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Jun
13
Mike Thompson slams Katie Horner
June 13, 2005 | 55 Comments
CSI:NY viewers weren’t the only ones pissed off about last Wednesday’s Armageddon Watch coverage on KCTV-5. On the air that night Mike Thompson made point of refuting Katie Horner’s bizarre wolf cry about a tornado in Johnson County. Now he follows up with a harsh post on the Channel 4 weather blog that calls Horner out for irresponsibly panicing the good suburbatroids of Johnson County about a tornado was never there. He gets to the point that KCTV is often critized for – using hype instead science in it’s storm coverage.
TORNADO GHOST STORIES!!!!!
My main point of tonight’s blog is this: Tornado warnings are supposed to be reserved for tornadoes! If you were watching our coverage of the storms last night, you likely saw me mentioning, or rather stressing the fact that there was no tornado in Johnson County (Kansas) . Don made brief mention of this below. Now, it may seem pretty nit picky to you, but I feel that the vernacular in severe weather warnings is very important. When you start issuing tornado warnings, you should be darn sure that: 1. The threat is real 2. You know what you are talking about, and can back it up 3. You realize that you are elevating the level of panic and anxiety among your viewers. To haphazardly throw out tornado warnings, just because you can, leads you down the path of crying wolf. You may get away with it for quite some time before the people you serve …the viewing public… begin to start questioning your credibility. If you do it enough, people stop listening to you, because they have lost confidence in your ability to tell one type storm from another. So, when another May 4th , F-4 type tornado comes rolling down the pike, and you start screaming tornado, tornado…who will listen, or believe? I take this very seriously, and it is why, last night…when another Kansas City television station made the irresponsible gesture of telling people in Johnson County that a tornado was going to drop out of the sky…I went a little bit ballistic. (I kept it controlled on the air…but I was more than a little ticked underneath) This was clearly NOT a tornado situation. We knew that, and so did the National Weather Service. It was a storm that produced 60 to 80 mph straight line winds…certainly a dangerous storm, and one that scared a lot of folks. But it was not a 250 mph tornado! When you put out a tornado warning…particularly only two years after a major tornado outbreak…the F-4 t is what comes to the minds of many viewers. So why elevate already scared to people to the level of panic? It’s not something I feel comfortable doing, and neither does the rest of the weather team…or anyone else here at FOX4. We want you to understand, that when we say Tornado Warning…we mean it. And we want you to be confident that we can back it up with good science…not hype.
Mike Thompson
Chief Meteorologist
WDAF-TV Channel 4
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Thing is, I can’t even watch network TV when it rains because my screen is somehow transformed into a giant weather map almost like some damn video game console. Channel 4 is just as guilty.
Science in weather reporting? Thompson’s career is built on his smile just as Horner’s is on her ass. It’s like listening to two whores argue about who wears more eye shadow.
However, awesome link, made me visit.
When I clicked the link to their WEATHER BLOG, I thought it was a mistake. But that really is their… blogging ’system’ eh? Wow.
Maybe Fox4 should just get a myspace account and call that their website. Hell, I’d add ‘em. [/websnobbery]
While I do not dispute Mr. Thompson’s claims, he sure didn’t win points with me for spelling his position incorrectly. Uh, Mike….you’re the Chief METEOROLOGIST, not Meteoroligist.
Mike should worry about his own forecast, and the fact that he’s number four in a town of ummm…four. Katie didn’t say there was a tornado, merely that there was strong rotation in Johnson County that could produce a tornado. The storm did blow over a car and blow out windows. Mike should’ve been on the air talkinga about what was happening, not what wasn’t happening. What do viewers care about his inside baseball?
Actually, he didn’t blast Katie. He didn’t have the balls to even say her name in his blog.
You can like Katie’s ass all you want… But if the hype doesn’t bother you, I guess TV executives may be right when they say the viewing public is pretty damn dumb. Well… that’s enough of that.
