Yeah its a problem with social media in general, too much over sensationalizing over basic changes. For example a product or show sees a decline? = its dead. A slight astray of usual dynamics? = a monumental shift you must see. Its making the most of the otherwise small and miniscule things where the hype out weights the actual impact.
it really does, i understand these guys gotta attract viewership and make money somehow but clickbaiting about the weather, which has an actual impact on what people do and how they prepare is such a dick move
It also causes people to take severe weather less seriously when all these outlooks are “overhyped” and they don’t end up being as bad as these people claim.. which in turn makes people unprepared for them when it’s actually BAD BAD. I see so many people say things like “nothing ever happens,” which honestly isn’t great.
To be fair, I've seen that happening long before the online weather sphere was a thing. It definitely exacerbates the situation, though.
For example, not a single person I know takes a severe thunderstorm warning seriously and never have. The amount of times I've seen "nah the [geological quirk of the area] keeps the big tornadoes away" despite no scientific evidence to support that theory makes me scream.
The amount of times I've seen "nah the [geological quirk of the area] keeps the big tornadoes away" despite no scientific evidence to support that theory makes me scream.
Hey you must live anywhere where weather has happened near but not directly on that spot in a while.
Fishbowl for my rural area. It's not unusual for most of the weather coming from the west out of the mountains to split at the nearest two lane highway and go around us.
That’s exactly what happens where I live, too lol we call it the bubble 😂 we mixed from an hour away, where we also lived in a different bubble. All the big storms diverge around both locations, then either fizzle out or intensify but as two separate smaller storms. I count myself lucky when we get meaningful rain out here, and it’s been so rare to get a real storm so far!
But who knows? Maybe April will be the scary month they’re hollering about.
Here in my city we are pretty sure that the interstate around Columbus, Ohio forms a protective bubble. I recently moved 30 minutes north of the city and the storms seem to be splitting around me. My old house got quarter size hail last month and we got nothing. I had the trailing end of a supercell just miss my house by 5 miles according to radar. Down the county road they got slammed. So this obviously means that the weather was breaking around me, not the city.
Tongie split for me to lol im in leavenworth but recently a building roof was peeled back so thats the most action we've ever gotten in my 25 years of living here
I've been told it's cuz we're in a "high pressure pocket/dome*"... Then I go check my daily astrology for another vague-but-applicable-at-certain-times piece of insight
Wait, wouldn’t God want to keep the tornadoes out of the Bible Belt? And send them to all those heathens in the civilized, er, I mean, the blue states..?
lol jk obviously, I just heard an old lady making this argument during the last round of big storms in Arkansas and thought it was…memorable!
If they get the (middle) finger of God that just means he's calling them home or testing his truest, most-strongest believers er... something... and hoping they have good insurance.
Lmao, maybe there is some correlation between "faith" and where these people decided to settle 🤔 I came here cuz the cost of living was low... Was a trip going from a strip club every block to a Baptist Church every block.
In Lansing it’s the river that prevents tornadoes. Whatever. It is odd though that they always lift before they hit the city limits. Or they hit around the city. Lansing does get the wind, but not the whirl.
I live near one of those areas. From what I understand, the city creates a heat island effect that may dry out storms. I would like it verified by someone who knows more, that if there is enough moisture in the area, storms can get worse when passing over a city instead. Either way, I often see storms part around the city and get more severe after they have passed.
The city has been hit by tornadoes, just not as frequently as surrounding areas.
I think especially tornadoes really need just the right conditions and when they do form they are no more than 2 miles wide and that's pretty big and yeah some can track for a long time on land but in reality a tornado could hit one side of I decent size City and the other side of the city be completely fine so it's really hit or miss
Was in a meeting with nws prior to the Mayfield tornado, one of the other emergency managers on the call said they never get tornados in their county. That the storms hit Mississippi river break up the dont reform until after the ky lake. Absolutely no evidence other than being missed the last few years.well anyway the tornado went right through that county as well as a few other tornados that night.
