April 16, 2014 WA Cascades Extended Outlook

Well, it's hard to convey tone in online communication, and I can see how someone else could read my reply as overly harsh. But perhaps you're not seeing it from my perspective as a reader of the original post:

I clicked on the post expecting to find some useful content, perhaps even some unusual or unexpected insight into the extended weather outlook, and instead was disappointed to find very minimal content at all. A single sentence which reflects exactly what can be found in better detail on the Climate Prediction Center's 6-10 and 8-14 Day Outlooks . A restatement of a tiny fraction of the NWAC's April 15 CLISNO data. A misleading blog link promising "extended maps", but which contains only a single map of limited utility for most readers and a large advertisement for commercial weather services. Along with a signature line containing a similar advertisement. All from a new account just registered on TAY a few days ago.

My initial conclusion, that the post was primarily intended to link to and advertise his commercial weather services, seems entirely reasonable given those facts. And seen in that light, my response was reasonable and measured. I certainly could have left out the last short sentence of my reply.

I subscribed long ago to Mr. Fagin's weekly emailed "Weekend Outlooks", and did find them useful perhaps a decade or more ago, but have not read them for many years. I too found other (and for me better) sources of weather information. Out of curiosity, I did a quick search of my Gmail back-inbox now to see if I was still getting them, which reveals about 150 of them sitting there since I began using Gmail in 2007, with over 95% of those unread and not ever clicked on, formerly arriving weekly or twice-weekly but much less regularly since 2010, the latest in January 2014. A former history of providing some useful weather content to the outdoor community for free (although always linked to and promoting his commercial weather services) should not rosily color one's view of the appropriateness of the content and link in the original post above.

Pretty much, first post, link to commercial site. Whether intended or not, or ignornace of appearance, spam by all accounts.

You had a bit of my interest, although unless you are spewing keywords like; GFS, PNA, MJO, NOAA or Euro forecast....I kinda lose focus.

Yes, the ridge is supposed to set up in favorable west coast position.....although it is Spring now, not December so the storms lack fruition.

I am ready for swerving Lake Sammamish. Skiing pow is done(??)

Ed

Mmmmm...hotlinks and spam. I'm now hungry for some BBQ.

You can be factually correct and still be unnecessarily harsh. In fact, let's take a look at the first two points that appear in the post form on this site:

•Be civil and respectful, avoid personal attacks - that is the norm here;
•Alternate viewpoints are welcome: debate the viewpoint, not the person;

Amar, you seem to have clearly violated both of them in your quest to be right.

Michael is a long-standing member of the Northwest outdoor community. Long before anyone else was paying any attention to mountain weather, Michael helped many of us plan trips, myself included.

Perhaps it's worth noting that some folks here are friends with and/or work for the same institution as Cliff Mass. Michael, in part, replaced Cliff on KUOW after Cliff was fired for not staying on the topic of weather. Let's make sure we aren't taking out personal grudges here.

Lastly, who the heck cares if Michael posts a URL to his web site? Amar, myself, and many, many other do the same thing. As long as there is a tangible connection between the information and/or site linked and the purpose of this site, I really don't see the problem. Sure, if someone shows up and posts links to male-enhancement drugs, blast away, but this is not that. Yes, Michael runs a business that is partially supported by his site, but then again, so does anyone whose site hosts ads or, perhaps, is touting an upcoming book about skiing volcanoes.

Be nice.

Be nice.

+1.
We all start out new. 'wowweather' already has toned down his sig. There seems to be room on TAY for multiple perspectives on snowpack. I appreciate his brevity.

FWIW: I've used Michael's custom forecasts for a number of years. I find the custom forecasts amazingly accurate. While I can gather similar forecast info by scouring NOAA and UW sites and digesting a number of charts and tables, but I find it much more convenient and accurate to subscribe to Michael’s service and get a custom forecast. Michael is able to analyze and concisely summarize the wealth of weather data available into easy to understand forecasts.