The Weather Channel criticizes Daytona International Speedway for "ignoring" weather warnings

I thought this was interesting. Main reason being because the weather channel is known for throwing their team in the path of all of the extremes. As a matter of fact, someone from the weather channel lost their life last year after getting right in the path of an EF5 tornado. They also put their team on the coast directly in the path of category 5 hurricanes. You may be an expert with weather, but that doesn't mean you have a better chance of surviving mother natures extremes. If you are going to criticize someone, try making sure that you don't do the same thing...
 
"track officials waited more than an hour to relay warnings to the fans..."

That says it all, IMO. Fans are guests, and should be treated as such. This "Hey, you bought your ticket and now you're on your own" bullsheet will catch up to them sooner or later.
 
FenderBumper said:
"track officials waited more than an hour to relay warnings to the fans..."

That says it all, IMO. Fans are guests, and should be treated as such. This "Hey, you bought your ticket and now you're on your own" bullsheet will catch up to them sooner or later.
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If I go to a friends house and his house catches fire, I'm not gonna wait for him to tell me it's on fire before I get out...
 
Jeffrey00 said:
Exactly in this day and age with our cell phones and sat radios I bet most people knew the situation at hand.
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This/ my cell phone even sends me a text for local weather alerts, even Amber alerts.

Note: I realize not everyone checks their phone during a race but some would.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
We have a channel called WeatherNation on DIRECTV. It's much better than The Weather Channel on the basic level.
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One of the reasons DirecTV dumped The Weather Channel is because they were going too far down the reality show route (although I'm sure $ was a factor too). WeatherNation isn't bad, at least you can turn it on and know you won't see Storm Stories.
 
Greg said:
This/ my cell phone even sends me a text for local weather alerts, even Amber alerts.

Note: I realize not everyone checks their phone during a race but some would.
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I'd probably be constantly on my phone. Listening to a race broadcast while browsing the racing-forums. lol
 
ToyYoda said:
One of the reasons DirecTV dumped The Weather Channel is because they were going too far down the reality show route (although I'm sure $ was a factor too). WeatherNation isn't bad, at least you can turn it on and know you won't see Storm Stories.
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I cant watch "prospectors" anymore since direct-tv dumped the weather channel :(
 
Brent said:
If I go to a friends house and his house catches fire, I'm not gonna wait for him to tell me it's on fire before I get out...
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I guess if the fire department calls you and tells you there is a wildfire approaching, you don't say a word to him. Some friend you are.

"Hey dude, you should have checked your phone". SMH....
 
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FenderBumper said:
I guess if the fire department calls you and tells you there is a wildfire approaching, you don't say a word to him. Some friend you are.
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If a wildfire was approaching, I'm sure my friend could clearly see and smell the smoke from several miles away.
FenderBumper said:
I guess if the fire department calls you and tells you there is a wildfire approaching, you don't say a word to him. Some friend you are.

"Hey dude, you should have checked your phone". SMH....
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He would be able to smell the smoke from miles away just like those fans could have seen the storm clouds from a mile away. Normal overcast clouds look much different than severe thunderstorm clouds do. Plus, you'd think that the sign of lightning from several miles away might be a good hint to take cover.
 
Greg said:
This/ my cell phone even sends me a text for local weather alerts, even Amber alerts.

Note: I realize not everyone checks their phone during a race but some would.
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On second thought Nascar probably only allows a Sprint signal on the track grounds. If so that should be prohibited due to safety issues.
 
Brent said:
If a wildfire was approaching, I'm sure my friend could clearly see and smell the smoke from several miles away.


He would be able to smell the smoke from miles away just like those fans could have seen the storm clouds from a mile away. Normal overcast clouds look much different than severe thunderstorm clouds do. Plus, you'd think that the sign of lightning from several miles away might be a good hint to take cover.
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OK, so you wouldn't warn your friend. Like I said, some friend you are.
 
