Hasta La Creative!

For ages, when a dire weather prediction came up lacking, there was little the average person could do beyond shaking a fist at the TV. But now we have Twitter, an outlet not just for bitching, but also for atonement.

Late last night, after New York City and nearby areas went into full disaster-prep mode in expectation of several feet of snow, National Weather Service meteorologist Gary Szatkowski took to Twitter to apologize when it became clear the region would receive only a scant few inches.

For most New Yorkers, the rather extreme weather warnings simply resulted in an early (if frustrating) dismissal from work and a bonus snow day. But there was also a tremendous economic and logistical impact on the communities involved. Recognizing this, Szatkowski, lead meteorologist for the NWS office in Mt. Holly, New Jersey, was effusive in his apologies.

Here’s a chronological recap of how Szatkowski’s messaging and tone changed from Sunday night to early this morning:

On Sunday, Szatkowski was sharing National Weather Service predictions that anticipated around 2 feet of snow for the New York area.

Here’s regional view of ‘reasonable worst case scenario’ guidance from @NWSWPC This is for main storm, not clipper. pic.twitter.com/UJfZen2Sxm

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 25, 2015

Looking at latest SREF ensemble, threat of snowfall rates 2 inches per hour (very heavy snow) escalates after 400 PM Monday.

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 25, 2015

Here the new QPF forecast for the next 72 hours. This is a precipitation forecast, as though everything fell as rain. pic.twitter.com/8ZNPPbwTmi

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 25, 2015

But we know everything will not fall as rain. Much of that deeper purple area over land will fall as snow.

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 25, 2015

A rough rule of thumb is 10 inches of snow for every one inch of liquid. So areas with 2+ inches on that map suggest 20+ inches of snow.

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 25, 2015

Sunday afternoon, the National Weather Service released a blizzard warning that largely set the tone for the next 24 hours by calling the storm “a crippling and potentially historic blizzard.”
 

Wow. pic.twitter.com/0mK4c8WYgC

— Dennis Mersereau (@wxdam) January 25, 2015

Here’s that updated snow total graphic from @NWS_MountHolly Trended higher (but you’re not surprised) pic.twitter.com/KLpvA2g69L

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 25, 2015

Well, it looks like what needed to be done has been done. I believe we are at the part of the recipe where it says: “Just add snow.”

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 25, 2015

Another snow forecast map, showing totals across the region. Includes tonight’s clipper. We maxed out the scale. pic.twitter.com/1AwByN8zlg

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 25, 2015

By early Monday, though, Szatkowski was beginning to express concerns that earlier predictions might not come to pass, at least not on the level of 30 inches.
 

OK, to cut to the chase. Some of the more extreme solutions for the storm in this region have ebbed. So, snowfall amounts have been lowered.

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 26, 2015

Here is the snowfall forecast from @NWS_MountHolly issued earlier this morning. pic.twitter.com/Maseg7NsFQ

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 26, 2015

Ever throw a party and then wait for the guests to show up?

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 27, 2015

Let’s see how far west the bands of snow rotate & how well they maintain their intensity. Dice have been rolled. We’ll see see what happens

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 27, 2015

New snowfall forecast map from @NWS_MountHolly. Amounts have trended lower, but lots of double digit snow on the map. pic.twitter.com/vBTjuArd9n

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 27, 2015

Shortly before midnight, Szatkowski’s tone shifted considerably as he and the rest of the National Weather Service realized conditions would not be incredibly severe for New York and New Jersey. By then, government officials had issued road travel bans and suspended mass transit, essentially bringing one of the world’s largest cities to a halt.
 

OK, no sense postponing the inevitable. Snow amounts have been sharply curtailed. New products coming out now from @NWS_MountHolly

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 27, 2015

My deepest apologies to many key decision makers and so many members of the general public.

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 27, 2015

You made a lot of tough decisions expecting us to get it right, and we didn’t. Once again, I’m sorry.

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 27, 2015

This is a big storm further off to our northeast. New York City will see good amounts of snow, and for portions of New England it will…

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 27, 2015

…be very high impact. But for much of New Jersey, and for the Philadelphia Metropolitan area, this is a big forecast miss.

