{"id":45295,"date":"2025-02-12t22:44:35","date_gmt":"2025-02-12t22:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/?p=45295"},"modified":"2025-02-12t22:47:12","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12t22:47:12","slug":"trust-local-meteorologist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/trust-local-meteorologist\/","title":{"rendered":"in troubled times, people still trust their local meteorologist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by fern alling<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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what would you do without your local weathercaster? that\u2019s a question the people of tupelo, mississippi had to ask themselves earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

on jan. 18, allen media group announced local weather coverage at 27 of its 36 member stations would transition to the weather channel headquarters in atlanta. the next day, meteorologists at the affected stations started sharing that they\u2019d been laid off.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

tupelo residents sprang into action when they learned matt laubhan and his team at wtva were threatened. the day before allen media published a press release confirming the plans \u2013 when there were still only rumors from the meteorology community \u2013 an online petition kicked off to prevent all of the weathercasters threatened by the change from leaving their stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

six mississippi state legislators even wrote a resolution urging the company to spare wtva from the layoffs. senate resolution 7 argued, during a 2023 tornado, \u201cthe timely reports from wtva saved the lives of those who took shelter because of the reports on wtva.\u201d its adoption was unanimous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

as wtva viewers know, local meteorologists do more than just the forecast. they\u2019re a source of life-saving information when extreme weather strikes. this role is only going to become more important as climate change continues to amplify the impact of tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and drought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n