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I like Katie, always have. She’s both personable and nice. I’ve emailed her twice and both times she responded with to my emails very nicely. So SHUT UP loosers. She’s cool, nice to look at, and heck, she’s under stress probably just like everybody else, If ya wanna knock her? Go drink another beer, call one of your looser friends who have nothing better to do than critic weather persons, drink another beer and git to bed.
Katies ass? Its big as the friggin map, and I think she has been to see the cologen doctor too many times. She is beginning to resemble the joker.
Great job guys… Thank for you work…
Katie Horner is ultra ultra sexy, and she saved my ass back in the spring 06. I knew 20 mins in advance before a tornado ripped through my neigborhood. Good God almighty Katie Horner is hot.
To Hell with Katie and that fat bastard Brian Busby! I hope no one wanted to watch Lost on channel 9 last night. Evidently it is news worth to interrupt and cut 20 minutes out of one of the most popular shows on TV just to let the metro area know that it is raining really hard outside.
As a spotter out in Wyandotte county when the sirens went off I know for a fact they want an eyeball on it. I was 50 feet away from a siren and was watching CH4, then I heard the sirens and said WTF. So knowing CH5 I switched there and saw Fratie Horner in a chicken suit screaming the sky is falling.
Face it THese folks do go for face time or they wouldn’t be there. But the reality is just Wed nite 2/28 Fratie was hoarse from so much stress and panic in her voice. She is not objective. THe other stations were there reporting but 5 goes over the top and if they had a responsible weather team they could be the best. I miss Bruce…
I rate the stations thus.
5-Scared
4-Wary, but accurate
9-watch us, we have the facts
11-A storm! Where?
I speak to the weather service and my spotter group. If you want to know what is going on in the field get a scanner and learn the lingo and listen…
Dennis is not a looser! He’s tighter!
Quit bashing Horny Kate. Sheeesh. She does a fine job. When we want to watch a short weather report; we dial up any of the other channels. When we want the ‘full meal deal’ channel 5 is the place. If you are one to call for her job because you missed a tv show… you, sadly, are a loser. Get a life.
That weather the other night happened to be in my neck of the woods and I “Appreciated” the extended coverage. It’s nice to know that some of you bone heads would rather let a few people die here and there as long as you don’t miss Lost. Who’s lost here?
Fox 4 is a voice for all Republicans and nothing else.
heck…I heard loverboy black had to get
a much bigger map for katie to illoustrate
the tornados because when she stood
in front of it her ass stretched from
california to florida.
if you are a black man and like the
big booty…katies the one….
wow…are you guys so hard up she looks
good to you…stop drinking all that
beer and smoking all that pot while
wtching her…she really is a big woman.
Let’s face it – most of us commenting on this site have lived in the Midwest most, if not all of our lives & we’ve lived to tell about it without the current crop of hand-wringing the sky is falling weather reports that now seem to be the norm. They certainly managed to scare the *%@# out of my 83 year old neighbor. It’s not about the weather – it’s about the $$$$. Oh well, in the words of H.L. Mencken, “No one ever lost money underestimating the taste of the American public”.
I grew up in Florida where major thunderstorms passed over everyday during the summer months. I have lived in KC now for almost 30 years. In my life I have never seen such a media frenzy on weather in general. Why do the local news stations all feel compelled to send reporters out to stand in the snow like a bunch of idiots and tell us it is snowing. Is that truly news worthy? Katie Horner is probably a nice lady, but she is over dramatic and irresponsible in the way she acts during “weather events.” Now that I have learned she has a Marketing degree and not a degree or background in weather I totally understand her antics. Too bad she didn’t spend her money on an acting degree. Get over yourself Katie!
You know, when Mike “wear the Elvis goodies” Thompson pisses and moans about another broadcast, all I have to say is Mikey, watch throwing rocks when you live in a glass house.
To all weathercasters….I wish I had a job where I could be wrong the majority of the time and still get paid well for it.
I must agree — I no longer watch TV 5 because of all the hype in several areas. Katie Horner is, in my opinion, the drama weather queen of TV. She goes WAY overboard in reporting storms; crying wolf is just not responsible reporting.
