October Banter 2025

[Jebman]

Mammoth where it is now 34 degrees with about a foot of fresh snow on the ground ------ They have decided to pile up artificial snow right on top of the early natural snowpack!!!! IN MID-OCTOBER!!! DO ANY OF YOU REALIZE HOW EARLY IN THE SEASON THIS REALLY IS?!! They are gonna get some of those trails ready and likely be able to open EARLY! Let's hope they get demolished by another 4-7 feet later this month.

https://www.mammothmountain.com/on-the-mountain/mammoth-webcam/main-lodge

[RDM]

11 hours ago, Jebman said:

I remember that one too. That was back when I was only 23. I walked everywhere. That day was NO exception! I was blasting tracks on my headphones and walking much faster than anyone else. I might have been slightly excited about the weather that day. I was still working for Eagle Construction. We tried to work a couple of hours, they finally quit. I walked all up and down Jeff Davis Hwy all day. I was in pure Heaven. Back in those days I could walk around for hours and hours and hours. I helped people dig out. Later when i got home that night. I got to dig our place out too. Then I started on our neighbors who were elderly. Man I have never been so damn elated in my life. I WHOOPED OUT a few real loud Woooooooo-----Hooooooooos over getting to dig so much snow! There were some excessively embarrassingly tall piles of the stuff when I got done, too.

Thanks for chiming in Jebman.  That storm was a doozy!  Think we saw you walking on Jeff Davis Hwy before we migrated off it and over to I-95 (haha - joking!)  I was 25 att and did a lot more walking back then too. 

The ridicule in the media afterwards was intense.  There were a lot of pro mets on TV who had to endure some tough questioning from public authorities (DOT, school administrations, first responders etc.)  This was in the pre-Internet and pre-cell phone era when email and social media was not really a "thing" yet.  (Some people were connected or had early versions of cellular technology, but not many).  So most of the banter in the aftermath was in the news and newspapers.  That storm had significant influence on how DOT planned for events thereafter. 

Wish Wes would jump in with his recollection of that event.  From a meteorological perspective, it was a real fluke.    

  

[North Balti Zen]

As this forum's resident/only Bengals fan...thanks for Joe Flacco. That was neat. 

[CAPE]

19 minutes ago, North Balti Zen said:

As this forum's resident/only Bengals fan...thanks for Joe Flacco. That was neat. 

Love how Tomlin got burned after whining about the trade within the division.

Flacco can still throw the football and with those receivers he can keep the Bengals hanging around until Burrow gets back. Next 2 games are against the Jets and Bears. They could very well be 5-4. 

[North Balti Zen]

Bengals will definitely lose at least one of those - it's what they do - but they are back to being watchable and for that I am grateful. As for the Steelers, their schedule now gets hard and they kicked off the hard part of their schedule by losing to a team they should not have lost to. I still think the Ravens win this division...

[DanTheMan]

Being a Browns fan is so haunting sometimes. Seemingly every team has a former player that is excelling and letting the rest of the league (Rightfully) laugh at us 

[MillvilleWx]

On 10/13/2025 at 7:52 AM, WolfStock1 said:

Hi all - got a couple of questions if I may.   I tried posting this one thing in the Meteorology 101 section but it seems like no one pays attention there, so figured I'd try here.

My son's looking to go into meteorology, and I was wondering about a couple of things.   

First - since we live in VA, he was looking to most likely do the program at VT for meteorology.   What are folks' thoughts on that program vs other ones around the east?   It seems pretty good (we just visited), but it sounds like there are other ones around that may be as good or better - e.g. PSU, UMd, FSU.   Rankings are all over the place, so not reliable at all.  

One disadvantage is that the VT program is only undergrad.   We were wondering how much that might matter though - if desired he could do undergrad at VT and graduate school at one of the others.   Also it seems like most meteorology careers don't require graduate degree - fair to say?

Cost of course is a consideration, and a big driver towards VT - getting in-state tuition.

Other question I had in the other thread is about AI and about the impact of NOAA cuts.   Thoughts?

(below is link to the thread)

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 10/15/2025 at 10:33 AM, WxWatcher007 said:

@MillvilleWx

Thanks for tagging me @WxWatcher007!! I’ll gladly help provide some insight. 
 

First, congratulations to your son opting to go for meteorology! It is a rigorous subject to study and master, but when you truly love something, you will give it your all to succeed and I have no doubt he will do that! No matter the case, if he ever has questions, creating an account here and chiming in on the Banter page will certainly help alert us and we can answer any questions! 
 

As for school choice, that is a big life decision and as you mentioned has multi-faceted criteria for picking what is best. Since you are in Virginia, HIGHLY recommend staying in-state with the current state of school cost. Unless there is a well planned and funded secondary source (509’s, inheritance, etc.) which is none of my business and what you can manage… I do recommend staying in your state of residence for lower cost burden. VA has multiple schools for Meteorology and the Virginia Tech program already has a history of putting out grads into the Weather Service and private enterprise. I actually now a few myself, and they are excellent meteorologists. It’s a great program, but does lack a Grad program, as previously mentioned. Having said that, the curriculum is still very respected and the masters programs, if you son is interested, can be accessed at other schools, including the ability to do it virtually!! Millersville University of Pennsylvania (My Alma Matter) has two online Masters programs geared towards Emergency Management or GIS. Mississippi State has an excellent program, as well as Western Kentucky University, University of Oklahoma, and others. The accessibility to have a Masters education is now easier than before, and each school has its niches to help wherever a grad student wants to move towards.
 

Some Universities also have ties together due to professor influences (Millersville had connections to North Dakota University, Wisconsin-Madison, and Wyoming), and others do as well. There’s so many options at the end of the Undergraduate tunnel. My recommendation is staying in-state to save cost (VERY HELPFUL for the future for debt) and go from there. Virginia Tech is a great program and probably a top choice for VA, but UVA I believe also has a program and is also well respected! I hope this helps and good luck to your son and family choice on the next step!!   

[CAPE]

4 hours ago, North Balti Zen said:

Bengals will definitely lose at least one of those - it's what they do - but they are back to being watchable and for that I am grateful. As for the Steelers, their schedule now gets hard and they kicked off the hard part of their schedule by losing to a team they should not have lost to. I still think the Ravens win this division...

1-5 is tough to come back from. They have the bye and then the Bears and Dolphins. If they beat both(they should) then they are 3-5 and have a pulse. I just think this team has a lot of issues with coaching, discipline and accountability, so I don't think they are capable of reeling off a bunch of wins. Realistically they can only lose 2 more to have a shot at the division.