TWISTER CHASERS


On The Weather Channel, 
if it blows, 
it goes





By JOYCE MILLMAN | Illustration by Melinda Beck





The weather used to be what you talked about when you had nothing else to say. Not anymore. With the release of the heavily-anticipated Steven Spielberg-produced tornado movie "Twister" on May 10, plus Fox's copycat TV movie "Tornado!" (airing May 7), PBS's British-produced documentary series "Savage Skies" (May 6 and 7), and upcoming "Twister"-inspired segments on every news and talk show from "Oprah" to "Dateline NBC," the weather has suddenly become the hottest -- or, maybe, coolest -- topic around.

But while Mr. Low Pressure and Ms. Occluded Front are now the toast of Hollywood, they were hardly an overnight 

[Luna's Dean Wareham: I'm no aristorocker]

success. In fact, they wouldn't be where they are today if not for their humble beginnings on The Weather Channel. The 24-hour cable outfit, launched on May 2, 1982, has given weather not just a good name, but a personality.


On The Weather Channel, weather is occasionally lovely. But more often, weather is fierce, weather is strong, weather is severe -- weather has an attitude. A current promo for the channel's "Spring Storm Update" segment has a beefy, agitated male voice hyping the weather as if it were "The NFL on Fox": "The relentless snows! The pounding blizzards! The brutal cold! You lived it with The Weather Channel! Now, Spring warmth is pushing back, fueling a spectacular and dangerous clash of seasons! Stay with us as we go -- storming into Spring!" The Weather Channel is predicated on a brilliant yet simple observation: The weather is a spectator sport. 


Things move like clockwork on The Weather Channel (the local forecast six times an hour "on the 8s," the Five-Day Business Planner at 20 past the hour, the Michelin Driver's Report at five minutes before the hour), with astonishingly frequent interruptions for commercials about fishing rods, barbecue grills, gardening tools, tires and, for some reason, pet food.




Next page: That's weathertainment!