It seems to me that operational meteorologists, especially those who have recently graduated and are just now entering the field, can be a bit lax in their writing.  Writing is a key skill for forecasters and I am distressed to see so little attention paid to the effective use of English.  In order to receive the desired consideration when trying to communicate one should endeavor to develop a robust command of language and its nuances.  I’m not asking each and every meteorologist be a well-versed English major when they enter the field but it does help to have a fundamental understanding of how to speak and write.

Some of the more common mistakes I encounter include improper capitalization (generally reserved for the start of a sentence or a proper noun, but also appropriate in a select few additional situations), proper nouns that are not given the courtesy of capitalization, misplacement of punctuation marks, and faulty pluralization.  These are more subtle problems that are not necessarily captured by spelling and grammar checks in our popular writing software, Microsoft Word for example, OpenOffice Writer for another.

Word selection is still a challenge for some folks it seems.  Quite and quiet are both words spelled correctly and the former means “very” and the latter decodes as “not loud”.  A writer may not substitute one for another without having the conscientious reader “bounced out” of the text at least, or opinion of the author diminished at worst.  The reader is no longer concerned with the topic but rather the mistake.  Spell check will not find these differences, as both words are spelled correctly, grammar check may not either; therefore it is our duty to understand these subtle differences and use the correct word.  In the same vein, “their” is not “they’re” is not “there”.  One is the possessive of a collective party, one is the contraction “they are”, and the last is where you might look to find the answer to this question, or any other object of search; in this case “right there in front of you”.  One must understand the difference between these words, when they are used, and when they are inappropriate, for the reader is sure to notice.

I have a confession to make.  I am not the foremost expert in the English language, neither written nor spoken, although I sometimes play one on the Internet.  I was not particularly studious during my formal English education, neither primary, secondary, nor post-secondary.  I came to my fondness for words after my college days were behind me.  Since that time I have attempted to learn what I failed to then.  Luckily for me I have several individuals of like mind in my friendship circle and am able to collaborate and commiserate with them in this pursuit.  I also have read several books on writing, including Stephen King’s memoir “On Writing”.  While the first section of the memoir describes his life, the second half takes a more detailed look at the writer’s craft.  I am also pleased to find Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style” in my bookcase next to “The Elements of Grammar”, a companion book.  I would recommend for anyone in the field to read at least the latter two offerings and the former if so inclined.  Another source recently discovered is the website of Dr. Paul Brians.  Dr. Brians has documented some “Common Errors in English Usage”.  If you aren’t interested in Strunk and White nor Steven King, I suggest you look up Dr. Brians.

These suggestions will not pave an easier road for you to publish work in peer-reviewed journals, although it might help.  The main goal in this recommendation is preparing one’s mind to communicate with our peers and with our clients.  They may not help you explain baroclinicity to an individual with a background in biology, but it will make the attempt easier.  The reader can focus on what you are communicating rather than how you are trying to explain it.

A powerful intellect is insufficient to ensure success in our time; you must be able to convey your thoughts in a manner (not manor) that is easy to comprehend, even if the subject itself is difficult to understand.  This requires an effort on our part to master the common language, for some of you that is English, for others your mileage may vary (not very).  Some scholars, both in universities and on the Internet, decry the downfall of written word.  Some attribute it to laziness on the part of students, and I was certainly in that bin.  Others ascribe the fault to the Internet itself and the advent of instant messaging and its younger sibling, text messaging.  I have certainly seen evidence of both in my work and private life.  However, the nomenclature of instant and text messaging can be overcome through a minimal effort and a thorough understanding that what you say to your friends on your own time is not how you should communicate with your peers and betters.  What is necessary in brevity for Twitter and text messaging is not necessarily acceptable in your career.  What is amusing to read on LOLCats is not amusing when included in business communications and will garner the same consideration from your colleagues and clients as you give to the cats.

Finally, this post is not solely intended to act as a stick, but also a carrot.  No person, regardless of status or intellect, is incapable of learning.  Understanding how to command the language is not beyond anyone with a degree in meteorology, nor any individual engaged in the pursuit.  Understanding how to write is a skill that must be learned and practiced, and I hope I have illuminated one path through this post.  As Nicolle has pointed out before on this blog, it is important to know what you need to communicate and know that the other individual may not have the same initial understanding as you.  I would suggest that Nicolle’s point is very important and knowing how to execute that communication is even more critical.

It is said that necessity is the mother of invention.  In the same way, tragedy may be the father of opportunity.  I do not want to minimize the catastrophe that is the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  The immense loss of life, loss of livelihoods, and the environmental damage cannot be overstated.  However, being the optimist that I am, I would like to take a moment to point out what could be tiny slivers of silver lining around the dark cloud that is this disaster.

Without getting into the politics and the finger pointing, I am interested in thinking about the opportunities that arise when a crisis occurs.  First, as the clean up gets underway, job opportunities for people with highly specialized talents are starting to appear.  For example, IMSG has posted two jobs on our job board in recent weeks related to the clean up efforts in the Gulf.  In an economy where new jobs are hard to come by, any job posting is a good thing.

In broader terms, there is the opportunity for new technology to be tested and used during the process of separating the oil from the ocean.  There are plenty of theories as to what might work, but so few of those theories have been tested in real world applications.  Most of us have heard about actor Kevin Costner’s company, Ocean Therapy Solutions, and the technology they can bring to the table.  Their machines were designed to do exactly what is necessary right now and were inspired by oil spills of the past.  According to reports, until now the government and the oil companies were not interested in this technology, but Costner’s company continued to develop it and now it is proving its worth. For them it is a golden opportunity to show what they can do and make a return on the money and years invested in their machines.