It's called common sense, if I'm at a race and I see lighting off a little bit of way, I'm getting out of the grandstands. No one would have to tell me.
 
Sorry weather channel.

potential racing>potential dangerous weather

That said, yeah if you're smart, if it's dark, and you see damn tornados on the horizon. gtfo
 
Based on what I read, it seems like Daytona did the right thing. No need to evacuate fans unless severe weather is imminent and you are under the warning box. The warning boxes that were issued an hour before the grandstands were evacuated did not include the race track.

As far as the Weather Channel, it will finally be getting some competition in the fall. AccuWeather and Network Weather are getting ready to launch channels. Hopefully cable companies will pick these up, and hopefully the cable version of AccuWeather will be better than the current local affiliate version.
 
Yeah & ESPN was also bitching about having a 6 hour rain delay and racing in primetime was a bad move because the fans didn't stay for the race.

Did they even see the grandstands?

Do people ever check the weather before they go to an outdoor all day event - IN FLORIDA?
 
That is freaking funny, The Weather Channel thinks its still relevant in 2014, please, TWC, go off into the sunset with what little dignity you have left.
 
Greg said:
This/ my cell phone even sends me a text for local weather alerts, even Amber alerts.

Note: I realize not everyone checks their phone during a race but some would.
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So does mine it flashes a red triangle for bad weather and beeps.
 
So if I'm out on the boat and I can see a storm in the distance, should I expect the coast guard to tell me to drive back home? No, you check the weather & make plans to stay close to shore if rain is possible.

If I have a soccer game & I see lightening flash behind the trees should the ref tell me to go into the locker room? No, I'm getting the **** off that field no matter who says what.

Natural selection
 
Brent said:
As a matter of fact, someone from the weather channel lost their life last year after getting right in the path of an EF5 tornado.
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Technically he didn't work for or even associate with the Weather Channel, but your point is well taken nonetheless.

MRM said:
You got it. At some point, people need to think for themselves.
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Typical sports fan mindset: sports >>>>>>>>>> safety. There were people at the Bears game last year that had to be postponed due to a tornadic storm in the area, that stayed in the stands despite multiple evacuation orders. I guarantee you that had there not been an evacuation order, the majority of fans would have stayed right where they were.
 
We're talking about giving 150,000+ fans enough notice for them to evacuate the grandstands and get to safety. Daytona International Speedway did not do that.

Brent talked about seeing the fire and smelling smoke. Well, in severe thunderstorms, if you can see lightning or hear thunder, you're realistically already at risk of being struck by lightning.

Daytona International Speedway was briefed by the National Weather Service. The National Weather Service told Daytona International Speedway there was a lightning emergency. It was over an hour later before fans were told to flee for safety because DIS waited for a Severe Thunderstorm Warning or Tornado Warning to be issued before they evacuated fans and decided to listen to the NWS.

The fans probably got iPhone alerts before the track put out any form of "get to safety" warning - in spite of the track having knowledge an hour in advance.
 
But people should have enough sense to get out of that even if they're not told to.
 
MRM said:
But people should have enough sense to get out of that even if they're not told to.
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I never ever ever go to a race or any other outdoor event without keeping a close eye on the weather. I can gurandamntee you that I would have know that there was a weather related issue in the immediate area.
 
MRM said:
But people should have enough sense to get out of that even if they're not told to.
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And NASCAR should have had enough sense to stop the race and let the drivers, crews, spotters and track workers get to safety. You want to put all the responsibility on the fans when it's not that simple.
 
Probably a dumb question but where do you put 150,000 people for safety? Say you have an hour warning. They can't clear the parking lot out in an hour. So cars wouldn't be an option. You can send them all out on foot to where I don't know. There's a lot of logistics involved that kind of a crowd in and out of a facility.
 
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Sucked. Very little room in the concourse areas. The rain waterfalls from in between the openings in the wood up above, too.
 
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