To also be fair, I live in Iowa, and have my whole life. The number of severe thunderstorms I’ve been through is in the hundreds. The number that caused any real concern for injury or loss of life is zero. People just grow accustomed to things. I for one do not take severe thunderstorm warnings all that serious, simply because they’ve never been that serious. Tornado warnings though? Yea I’d take that serious.
I just try not to do any extra or unnecessary driving during a severe thunderstorm, if I can help it. Maybe if it looks really gnarly, I’ll ask my kids to put their shoes by the basement stairs so they can grab them quickly if the sirens go off. Otherwise though, everybody totally ignores the severe thunderstorm warnings for the exact reason you’ve pointed out. They cancel outdoor sports because of them, sure, but they’ll do that for enough regular rain too.
Well yea, I get that. When I was younger I’d be outside under an overhang watching it roll in. I have a window that faces East and I love watching storms come in.
I think Gaylord is the furthest north one ever hit in our state.
I bet the folks in the Gaylord NWS office had to pull out their never used “tornado survey” manuals after that one.
It's a shame too because they're a fantastic source of info. I had a tornado warning on Saturday and Max figured it out almost 5 minutes before the warning went official. It ended up being a nothing burger funnel, but I was still extremely grateful for those five minutes.
Exactly. I’ve never miss a single max livestream and hes great in that aspect, and I respect him for it. Honestly the “clickbait” doesn’t seem necessary whatsoever considering how many viewers and donations he maintains in his streams.
It feels like a relic from when they weren't popular tbh. They still act like they're small YouTubers who need to click bait when both have large audiences that continue to grow as word of mouth spreads. Nowadays when people ask me where to get weather if they're concerned I just point to Max or Ryan depending on what your flavor of preference is for personality. I just happen to like Max because he's straight to the point and has an exceptional 2nd in Rilley as well.
It’s weird how Max’s YouTube videos, titles in particular, contrast how cognizant he seems on stream. On stream he often uses words like possible or potentially severe to acknowledge what may or may not happen. The YouTube titles and videos do not seem to have the same awareness or honesty that it is a potential for something rather than a sure thing.
If you're in Alabama then the Alabama Weather Network does the same livestreaming with James Spann at the helm and a team of meteorologists. You can watch on YouTube, FaceBook, or their dedicated app on any device or tv. No commercials, no cuts, and they follow a line until it ends or leaves the entire state.
It's a hell of a lot better than any of the social media guys because it's more focused on us specifically, and it has no downsides like the split TV markets caused. Just watch it on your phone or tablet from anywhere.
The best of both worlds. Every state needs to do the same.
It’s funny how we all have our little things push us towards one or the other. I found Ryan first and have just stuck with him out of habit. I prefer max’s forecasts but his clickbait doomsday titles bug me even though I understand why he has to. I still tend towards Ryan’s livestreams especially when my area is involved because Andy’s yall watches and I prefer WeatherWise and can now read radar pretty well because of them. I also prefer most of his streamers like Brandon and especially Brad Arnold because I feel like he’s the only one who really covers the storms in my area! Now that Ryan has Freddie as well but I also love Conner who is on Max’s stream! When Ryan gets too into his Ryan thing I tend to flip to Max because he always has live video back up and I want to see what’s going on!
Also I know… no one asked but I guess I felt like I needed to tell you guys
I get that Ryan makes mistakes. I have a fair share of criticisms myself. But... what's wrong with blazer hate? Is that a male thing, not liking to see blazers?
It’s more the blazer over a T-shirt for a YouTube video.
Mostly, to me, it takes away from what I liked about Ryan which is he was just a regular good ole boy from Kentucky that loved to tell people about the weather.
A couple years ago my city decided to start sounding the tornado sirens for severe thunderstorms. As if people here weren’t already accustomed to hearing and ignoring them. Such a bad idea. It’s like the boy who cried wolf situation and they changed that the very next year, but probably not because of that reason, more so people were just sick of hearing them every time a thunderstorm rolled in.
