Note to Singapore’s weather forecast system,
Overheard on the cab which I hailed from a bus-stop after running through torrential rain,
“Heavy showers with thunder are expected from nowtill 3.30pm (an hour from then)”.
This does not qualify for a weather forecast. You do not call it forecasting when you announce something that is BLATANTLY HAPPENING in front of you. My mental picture of our beloved “weather forecaster” is someone who sits in a glass house on Bukit Timah Hill and simply reports the weather as he sees it. Maybe has a Twitter page which radio commentators and CNA reporters occasionally check to feed useless updates to the drenched, umbrella-less public.
“Flash floods are expected in Central, West and North parts of the island.”
You do not EXPECT floods. Not after it has happened to a traffic-stopping degree for more than 6 times in the last month. You FIX it. We don’t have snow, we don’t have falling autumn leaves from the thousands of trees, so WHY CAN’T WE HANDLE IT. And if your forecast was accurate, 60% of our island would be submerged underwater: realistic? Also, you do not say flash floods are expected EVERY DAMN TIME it rains just because it has happened before (why does no one seem embarrassed by this?). This makes people unnecessarily scared and hide in their homes.
Here’s what you should broadcast: Twitter updates of the weather for people who’re stuck in buildings with thick walls and want to guess how the weather is outside. Cos forecasting the weather is for people who ACTUALLY have a pretty accurate idea of what’s going on before lightning strikes.
