Grim Outlook After Bogus Weather Forecast

A National Weather Service broadcaster will be disciplined for mistakenly transmitting a bogus radio forecast that predicted hurricane-force winds and 90-degree temperatures, his boss said Wednesday.

The forecast aired Tuesday on weather radio in the Fort Smith, Ark., area, as well as on several AM frequencies in Oklahoma. On Wednesday, Little Rock, Ark., station KATV-TV reported on the meteorological technician’s mistake.

The bogus forecast was decidedly unlikely: “Winds will become soft at 70 to 80 miles per hour. Tonight a low of about 90 and tomorrow temperatures in the upper 50s. You don’t think they actually listen to this stuff, do you? Ha ha.”

His supervisor, meteorologist Lans Rothfusz in Tulsa, said the recording was an honest mistake. The technician had been joking with a co-worker about mistakes he’d made and intended to record over the broadcast before it aired.

“This is his first serious mistake in 22 years of broadcasting,” said Rothfusz, who wouldn’t released the weather service employee’s name. “It was not intentional. He did not intend to insult anybody.”

Still, it was unfortunate that it happened in Fort Smith, where in April the city got no tornado warning before a twister struck, killing two children and inflicting widespread damage in the area.

“By the time the tornado warning went out, it was four minutes before the tornado touched down,” Rothfusz said. “The city had lost power, and the sirens were not blown, so they are sensitive to this.”