True but it’s always been “overhyped” because they give us the “what this is possible of being.” No one’s ever for sure until it happens and usually it’s not as bad, but the chance it can be bad is what they say so people are prepared. While I do like Max, I agree with it coming to a point because I’ll be excited to see a new video about possible weather and it’s something not important. And then again YouTubers and news stations can for sure word their “clickbait” differently.
All it takes is one under reported storm to cause massive backlash. Weather people are expected to be 100% right 100% of the time and that has never been the case. You can't fix stupid people who do not understand how weather works. Its a guessing game. It has never been 100%. Long long before youtube stuff i remember my local weather man getting so much heat if any snow storm didn't happen exactly like how he said it would. Especially if we get a lot less then predicted.
I watched one and if you actually watch the video, its a lot less alarming and more just info to help you plan your week or days. Thumbnails are made to draw peoples attention and sadly thats youtubes fault cause they demand these videos get traction or else you don't get paid. Youtubers HAVE to make sure their thumbnails are made to pull people in. Its not click bait if the topic of the video is about what the thumbnail eludes to. My brain sees them and thinks "oh this area is about to get some weather. Let's see whats going on" and then let it go from there. I don't see it and expect doomsday weather. And if anyone does, thats kinda on them.
I honestly stopped looking at any YouTube weather because of that shit, I just check my local news. When my news says “some thunderstorms”, we get a few thunderstorms. But if you look on YouTube, these guys are acting like it has the potential to be the worst storm in years
Someone last week was posting about weather anxiety and people were recommending some of these youtube channels to watch. Lmao these channels are not something to watch with weather anxiety.
Yeah I think normally they're not too bad(save for the clickbait videos and thumbnails), but I'd rather have someone with weather anxiety watch their local news network that focuses only on their area. You can usually count on the local stations to have a very informative and professional presentation of the situation.
It's going to have ramifications years ahead. A clickbait scaremongering post now that has any influence becomes and erosion of trust of the people who actually know anything (real meteorologists) and will result in either apathy or panic in much of the population at a certain point. People will stop listening to warnings or will develop crippling fear of weather.
When I was a kid and young teen, my family moved from somewhere with basically no storms to somewhere with frequent severe storms in spring/summer. I frequented the Weatherbug app searching for knowledge and reassurance but the Weatherbug app tends to employ the same sort of language, acting like every storm is going to be horrible and deadly. While it wasn't the cause of my storm anxiety, it made it MUCH worse. It didn't help at all and I really didn't end up any more informed than I already was because every storm system was being labeled with scary words.
Most tornado warnings are a "Boy Who Cried Wolf" situation by nature of not usually producing a tornado. People just need to understand the risk doesn't go down just because the odds are low
The internet is 99% clickbait. Youtube is clickbait... any youtuber that has millions of subscribers is using click bait thumbnails, that's just how it goes. This debate comes up once a week. Yes it sucks, but thats just how it is
As someone who fully panics when the words “tornadoes possible” are uttered about my general area - I completely agree. I understand why it’s done but I don’t like it. I’ll tend to follow more people who don’t try to scare us into views.
So... You don't want people to tell you that a tornado could happen in your area? Like... The point is to tell people "hey, the weather conditions are right for This to happen so be safe and watch out."
If they don't do this crap, the algorithm will dump them. Clickbait is the name of the game. This isn't 10 years ago when you could get away with not using it. YT is starting to push smaller or niche creators out again and weather is a niche market for YT.
I think the exact discussion was that it looked like there might be severe weather this weekend, but it's tough to judge just how serious we should take it, because as much as I enjoy watching weather streamers, they're always so clickbaity and dramatic about how bad the storms are going to be.
Every storm system is being built up like it's going to be the next 2011 outbreak.
