Some Like It Hot

As somebody who spends much of his time in the hospital, I usually don't have to pay too much attention to the weather. But I'm a compulsive checker of the National Weather Service's local forecasts. Is it because of their forecasting accuracy? Their up-to-the-minute hazardous weather updates? Their cool, real-time radar imagery?

They've got all that and more, but what reels me in is the fact that they don't just tell you what the weather will be like; they show you a picture of what the weather will actually look like. And these are no silly smiley sun faces or clouds with lines falling out of them. No, each NWS image is a beautifully-rendered miniature masterpiece of atmospheric art. Consider these actual images lifted from the NWS site:



This one says "Let's pack a picnic lunch, but don't forget the sunscreen!"



This one says "Better bring the umbrella."



This one warns of the most delightfully-named weather they've got, "wintry mix."



This one says "It will only be safe to carry long metal poles around outside 20% of the time."



"Don't carry those long metal poles around at night, either."



This one predicts perfect weather for alternate forms of sustainable energy production.


But there's one that truly scares me when I see it:


This one says "OMIGOD THE SUN'S GONE SUPERNOVA THE OCEANS ARE BOILING OH NO MY EYEBALLS ARE VAPORIZING.... [Transmission from Earth ends.]"

Check out the atmospheric prognostications for your locality (including those readers in Pago Pago) at http://www.weather.gov/organization.php.