Every day a swirl comes from the left of the map to the right. (Prevailing winds, right?)
And despite the swirl looking the same every day (perhaps the same footage?)
there is a new explanation - “See here the swirl is fog” “See here the swirl is gale winds” “See here the swirl is good picnic weather!”
Not really sure what you mean here.
In my job, attention to weather is crucial. I can’t go by the" news weather"broadcast for the day, because it’s quite subject to change. I do rely on Doppler radar, and check it three times a day, especially now, when, in my area, the flux is all over the map, depending on the current winds.
I don’t just look at today and tomorrow’s weather, but the maps to tell me what’s ahead for the week.
Once you have some knowledge of weather patterns, and seasonal patterns, those “swirls” have a great deal of meaning.
It’s different every day, so I’m also confused.
It may be where you are located. Around here, Doppler is especially useful in spring and summer, showing thunderstorms moving through the area.
Are talking about the satellite type map with moving clouds on the TV weather reports?
I don’t get the point of those, especially since they are just showing us what has happened during the last day/hours.
Actually that brings us to my pet peeve about weather reports on TV. It seems to me that they spend quite a lot of time talking about how the weather has been today. What I want to know is what’s the weather going to be like tomorrow.
The satellite imagery showing how weather systems have moved during the last day is in my opinion just used to create an air of credibility about their guesses.
Man, you folks should tune into Chicago’s WGN, where they give Tom Skillethead (motto “at least I’m not in prison like my brother”) about 10 minutes a night to blat on and on about jet streams, isobars and the like. When all I want to know is what jacket I should wear tomorrow and whether to carry an umbrella. Doppler is way down on the scale of his transgressions.
Like I said, during thunderstorm season, doppler is very useful. Storms travel fast and if there’s a band of thunderstorms to the west of your location, you can get a good idea that they’re going to hit you.
The key, of course, is looking to the west of the screen just before it starts to repeat. Clouds and rain are headed your way, and the speed they traveled in the past few hours is a good guide to how fast they’re currently moving – and how soon before they hit.
I’ve used them to decide if I wanted to go to an outdoor venue about a half hour north of me. If the clouds were to the west of that area, then it’s best not to go unless you plan to be drenched. At the same time, if it was raining at my location, but there were not clouds on the doppler north of me, I’d still go.
It’s the same thing with snow.
Weather reports are guesses, but they can be pretty good ones these days. The doppler radar is just one more tool.
Man, you DO have a way with words (loved the motto). 
Oh - weather wise - wear a heavy coat and bring the umbrella. My head is killing me - it’s gonna rain and/or snow.
What I want to know is yesterday’s report vs. yesterday’s actual weather.
In the newspaper, I can check the prior report and it was 50% wrong. And the 2,3,4,5,6 and 7 day predictions are close to 100% wrong.
Why anybody watches these I don’t know.
Don’t people catch on that the multiday forecast is always wrong?
yep! The weather reports are just too damn complicated.
I dont give a sh-t about hi pressure fronts, swirly graphics and weirdly colored radar images.
The only thing I want to know is whether it will rain tomorrow, and the what the temperature will be.
Am I weird?