Snow and Seattle: The bewildered reporter on Stevens Pass

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Snow and Seattle: The bewildered reporter on Stevens Pass

Readers are having a little fun with the first news of snow this season -- a report that the flaky white stuff could hit Stevens Pass this week:

A break in the clouds, some new snow in the Olympic Mountains, and a beam of sunlight on Seattle make for a nice picture. Mercer Island is in the foreground. (Grant M. Haller/Seattle P-I)

rtj68: Time to panic and over-react and blow everything out of proportion Seattle.

paul: No kidding, it's ridiculous around here when the weather gets a little nasty.

Centrist: Time to station some rookie reporter at the top of Stevens Pass and feign bewilderment at snow mixed with rain as traffic breezes by at 65 MPH.

OK, OK, we get it. Reporting every little change in the weather can seem silly.

Then again, a lot of people love to read it.

I spent most of my life in snowy New England. Weeks after I moved to Seattle last January, when what seemed to me to be a dusting of snow tickled Seattle streets, I couldn't believe the panic.

Until, that is, I considered how bad even a little snow can be in a city that doesn't have shovels by the doorway, de-icing sprays in the garage and a legion of snow plows ready to take it on and take it out before the school bell.

The weather remains one of the few forces in our lives we can't vote on, challenge or even influence. So every mention of snow, wind and heavy rain is another opportunity -- silly or not -- to imagine the worst and ask, "Are we ready?"

That said, I, too, will be tuning in on stormy nights, looking for bewildered reporters on Stevens Pass.

If having fun in the snow is ahead for you this winter, consider joining our snowsports scene as a blogger. We're looking for boarders, skiers, snowshoers and anyone else who braves the Northwest's backcountry in winter. E-mail here to apply or read more about this and other blogging opportunities at seattlepi.com.

Posted by at October 6, 2008 1:24 p.m.
Categories: Fun, Sports

Comments

#192688

Posted by StriderWA at 10/6/08 2:11 p.m.

Rookie reporter? King 5 usually ends up sending 'Hard Hitting' Jim Foreman (AKA Parka Guy, as parodied on 'Almost Live' a number of times) and he always looks miserable and out of place.

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#192755

Posted by unregistered user at 10/6/08 3:51 p.m.

I understand the thoughts in Seattle's snow reactions. I laugh at how our news stations react to rain here in So Cal. We have theme songs and logos that flash across the scene such as :RAINWATCH 2008!!: It's a hoot, even to this CA native. God Save us from the panic is we got even half as much snow as Seattle got on my last visit in March.

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#192777

Posted by nattydred at 10/6/08 4:31 p.m.

Just stop watching the hysterical newscasts. With so much media available, there is no reason to patronize the annoying shows.
It's not as if you have to watch them to get some vital information you can not get elsewhere.

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#192816

Posted by Tenochtitlan at 10/6/08 5:20 p.m.

I'm with Guzman this time. I love watching weather stories. When I was a kid I'd have the Weather Channel on in the background as I built my model ships and played Legos.

Unlike just about all of the other divisions in news, weather reporters can afford to ham it up a little bit without getting in the way of the story.

I do my part, of course, by complaining about how eccentric the weather coverage is. =)

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#195503

Posted by unregistered user at 10/10/08 4:52 p.m.

Yes, Seattle, it's that time again ... King 5, roust Parka Boy and send him out shivering the latest suspected snowflake sighting! Be the first newscast to schedule an Arctic Blast 2008 breaking news event!

Everyone else, abandon your car in the middle of the street, make a run on the grocery stores, and stay home from work because its ... its ... THE FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON!!!!

-JT

P.S. Jim Foreman WAS a rookie reporter way back when Almost Live! gave him the Parka Boy moniker.

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