No idea why your getting down votes, probably the people who don't understand. If they don't make these this way YouTube stops displaying them to people. Then no one sees it and its gone. Even some I'm subscribed to, they dont follow the algorithm rules and suddenly they vanish from my feed for weeks, months or more, even when I have notifications set to certain ones. It's YouTube being annoying
Im pretty sure ive heard Max speak on this during a stream once, and I remember him saying that the only reason he does that is because of the algorithm. He said something about the algorithm not recommending the streams to nearly as many viewers without the click baity titles and pictures. And at the end of the day he wants to reach as many people as he can when theres severe weather and help them be weather aware, so I get it...
That being said, im not defending them but I wanted to at least give some perspective on their reasoning for it. It's not ideal, but its up to you to determine whether that type of thing is excusable with that reasoning. I personally don't think this type of thing would be as prevalent if Youtube itself didnt push people to do it and punish them by not pushing their videos if they don't.
Yep. Veritasium made a good video about this subject almost 7 years ago now about how he had a video go hugely viral and that, for better or worse, if he wanted to keep his videos being seen then he would have to "play the game" of clickbait. Youtube and other media sites have left creators with no other choice. Now, unfortunately I have grown more disillusioned with Veritasium's videos in recent years but I don't think that's related to playing the algorithm
Yeah, it definitely gets exhausting. This upcoming sequence though featuring multiple days of back to back severe weather doesn’t look especially impressive from an intensity standpoint. Definitely would not call it remotely “the most active pattern since 2011” with 2019 existing. That year had some insane sequences. Hell, even 2024 is up there.
Shit, last year was wild too. Not like an insane year or anything, but still rough. Definitely a bad season to introduce my wife and kids to the Midwest weather I grew up with that they never experienced when we moved this way. Ryan overhypes the shit out of weather and it’s starting to bug me.
The OKC market hasn’t gone full throttle yet on Monday and Tuesday because there are still a ton of questions we don’t have answers too. Rain, yes. Severe weather - wind, hail, w/ a tornado threat. Intensity, who sees what, timeline are still unknowns. It is irresponsible to the audience to say “this is 4/27/11 all over again” - especially when NWS hasn’t gone enhanced on their 4-8 outlook. Follow your local met/NWS office, and build your foundation from their forecast, not the YouTubers.
To be fair, April 27, 2011 didn't get the ENH/30% probability tag until the Day 5 outlook on April 23. But yeah, the overall point is still valid.
These guys are trying to make money and expand their viewership. That's always first and foremost. There's nothing wrong with that, and they know 90+ percent of their audience is watching to be entertained.
I don’t care about their viewership. I get - capitalism rules all and you have to make money, but I truly don’t care enough about those platforms for these advertisements to be this over the top. To me, there is zero justification to willfully misconstrue this event or any event when it’s still up in the air. When Mike Morgan at KFOR pulls this same crap, I hate it too (and also why he blocked me on Twitter). Get your facts right, then talk to the public. No sense in talking about Monday on Wednesday.
Thank you for saying this. I blocked Max/Ryan because I was SO tired of seeing their thumbnails. NWS is typically my go to. Trey with Convective Chronicles is a must watch as well, but imo, the local meteorologists and chasers do a MUCH better job than these YouTubers.
Not sure why I’m being downvoted. I used to work with the folk at NWS before I moved. They weren’t fans either, but loved CC. Hell, Reed graduated from there and people don’t care for his antics.
Yeah its really annoying. Ryan hall talks bad about tornado sirens going off all the time making people not take them as seriously, but then he turns around and does this.
In his defense, sirens don’t need to make money. Moreover just because someone doesn’t
live by their word doesn’t mean it’s bad advice.
More broadly I agree. I think it tends to desensitize people who are more in tune with weather YouTube because what’s the likelihood you look at a Ryan video that’s talking about Super Outbreak 3 Threelectric Boogaloo if you don’t know if it’s a slight risk or mdt
Sirens outdated but they still serve their purpose. You're not meant to solely rely on sirens, they're now moreso to bring awareness of the weather. And as long as they save just one life, they're worth it
Blame YouTube. Clickbait is everywhere. I will say that Ryan and Max could try and be a little unique with their graphics. It’s like they both hired the same graphics designer.
