Traffic and Weather

Have you ever noticed how radio stations lump traffic and weather forecasts together on their broadcasts?

"Traffic and weather together on the 5's."

Wonder why this is? I think I've figured it out.

The weatherman and the traffic reporter are in competition to see who can pull off the biggest hoax on the radio.

If a weatherman says, "dusting of snow", be prepared for at least 3 inches.

If a weatherman says, "sunny day", take your umbrella.

If he talks about the latest super-duper technology that they just purchased, it means the 2010 quarters have finally arrived.

The traffic reporter is no better.

I have sat in a 3 mile back-up listening to the traffic reporter describing a light traffic morning with no delays.

I've heard that there are major delays due to an accident at Exit X only to find no accident and no back-ups in my commute.

What about their traffic cams? I'm convinced they arbitrarily pull up archival material and use that as the basis for their traffic reports.

On I-95, the overhead signs now give you an estimate of how much time it will take to get to the Capitol Beltway. I guess this is supposed to give us the feeling that we are in line for a ride at DisneyWorld. It doesn't. It's also wrong most of the time.

Some days the weatherman wins the contest and some days the traffic reporter wins. But, most days, I'm the loser.