Greetings sky watchers! Say, if you are new to this column, and are wondering about my hat, I hosted the Red Hat Society a while back, and posed for a photo with one of their hats. Later I realized it would be a funny shot for this column, so if anyone ever asks about the hat, now you know!
Next on the agenda is the fact that this past December was a record-breaker. It was the warmest December on record (with records at Caribou going back to 1939), both from the standpoint of fewest Heating Degree Days and warmest monthly average temperature.
But this is The County, it is winter, and we will still have plenty of days of cold and snow and challenging driving conditions. Therefore, I have prepared an easy-to-follow guide to using my facebook page to report your weather conditions, which can then be seen by everyone right away. This is a column you might just want to cut out and put next to your computer if you are not used to using Facebook.
First let me tell you where to post your information! Go to facebook.com/tedsweather . What you want to do is to make sure to post your observations directly on what is called “The Wall”, but what you don’t want to do is post your observations as a private message to me, because when you do that, no one else can see what you have written other than me, and the purpose of the page is for folks to see shared road conditions or other important weather information immediately.
When you go to my Facebook page, you will see a box in which you can write, right below the telephone pole. That is where you write your observations, and this is what is known as writing on The Wall of the page. Everyone will be able to see what you have written, just like everyone can see what is written on an actual wall in a city. Now, just below the “write on the wall” place, will be another box, with the last comment that I have made. My comments sometimes give weather updates, but other times they ask for weather spotters to report what they are experiencing. When I do this, it is called starting a thread, and you can post your observations there as well.
As with writing on the wall, others will be able to see what you have written in the thread, and, just like writing on The Wall, this is extremely helpful for your fellow travelers, who may be heading to an area that you have just commented on, saying perhaps that it has become very icy where you are. Or perhaps you are traveling and can glean important road info from someone else’s post. Boots on the ground reports from everyone, in real time, will make all of our trips safer!
Now, where do your comments go when you write on The Wall? Well, they go with everyone else’s, directly under the photos and videos on the left-hand side of my page, right under where it says “Visitor Posts”, and it is there that you can see what others have written from all across our forecast area. I cannot overemphasize what a valuable travel resource this is! (When you comment within a thread I have started, your comments remain in that thread)
If you would like me to explain this in more detail over the phone, please let me know. I can return calls most evenings around 7 p.m. My number is 764-4461 x261. Leave me a message telling me a good evening to call and I will make every effort to call you on that day.
Ted Shapiro holds the Broadcast Seal of Approval from both the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association. An Alexandria, Va. native, he has been chief meteorologist at WAGM-TV since 2006. Email him at tshapiro@wagmtv.com.
