Snowmageddon Part 2 is in the Oklahoma 7-Day Forecast

I'm starting to suspect that Oklahoma meteorologists are highly invested in milk and bread companies. Yesterday's snow was forecasted to be worryingly deep, but most of the state never reached the freezing point and the snowpack didn't even cover the leaves in most places.

Sensationalism. That's the term used to describe modern meteorology, and who can blame them? After all, local TV news stations are going the way of newspapers. Everything is on the internet hours before you'll see it on the news... but local weather is so captive to local audiences, wild weather predictions keep people talking about them.

The boy that cried wolf.

Looking forward for Oklahoma there's another round of snow and the possibility of freezing rain in the extended forecast for next Monday and Tuesday. Can it be trusted?

Right after New Year's, Farmer's Almanac predicted that we would have a snowstorm in the timeframe of January 23rd. While the Almanac's predictions are usually too broad to be accurate, this one was pretty spot on.

Farmer's Almanac also said Oklahoma would get snow and rain January 28-31... Weather.com agrees with the inclusion of ice and temps well below freezing.

Fort Sill seems to agree also even though their forecast cuts off on Monday. Accuweather is painting the most dramatic picture for next week with plenty of snow and ice.

The big-city TV stations vary. KFOR and KOCO have faith in the snow forecast, News9 doesn't. Even KSWO is playing the forecast somewhat conservatively.

Why the different forecasts?

I've often wondered why the forecasts differ so greatly between sources. The National Weather Service provides the same forecast to every TV station, why do they all seem different?

I have a friend that works in that industry and his explanation is pretty simple. It's ego.

Meteorologists get the forecast from the National Weather Service and compare it to their own models and predictions based on whatever program they're using. Most forecasts are somewhere in between NWS and local intuition. Nobody gets it right, even Oklahoma's beloved tornado authority Gary England only got the forecast right half of the time.

Will it be snowmageddon?

Meh... It's hard to say. Nobody can predict the future. All the same, it was in the Farmer's Almanac forecast that has been right so far this month... but the doom and gloom of freezing rain and snow appear still as flurries with a chance of rain.

Time will tell, I wouldn't buy more than the normal amount of milk and bread you usually do.