast.

The national Radio Network is unique among weather hotlines in that it allows the caller to listen to live radio broadcasts from 85 local offices of the National Weather Service. The National Weather Service updates these weather reports every hour, which is just as often as many of the other services update their information. However, the reports become more frequent when weather conditions become particularly troublesome. Therefore, the caller can almost be guaranteed to get the most recent information on public warnings during hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes. This number provides detailed weather information, but because it is not menu driven, the caller who wants a basic weather report might have to listen to marine or road conditions before getting to the weather broadcast. On average, the calls last about 3.8 minutes.

For Accurate Weather

Predicting temperature accurately is more difficult in the cool season than in the summer. That’s because weather systems are stronger and move quickly in winter, leading to greater temperature variabilility.

In predicting precipitation, forecasts generally are les accurate when the weather is warm. Most precipitation in the warm season comes from showers and thunderstorms, which occur randomly, cover small areas, and don’t last long. In winter, precipitation usually results from weather systems that cover larger areas and last many hours or days, and thus is easier to predict.