Perhaps she gets paid by the word – that would explain her interrupting programming. Recently heard that wasn’t going to happen anymore but doesn’t seem like she’s mellowed out any.
In answer to the question by greg from Florida why do reporters stand in the snow “like a bunch of idiots” ? Anyone that grew up here knows there’s not much else to report. Wrecks, shootings, and weather .. after they report these they’re out of local news. Then it’s on to showing news from other parts of the country.
Katie is OUT OF CONTROL. We are subject to her rants and raves when it rains and Chicken
Little cries with her “the sky is falling” sensationalism. Write and call the TV station. Call the advertisers. If we want her off the air, promote tune-out and write and call: 913-677-5555 and send those letters to: KCTV 5 – 4500 Shawnee Mission Trafficway – Shawnee Mission, KS 66205.
Those of you without sin cast the first stone. She made a mistake you all have. When a women makes a mistake its a big deal, but when a man makes a mistake its a slight judge in error. Grow up! Your not on the playground anymore your adults. If you thought she was off course why did’nt you call her and help her out. It’s not a job competitons for a reward its a job to save lives. If your in the blame game move to New Orleans. Mike weren’t you once chief on channel five???
All Kansas City stations sensationalize the weather, but KCTV-5 is ridiculous beyond belief. Isn’t there no longer enough sensationalism in murder, rape and mayhem? Can’t media find at least one more scandal at City Hall? Surely poloticians haven’t risen above their humanness and no longer feed the sensation frenzy.
Sadly sensation drives all reporting, but sensationalizing weather is just plain irresponsible and stupid on the viewing public’s part for tolerating it. Katie Horner and KCTV-5 lead the pack. Please Mike, and anyone else who might read this, do not follow.
I think Katie is great!! I have two small children and would definately like to know if there is even a possibility of bad weather. It doesnt matter how she reports the weather, its how we react to it. When there is bad weather on, I watch channel 5 (katie horner,Devon etc) because I always know they will tell it how it is. They take it seriously and probably save lives in the process. I used to live in Warrensburg, Mo and never got good coverage (outside the immediate kc metro) on any other channel than 5. She covers it as long as she can, to let as many people she can know about it. I admire her and will continue to always watch Channel 5 AND Katie Horner.
Ok… put yourselves in our place. In the outer areas (Warrensburg, Sedalia, etc.) we were almost completely ignored by Mr. Thompson. I used to yell at the tv screen because the radar would be up and Mr.Mikee would be standing to the right IN FRONT OF WHERE WE LIVED. He talked about everything near and dear to good ole’ KC but absolutely ignored our weather, even though we were definitely within his highness’ reporting area.
One time we were having some BAD weather coming at us. It was near enough that Ms.Horner was telling us to watch out, but did MIKEE warn us???? NO! We were again ignored. We had multiple funnel clouds go over us and a tornado actually HIT just a bit West of us. Mr. T where were you during this time? (Probably just wandering around the studio, talking about baseball or something…). We learned our lesson after that day. We watch Katie!!! She cares about and covers the whole viewing area including us.
Wake up Mr. Thompson… there ARE people outside what you consider to be your viewing area..that need warnings! Definitely better to be safe than sorry. Katie… KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
Politics and mud slinging aside… all local news and weather is designed to dramatize everything. Engineered to scare and condescend the public and to keep us distracted from the REAL issues facing us. They dumb us down every day with their poor grip of the english language and filler fluff stories. Weather people compete for our attention. That’s why Katie is on at the drop of a dime and why we can’t have simple warnings anymore. They have to be in our face competing and brain washing us.
I think Katie is very dramatic which is why I don’t watch channel 5 weather, although I try to avoid local news completely. All severe weather is reported. If you are watching one channel you can’t be watching them all.
I’ll stick with Katie over ANY of our other local stations. This all started because a few selfish complainers didn’t get to watch their TV shows. BIG DEAL! “Hey, it’s not headed my way so who cares”. I’m glad the people who think this way are only a minute portion of the Kansas City population. Trust me, if any of these selfish, self centered jerks were ever IN a tornado, they would be the FIRST ones bitching that there wasn’t enough coverage, even if the coverage was wall to wall.Me Me Me Me Me.