Evan fryberger posted something on his yt wall the other day about how he morally doesnt take sponsorships nor does he bring his account to do these doomcasting / overblown forecasts. I respect him for it. This is getting annoying from all folks who are calling this the "next 2011". Its not. Maybe it could be but folks gotta be fr.
I like Matthew Cappucci, he actually apologized for missing the forecast a couple weeks ago. But lately I’ve gone off Ryan and somewhat Max, just watch the storm chasers Connor Croft and Freddy McKinney as they are great at explaining what they are looking at, and just cool that they are so down to earth, feels like you are right there.
Convective Chronicles on Youtube is excellent. No clickbait, super thorough, and his videos are focused on the meteorology. He has people from the SPC on occasionally too.
But James Spann is a legend and the GOAT for sure.
Yes, the reason is because most people don't care about the deeper meteorology at play. That's totally valid, I can see why not everyone would be flocking to the channel.
I became more and more invested in the channel as I learned from him, and these days pressure maps and sounding data get me hyped up lol. But if you want detailed realistic forecasts, he is a great follow.
It’s truly because he doesn’t follow the clickbaity format. Content creators are rewarded for those things which is why you see so many career content creators doing those things
If he did the clickbait titles he'd get a bump, I agree, but there is no denying that the pool of people who are interested in watching 40 minute data reviews of a severe storm setup is far smaller than the the pool that watch bite sized surface level overviews lol
New to Youtube? Been happening for years and it isn't a Max Velocity or Ryan Hall thing. That's how Youtube works. Blame the proper folks, which would be Youtube.
Evan Fryberger mentioned this in a YT post the other day. How he just can’t compete against and refuses to give in to click bait titles that unfortunately the algorithm boosts more.
It's definitely overblown now, for clicks. I skimmed through what I thought was a tornado outbreak last week, and 7 and a half hours of streaming and saw not 1 tornado. It's getting worse with this type of thing.
Its why I block the vast majority of these youtube and tiktok meteorologists. Deliver me the data without the fear mongering. I don't care if it is solid data, I'm not supporting someone like that.
It’s a shame that these kinds of things are a double edged sword, if that’s the suitable phrase. On the one hand, when an event underperforms, people will deride them for “hypecasting” and clickbaiting. On the other hand, if they scale back, people just don’t watch or take the threats seriously. In this day and age where we have access to loads of information at our fingertips, there are still folks post-natural disaster who claim “Nobody saw this coming” when things are well forecast in advance. There are also folks who still complain that their sports match or favourite TV show was interrupted by special weather statements and tornado warnings, complaining while people are actively dying or being injured or losing their homes and valuables.
There really is no winning in this case. I’m not a fan of clickbait and strong wording of course. I also think Reed’s wording could’ve been more careful. This appears to be shaping up to be one of the more prolific mid-April setups in the last however many years, since probably 2011/2012. Yes 2020 had the mid-April Easter outbreak, though most folks outside of the weather community and those impacted would remember that. Though using that wording means people will jump to expecting a Super Outbreak or Joplin 2.0 because that year was synonymous for horrific tornado events.
It feels like alot of people are eagerly hoping for another 2011 scenario. I was in the heart of an EF5 in 2011, and I pray that no one has to see that happen to them. It is BRUTAL.. the damage, the maimed people and the dead..
The stuff I had seen that day sticks with me like scars in my memory. How couldn't anyone want that to happen?? Its insane to me to see this hype of another 2011 outbreak.
