Science

Geek Links: The Duck Boat Tragedy Was Preventable


Geek Links are stories that we’ve found elsewhere on the internet that we think our readers will find interesting, too.

A much-better-science-communicator-than-I, Dr. Marshall Shepherd of the University of Georgia and The Weather Channel contributes to Forbes.com about weather issues that make the news. Late last week, a severe thunderstorm traveled through the Branson, Missouri area, and the “outflow boundary” that preceded the storm capsized a duck boat, killing 17 of its passengers, including 9 members of the same family. In one of his latest essays, Dr. Shepherd explains the data that should have been available to the boat operators, and makes a plea to the public to understand where that data can be accessed (a NOAA weather radio comes to mind: although primitive, it’s a reliable source of information). Click through to read:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2018/07/20/duck-boat-tragedy-was-preventable-because-storm-did-not-come-out-of-nowhere/

Over the weekend, I remembered a post I wrote 6 1/2 years ago with a plea similar to Dr. Shepherd’s. It was in the wake of a January 2012 tornado outbreak, where Diane Sawyer of ABC News similarly suggested the tornadoes “came out of nowhere,” even though the meteorological community could easy prove that the storms were well-predicted.

Please be weather aware, fellow Geek Parents! Thank you kindly.

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This post was last modified on July 23, 2018 11:36 pm

Patricia Vollmer

Patricia Vollmer is the proud mother of two sons, ages 16 & 18, who are as geeky as she is. She's been writing for the Geek Family Network since 2011. She is a meteorologist who works for the U.S. Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Hobbies include running, despite no one chasing her, sharing her love for Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars, and exploring the world with her boys. Ask her why the sky is blue at your own risk.

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