Chief Meteorologist Wade Hampton Debunks Viral Hurricane Forecast
I'll be the first to admit it. After seeing Hurricane Ida hit the New Orleans area on the anniversary of Katrina, I am reminded of Hurricane Rita coming through SWLA shortly after. Although we may never get used to natural disasters, they seem to be a common occurrence in Louisiana these days. Add in more and more technology easily accessible at our fingertips, and suddenly you begin to sprout keyboard experts in any field.
Weather experts seem to come out of the woodwork during times like these. Some of them might be slightly educated, the others just regurgitate whatever their aunt saw on Facebook. Heck, I have even seen people share a "current" image of the gulf containing a hurricane only to see the date was 2020 and it was actually Hurricane Laura. Most of this is just us being jaded to the fact that nothing surprises us, the other is that we just don't take a minute and look at things for ourselves. We just believe it and share it.
The recent rumor over the last 24 hours is that there is a 10-day forecast model showing a hurricane popping up and running right into SWLA, just as Laura did. The model is scary and has seen hundreds and thousands of shares.
It's scary to think we could go through another storm like we did this time last year, or even this time 16 years ago. Add in that we just watched our friends and families on the east side go through what they did, and we are on high alert.
Chief Meteorologist Wade Hampton with KPLC hopped on Facebook this morning to speak his peace on the situation, and the model that is currently being shared all over the area. I love the way he starts the post.
You are welcome to your opinion, but not your facts.
That line there might as well say "mess around and find out". He works to debunk the futurecast that is being shared, and even adds in a more credible map that forecasted Hurricane Ida. That map indeed does not show any storms coming in the near future. He goes on to remind us all that there is no possible way to predict the weather that far out with any certainty.
My favorite line that he ends with seems like he has taken a note from his co-worker Ben Terry.
There are a lot of "so-called forecasters" that post individual model date with no context...Remember there are people that think the Earth is flat too...
Savage Mr. Hampton!