I’m in Palm Desert tonight at the KMIR studios. I predicted strong winds for this evening. Now I’m watching them play out. Over the course of a few hours Thermal has gone from calm to gusts around 30 mph. Edom Hill was near 50 mph. The wind has slacked off there.
Weather was our lead story tonight. Fair call. People are interested in unusual weather, which my boss properly characterized as ‘nuisance weather.’
My problem is how to properly forecast and report a storm like this? Some open spots will have reduced visibility as sand blows across roads. On I-10 cars will have trouble staying in a single lane.
It’s the desert equivalent of flurries! Enough to care about. Not enough to fear.
We will have plenty of days like this through the spring and again in the fall. The wind will blow. Dust will kick up.
No one will be stranded at home tonight, but plenty of people would rather not deal with it. “Wait until morning,” I said.
I’d like to think not going nuts is something I do well. That’s what I tried tonight. My job is to be proportional.