I’m not a weather guy. When I want to know what the weather is, I stick my head out the window.
So you can imagine I’m not particularly enamored about the way TV handles the weather. Look, just tell me the high and the low, whether it’s going to be sunny or cloudy, and what it is going to be like tomorrow. Anything more than that is just a guess anyhow.
I don’t need Doppler Radar. I don’t need dire warnings of the “Storm of the Century.” I don’t need to see reporters sticking rulers in the snow to determine how much of “the white stuff” we got. That is, of course, after they inform you of the mob that just took every loaf of bread and gallon of milk from the local supermarket because we’re getting an inch of snow.
I have a tendency to take out my ire on the folks who deliver this news. They all seem to take great delight in telling us of the weather perils coming our way.
What I need is Herb Clarke.
Clarke, the longtime weatherman on Channel 10, died Sunday. He was 84 and spent almost four decades calmly delivering the forecast to the Philadelphia region.
If you’ve always wondered why local TV news spends so much time dealing with the weather, Clarke actually had a very good reason.
It's the only story on the broadcast that affects every person watching.
And nobody did it with a more reasonable, calm demeanor than Clarke.
Long before forecasts were used to “hype” ratings, Herb Clarke was always the epitome of the professional.
It may not have always been sunny in Philadelphia, but it was when Herb Clarke was giving the forecst.
Rest well, Herb.
So you can imagine I’m not particularly enamored about the way TV handles the weather. Look, just tell me the high and the low, whether it’s going to be sunny or cloudy, and what it is going to be like tomorrow. Anything more than that is just a guess anyhow.
I don’t need Doppler Radar. I don’t need dire warnings of the “Storm of the Century.” I don’t need to see reporters sticking rulers in the snow to determine how much of “the white stuff” we got. That is, of course, after they inform you of the mob that just took every loaf of bread and gallon of milk from the local supermarket because we’re getting an inch of snow.
I have a tendency to take out my ire on the folks who deliver this news. They all seem to take great delight in telling us of the weather perils coming our way.
What I need is Herb Clarke.
Clarke, the longtime weatherman on Channel 10, died Sunday. He was 84 and spent almost four decades calmly delivering the forecast to the Philadelphia region.
If you’ve always wondered why local TV news spends so much time dealing with the weather, Clarke actually had a very good reason.
It's the only story on the broadcast that affects every person watching.
And nobody did it with a more reasonable, calm demeanor than Clarke.
Long before forecasts were used to “hype” ratings, Herb Clarke was always the epitome of the professional.
It may not have always been sunny in Philadelphia, but it was when Herb Clarke was giving the forecst.
Rest well, Herb.
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