And now … Katie’s husband has weighed in. Hmmm .. wonder why he goes by ‘Mummy’ ?
Hmmmm…must be a comment from one of “those” I described.
First of all, Katie and all other weather “MEN”, are guessing at best. They want face time, and will take it as any “weather event” rises it’s ugly head.
Face it folks, weather AIN’T news. I don’t need to know what the weather was today, or see some idiots picture of a cloud and his puppy in the backyard. Tell me what you think it’s going to be like tomorrow, and get the hell off of my TV set. I can look outside and see what it’s doing NOW, and often it’s not what your saying on your 20 minutes of air-time in a 30-minute broadcast.
And lighten up liberal boy. If you see Republican or Democrat in any local news program, you’re a retard. Local news doesn’t have the intelligence to pretend they’re either.
I’ll stick with “The Weather Channel” over ANY other local station that carries the Katie “the sky is falling” Horner. This all started because a few arrogant & elitist complainers don’t like dissenting opinions. BIG DEAL! “Hey, it’s not my point of view so who cares”. I’m glad the people who think this way are only a minute portion of the Kansas City population. Trust me, if any of these selfish, self centered jerks ever VIEWED a normal length weather report they would be the FIRST ones bitching that you can never have too much weather coverage and the coverage should be wall to wall.Me Me Me Me Me.
what happened to Ted Texter. Our neighborhood loved him?
Leave Katie i love her she’s just protecting everyone in harms way my gosh
I was so happy when I realized Ted Textor was not just on vacation but GONE. Now HE was ridiculous! It’s pretty sad (although unprofessional) when an anchor mentions Ted and Ritalin in the same context.
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I like Katie. Mike Thompson and all the others bashing Katie are simply jealous of her success. She is hands down the best meteorologist in Kansas City. I think the other just WISH they were as good as she is. People can’t handle a strong, successful woman. That is what she is, and that is the only reason people bash her. You’re doing great, Katie!
I don’t want to see Katie fired, just reined in a bit. She cries wolf way too much. Most of my favorite programs are on TV5, but when Katie comes on with one her “the sky is falling” forecasts, I know she’s going to be on for the duration of my program, so I just go to cable & I don’t have to watch her. I’d much rather see TV 5 go to the scrolling method like the other stations, unless/until there’s REAL danger. All she wants to talk about is Johnson County! There are OTHER COUNTIES/cities besides Overland Park. HEY! Remember us in KC MO?? Oh right, we’re in MO., not her precious KS! In my next life, I’m coming back as a weather person; where else can u be wrong 90% of the time & still keep your job?? Remember that 8″ of snow we were SUPPOSED to get last week? I think it went to St. Joe, which her only comment to them was, they might get a little more than we would! I guess St.Joe doesn’t matter, either.
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Yeah Mike, kind of like when you go on the air and say that at least parts of the metro will see 4 inches of snow and we don’t get anything. Not defending Katie, Lezak, Thompson, Harman, Lauria or anyone else. Fact is, BE DAMN SURE IT IS GOING TO STORM BEFORE YOU GET EVERYONE HYPED UP.
The weather drama is out of control on all stations in KC. My friend in Utah currently has over two feet on snow on the ground and there’s been snowstorms/blizzards there for the last two weeks. He said their weather people don’t break in and sabotage what he’s trying to watch. He can’t get over what weather people get away with here when he visits. We have it done to us if there’s an inch of snow and the wind blows! Bulletin people…IT’S CALLED WINTER TIME! Grow up! I have a simple solution…I refuse to watch local news and haven’t in over a year. I will not be held prisoner in my home by the drama queens.
