Everybody talks about the weather

There has been a big rise in weather pages over the past few years. More voices, more maps, more opinions, more competition for the same space.

Honestly, it’s great to see the enthusiasm and dedication. Weather attracts curious minds, pattern spotters, data lovers and storytellers. It’s a strange thing to be so obsessed with the weather… yet as the title of an exhibition I visited in Venice once said — everybody talks about the weather.

For an introvert like myself who tends to hide away, it’s the one topic I know I can always talk about.

Some days I wish it was something else — maybe music — but this found me by accident. I never planned to get into this. I was encouraged by others to see value in what I was doing long before I ever saw it myself.

I’ve always struggled to understand why people see value in what I do. I used to fix people’s computers for free. I built websites for free. I never really thought anyone should have to pay.

While this will never replace a wage, it does help cover the data, tools and gadgets I’ve personally paid for over many years.

There’s also a broader shift happening. Social media has allowed everyday people — not just institutions — to share forecasts, observations, local knowledge and education. Some pages are brilliant at community awareness, some at visuals, some at education, some at entertainment. Like any growing space, it comes with noise, overlap and competition, but it also brings diversity and passion.

What’s actually driving the boom in weather pages?

1) Extreme weather = attention, urgency, and constant demand

When weather gets intense, people don’t just watch… they post, share, ask, and refresh. Research using large social datasets shows social media activity rises with harsher weather and heavy precipitation.

That increased demand creates “space” for more pages—especially local ones.

PubMed

2) Phones + apps turned everyone into a field reporter

The modern weather page isn’t just “forecasting.” It’s:

live rain videos and damage photos

lightning clips

radar loops

“what’s it doing at my place?”

That’s basically crowdsourced observation, and there’s a long-running body of work around “citizen meteorology” / citizen weather data and how public contributions can help (and also create noise if not handled carefully).

Aston Publications

3) Trust is local — and people want translation, not just data

A lot of the growth is really about communication: translating “official + model output” into plain language for a specific town/region and answering questions in real time.

Research on warning communication highlights trust, user needs, and the role of social media in spreading and verifying warnings (including community-to-community sharing).

ScienceDirect

4) Algorithms reward “weather content”

Weather is visual, emotional, immediate, and easy to package:

radar loops

storm structure

rainfall totals

“this is coming”

Platforms tend to amplify content that keeps people scrolling and sharing—especially during big events. That naturally pulls more creators into the space.

Reuters Institute

5) A real “creator economy” has arrived in weather

Some pages are hobby-first. Some become semi-professional. Some chase views. Some are community service.

There’s active discussion right now about “weather influencers” going viral and what trust should look like when information spreads outside traditional channels.

NEPM

The upside (why this growth can be genuinely good)

Faster local situational awareness (photos + on-the-ground reality).

More education and curiosity about weather.

More community engagement—people check in on each other.

Wider reach: official warnings often travel further when communities re-share them.

ScienceDirect

The downside (where friction comes from)

Competition for attention can push exaggeration or certainty when uncertainty is the truth.

“Hot takes” travel faster than careful nuance.

Increased harassment/abuse of weather communicators is a real issue and has been reported internationally.

ABC

Misinformation/disinformation is now treated as a serious risk communication problem, with major bodies explicitly calling for trusted pathways before disasters strike.

World Meteorological Organization

What “good practice” looks like (the neutral benchmark)

The American Meteorological Society has published best-practice guidance for sharing weather info on social media—aimed at clarity, uncertainty, professionalism, and helping people make decisions (not just getting clicks).

American Meteorological Society

A grounded way to frame it in your post

If you want a simple, non-judgemental line you can use as the “industry summary”:

Weather pages have grown because people want local, real-time translation of complex information — and social media makes that possible. The challenge is balancing speed and engagement with accuracy, uncertainty, and community safety.

Back to Wally's Weather:

The key difference for me is simple: I do this to help my family. If it helps others too, that’s a bonus.

Some days you feel like walking away. Things people say can be unnecessary and bring out the worst in people. I understand there’s a competitive side to this space — I just prefer to put that energy into the scoreboard once a year. The national competition run by AMOS is where I channel that side of me.

I actually block most other pages so they don’t influence me. It doesn’t stop people telling me things or seeing things on TV, but it helps me stay focused on my lane.

Being a meteorologist — or having lots of followers — doesn’t make anyone a better human being.

Stay grounded. Remember who you do this for. For me, it’s my sanity and my family.

Those who accept that are family.

Those who don’t, have no place here.