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 27, 2015

As you might expect, he received a few rather pointed criticisms.
 

.@GarySzatkowski @teelehman do us all a favor and resign!

— Juliet Locke (@JulietLocke) January 27, 2015

@JulietLocke No. But thanks for caring.

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 27, 2015

But overwhelmingly, Szatkowski’s openness and transparency on Twitter generated vocal support and appreciation from those following his updates.
 

@GarySzatkowski You guys did a great job in a difficult situation–ignore the haters! I’m a big fan of your honest and direct approach.

— John Huntington (@jhuntington) January 27, 2015

@GarySzatkowski People forget that you all predict, not dictate the weather. You all will only continue to improve! Thanks for what you do

— Cory Foy (@cory_foy) January 27, 2015

@AlexSilverman @GarySzatkowski @joshtpm Gary has endeared himself to many new people.

— Greg Dworkin (@DemFromCT) January 27, 2015

@GarySzatkowski This is why I trust you. Thanks for your honesty. It’s refreshing. Better safe than sorry

— Hannah Waters (@hannahjwaters) January 27, 2015

Thank you to the many folks who have been very gracious on social media this morning. Much appreciated.

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 27, 2015

If you find yourself with a few extra minutes each morning, you can now watch a man pretending to be a cranky, salty Jewish grandmother offer you online weather forecasts that are significantly more insane than those on the morning news.

Actor David Krumholtz and the producers behind the new website, Weather From, present Gigi, a character who will tell you, for example, that New York's forecast is mild and cloudy, a type of weather that the Nazis used to call "Please don't have sex with your mother."

In other words, Gigi says whatever she wants to say, without much concern for political correctness or basic decorum.

There are 35 different videos corresponding to various forecasts, and a search tool that lets you get an accurate reading on any location, as provided by the National Weather Service, with commentary from Gigi.

The videos are jam packed with sexual innuendo, outright filth and some racially tinged attempts at humor. Gigi complains in one clip that her son's black girlfriend's name, Variola, sounds like part of a vagina. In reality, Variola is the Latin name for smallpox. (While Gigi never spells the name out explicitly, it's hard to mistake the phonetics.)

She's equal opportunity offensive, or maybe just dumb, or maybe just addled—in another clip (68 degrees and raining) confusing whether the Chinese, Japanese or Koreans bombed Pearl Harbor on June 6, 1944 (which was D-Day, not the date of the attack on Hawaii).

In other words, it's more about making fun of Gigi's stereotype than about getting the weather—and it is not for the faint of heart.

Krumholtz, who's had roles in CBS's Numbers and the Harold and Kumar trilogy, introduces Gigi in a clip of his own (posted below), saying he based the character in part on his own grandmother, and other grandmothers from around the world.

Or you can get the intro from Gigi, who in the promo above shows off the makeup job that renders Krumholtz unrecognizable, and cracks a few jokes at Mark Zuckerberg's expense.

Temperatures dropped dramatically in Chicago this week, and so did a pair of 16-foot-long, 400-pound flip-flops. They were kicked off, or at least looked to have been, by a bikini-clad vacationer soaking up the sun in a giant wallscape promoting Arizona tourism.

The casual footwear "crushed" two cars parked below. The installation at the corner of Randolph and Jefferson, designed to entice Chicagoans to book getaways to the Grand Canyon State, was created by ad shop Off Madison Avenue. Temps in Chicago have been so low, anyone stopping to admire the novel display risked freezing to the ground where they stood. Thankfully, the city will enjoy a high today near 30, and it could hit 40 tomorrow, making Chi-town feel like a tropical paradise compared to the sub-zero blast it just endured.

Who needs Arizona? It's time to break out the SPF 40 and surf Lake Michigan!

The Weather Yesterday est une installation réussie du studio Troika. Cette création permet en effet de montrer la température et la météo précise du jour précédent. Située dans le Hoxton Square jusqu’au 9 septembre, l’objet composé de LED est une commande de RIBA pour le London Festival of Architecture.