I sat at home ready for the one night of the week that I sit down and watch tv & what is forced upon me after a few seconds of entertainment but weather coverage full of redundant, a little incorrect, and very inconvenient. Now, do not give me some safety bull, if something big goes down that can not be put on the graphics in the corner or the updates & alerts on the bottom of the screen, by all means give people in that coverage area some info as close to a break if time allows(depending on severity). I in no way need to here some grade school lecture about storms & how a tornado is made. Repugnant redundancy waters down the severity of the situation. Others with an alternative to local stations will take that option rather than be bullied by someone that wants more kudos for covering what could be covered with print & graphics while a nationally broadcasted show can be enjoyed. Yeah bring it on.
I think ya’ll need to turn the damn TV off and go outside now and then. Thousands of problems in this world and your main concerns are that you didn’t get to watch your inane network television shows for *one night* – which may, at worst, be 1 of 10 out of 365.
With most networks re-broadcasting their garbage on their websites the day after,(remember the writer’s strike? Oh, probably not – they didn’t bother interrupting The Biggest Loser to announce it!) you’ll be able to catch up in 20 minutes on your computer.
People wonder why this country is going down the tubes. Don’t blame the Democrats; don’t blame the Republicans; blame the citizenship who is more concerned with the goings on of American Idol and Desperate Housewives than what’s going on in the world around them.
I don’t *exactly* want Katie fired… I just don’t want her to be chief meterologist, anymore. It’s obviously gone to her head. Back in the 90s, Gary Amble was THE man to watch, for the family, if things got severe… in the late 90s and up to today, that Gary has since switched to Gary Lezak.
Katie needs her ego deflated, and needs to be humbled. She COULD be good, but she’d rather be a sensationalist, rather than an actual meteorologist.
Bring back Gary Amble!
man give katie horner a break people!!! do you remember march 12th a year ago when there were 300 toronados unleashed in ks and mo???well tell me she she let you know when to take cover in plenty of time??? well she was there for me and my family and everyone in 300milesto take cover im still standing because of her so get over it!! thats why we all have other weather stations to watch!!
get over it !!! katie was always there when you needed her to be!
If all you whiners can’t handle getting your stupid programs interrupted…. then go out and buy a damn ANTENNA, point it towards Topeka and watch WIBW, how hard is that? That station is receieveable in the whole metro with a really QUALITY rooftop antenna. Mike Thompson is a moron. Several years ago, he kept barking about there “Not being a torndao” in my area… when I stood outside and saw the damn thing with my own eyes!! Then the next day, he said it was a “Cold weather funnel”!!! Other times, he calls things a “gustnado” deos he just make this stuff up? I don’t want to see him and his stupid elvis impersonations, or his guitar crap… I want to see someone who’s professional and thorough like Katie. That Gary Amble ain’t bad to look at, either. He’s HOT!!!
I think all the Kc stations are bad. Noone bothers to cover the counties south we could get swept up and carried off and nobody would know it was coming.
She still didnt want to admit she blew it when the “straight winds” hit gladstone and liberty….please katie tell me how straight winds pepper my house with wood/shingles/insulation..etc on all four sides??
I don’t care about missing t.v. shows people. I would like to know when a tornado is coming my way. Even if it does not happen then I will look at it this way. Well we missed it this time, and all better for it, because at least we prepared for it. I ABSOLUTELY HATE MIKE THOMPSON. I have lived here a long time and I cannot tell you how many times he has goofed! I even waved to him once at a stoplight while on 7th street trafficway. He did not wave back he just stared. What an arrogant b**tard. Sorry people had to speak my mind this time.
Katie,
It’s Sunday evening and we are all missing Amazing Race because you are telling us about weather north of Savannah, Missouri some 85 miles to our north or bumfuck Egypt west of Topeka, Kansas. Hey, Katie, get a grip don’t you think they have their own tv group they are listening to if they would care about a gust of wind or a few drops of rain? They are probably closer to Omaha than Kansas City anyway. Why don’t you take time out of our programs to tell us about the weather in…um…Springfield, Mo. some 300 miles to our south. That is about your speed, sis. You gonna brag about working this weekend on Monday’s news program and about how KCTV5 can’t hire anyone as competent as you think you are. Shut up already.