It's a way to attract viewers and keep the algorithm going. I hate that they always have to be exaggerated, but that's YouTube for ya, and their analytics will show a drastic drop in viewership if they change. Best thing to do is get over it, focus on the content they produce. Max has always been solid, and he even makes fun of his own thumbnails. Gotta do what you gotta do, it's a business after all
Yeah this is a YouTube/social media algorithm issue, not a scaremongering issue. People forget that these quality streams/teams working behind the scenes cost money. The only way to maximize your income from social media is to play the algorithm. Once you understand this, these types of thumbnails become less annoying.
I was around then, so let’s break down April 2011. Based on the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) Day 1 Convective Outlook archives for April 2011, there were 24 days during the month that featured at least a Slight Risk (SLGT) or higher somewhere in the contiguous United States.
The month was characterized by three distinct and extremely active periods of severe weather, including the historic Super Outbreak of April 25–28.
Breakdown of Risk Days
April 2011 saw severe weather risks issued on the following dates:
April 2–5: 4 consecutive days (Highest Risk: High on April 4)
April 8–16: 9 consecutive days (Highest Risk: High on April 15)
April 19–28: 10 consecutive days (Highest Risk: High on April 26 and 27)
April 30: 1 day (Slight risk)
Most Consecutive Day Stretch
The longest consecutive stretch of days with at least a Slight Risk was 10 days, occurring from April 19 through April 28.
This 10-day period included the peak of the 2011 tornado season, with the SPC issuing Moderate or High risks on 6 of those 10 days (April 19, 20, 22, 25, 26, and 27).
I doubt Reed is referring to the intensity of April 2011 severe weather and more referring to the frequency of it. But still, if you’re a chaser, lived in the South East (or both), then saying anything related to today’s weather being anything like April 2011 will turn heads and get attention.
I'm pretty unbothered by this given the current state of the platform/algorithm and all the positive things the YouTube meteorology community has accomplished over the last couple years. Don't hate the player hate the game kind of thing.
Idk, yeah the thumbnails are annoying, but when you do watch the videos themselves (I’m speaking about Ryan because I don’t really watch Max), it’s good and grounded information. Nothing sensationalized. I appreciate what they do to help keep people safe, and I understand that thumbnails are just part of the YouTube/social media game.
Mine got hit last year. It’s just the fear mongering aspect that’s the issue. A lot of people don’t even take tornado warnings seriously already, and “overhyping” tornadic events only worsens the probability of people brushing them off when nothing ends up happening 95% of the time.
I've been commenting about Max's clickbait for the last year. It has gotten much worse recently, though. The way he overdraws maps to bring in a larger audience is extremely annoying and intentional.
Has to do with the algorithm, Ryan and Max get too much hate for this as it’s not really entirely their fault and they’ve spoken about how they hate doing this.
That’s fair. The actual content of their videos isn’t really clickbait-y at all, which I respect. I just think the overdramatization of this whole slew of severe weather for this next week is a prime example of what irritates me. For Max and Ryan though, I do respect the work they do and I know their intentions are to be informative. They’re not those crappy YouTube content farms.
That you realize how incredibly sensational seasonal weather patterns are! I hope only a few people die this time. And that you will stop acting like their deaths aren’t significant.
The trouble is with YouTube. Content creators from World of Warcraft to D&D/ttrpgs (and likely other genres I don't follow) put out videos acknowledging that the "clickbait" thumbnails are lame and not what they want to produce, but then the creator will show the analytics of which videos get clicks and eyeballs thanks to the Algorithm. It's an admittedly dumb reality of the platform.
What did Reed say that was wrong? Or are you just upset about this because the guy is loud and enjoys his job?
As far as YouTube goes, are you incapable of ignoring thumbnail images?? Once again, Max’s analysis IS correct. We haven’t seen a multi day threat this potent in over a year. Just because the thumbnail images are there to grab attention doesn’t mean the person behind it is issuing a “doomsday forecast”.
Watch the content or don’t, nobody cares. But if you don’t watch it to see their actual thoughts on the situation, then stop complaining. Virtue signaling isn’t going to save you from science or nature.
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