Creative people will always find a way to survive and even thrive during hard times.  Have you ever had an “I wish I thought of that” moment when you saw someone taking a bad situation and making some good come out of it?  This is one of those moments when bright ideas get a chance to become more than just ideas.  Old companies get a chance to prove themselves again, and new companies are born.  The technology is invented as the necessity arises.  The opportunity follows the crisis that created the necessity.  It all goes hand-in-hand.  It also leads to another saying: We shine brightest in our darkest hour.

When you think about Kansas and natural disasters, you naturally think about tornadoes, or droughts, or maybe blizzards.  But did you know that the state’s worst natural disaster came from an epic 1951 flood?

On the morning of Wednesday, July 11^th, normally placid Kansas rivers were raging out of control after a night of all night rains.  7.75 inches of rain fell during the night at Barnard.  Conditions had been wet through much of May and June across the Great Plains, but heavy storms between the 9^th and 13^th dumped as much as 17 inches in spots across the Sunflower State.

The Kansas and Blue Rivers intersect near the town of Manhattan, Kansas.  As the incredible rains bloated the rivers, they jumped their banks and flooded the town.   City Police and Firemen were forced from the flooded Municipal Building.

It was impossible for forecasters to predict just how high the rivers would crest at Manhattan because of the continuing heavy rains, but they warned that it was a very serious situation.

In Topeka, residents were preparing for an expected near record crest of 30.5 feet on the Kansas River.   Hundreds of volunteers were sandbagging dikes in the city.  Evacuations were already beginning in low lying areas of the city, which had been inundated by a disastrous flood in 1903.  There were predictions that 19,000 people would be made homeless in the Kansas capital.

Along the Cottonwood River, the towns of Marion and Strong were under water.  Water was ten feet in Marion’s main street.  Twenty people were plucked from rooftops at Strong.

Transportation was at a standstill across the region.  Rail lines were blocked at many points.  Highways were underwater all across northern Kansas.  Passenger trains were stopped at Newton and Emporia.

The flooding would be the worst disaster ever in the history of the state, with over $1 billion in damage.

About Bill

Bill Murray is a forecaster for AlabamaWX.com, the official weather blog at Alabama’s ABC33/40. Get a daily dose of his weather history at www.twitter.com/wxhistorian. He is also one of the hosts at WeatherBrains, the weekly netcast that’s all about weather. Listen at www.WeatherBrains.com or subscribe through the iTunes Music Store. It’s free!

Early on the morning of July 3, 1916, The Mobile (Alabama) Register ran a story about the first hurricane of the year.  The U.S. Weather Bureau central office in Washington had sent a telegram to weather offices along the Gulf Coast the day before.  The message had warned of a tropical cyclone near latitude 17N, longitude 84W, or north of Swan Island.  It was moving north or northwest.   The hurricane was about to thread the needle between Cuba and the Yucatan and enter the Gulf of Mexico, making a beeline to the north northwest.

On July 4th, the weather in Mobile was ordinary.  There was a thunderstorm around 3 in the afternoon, but the barometer was slowly falling, telling of the approaching storm.  Vessels were advised to remain in port, but most of the steamers and tugs were at rest anyway, because of the Independence Day holiday.  There was talk about the storm in the Gulf, but no one took it very seriously.  After all, early season storms were generally not very bad.  At 9:13 p.m., a storm warning arrived by telegraph, and it was immediately disseminated.

The storm headlined the Mobile Register the next morning.  The barometer had begun a free fall and the wind started to pick up by 4:30 a.m.  At 4:55 a.m., winds were averaging 36 mph.  By 10:07 a.m., they were running 44 mph.  By noon, the wind was 60 mph.  They would peak at 106 mph.

The tide that morning had actually been below normal, but it began to rise during the morning.  At 11 a.m., Mobile’s Chief of Police was dispatched to warn businesses along the riverfront that a significant storm tide was expected.  Around 4:45 p.m., the water rose over the St. Francis Street Wharf.  The storm was at its peak.  The barometer had fallen to 28.92 inches at 3:45 p.m.  The surge quickly inundated Water Street.  Eventually, areas four blocks from the riverfront would be under water.  The 11.6 foot surge height still is the record for Mobile.  Hurricane Katrina came close at 11.46 feet at the Alabama State Docks.

The barometer at Fort Morgan at the entrance to Mobile Bay dropped to 28.38 inches.  At Pascagoula, the station was in the eye for 20 minutes between 4 and 5 p.m.  Mobile picked up 8.56 inches of rain. At Pensacola, winds caused much of the destruction with a lower storm surge.  The damage was heavy along the coast, totaling $3 million.  Four people lost their lives in the July 1916 hurricane.

Photo: Cotton bales and other debris on tracks of Southern Railway in Mobile From: "The Floods of July, 1916", copyright 1917, Southern Railway Company. Library Call Number F215.F55 1917. Courtesy NOAA.

The dying tropical cyclone would become famous for record setting rainfalls well inland when the storm stalled over the South, including here in Birmingham, Alabama, where 8.84 inches fell on July 8th.  Another tropical system later in the month led to the Birmingham’s record monthly rainfall as 20.16 inches fell, a record to this day.

A second strong hurricane would affect the Central Gulf Coast in October, hitting the Pensacola and Mobile areas hard again with even stronger winds, but less storm surge because of a faster forward movement.

About Bill

Bill Murray is a forecaster for AlabamaWX.com, the official weather blog at Alabama’s ABC33/40. Get a daily dose of his weather history at www.twitter.com/wxhistorian. He is also one of the hosts at WeatherBrains, the weekly netcast that’s all about weather. Listen at www.WeatherBrains.com or subscribe through the iTunes Music Store. It’s free!