This is a weather update on a hurricane, reported by a station fortunate not to be the storm's target-this time. WCBD meteorologist Rob Fowler shows viewers in Charleston, South Carolina, that Hurricane Bonnie has brought only rain to their area, while it bears down on neighboring North Carolina. In Rob Fowler's update, we see exactly where Bonnie is-and isn't. News and weather people who work in hurricane territory face special challenges. Hurricanes don't simply arrive, they evolve.
Coverage starts as a watch on a distant storm.
There may be a 10-day span between its first stirrings miles away and its landfall. It may hit your town, veer off en route, or dissipate. Winning the big weather story is every station's goal-but the desire to win can lead stations to emphasize fear instead of facts. You don't have to add to it. To give a false sense of drama is irresponsible.