National Weather Service Burlington Goes Full Star Wars

Screenshot of a brief video the National Weather Service
in South Burlington released to social media to honor
a big day for Star Wars fans.

 Today, May 4,  is a big day for Star Wars fans.  

"May the Fourth be with you."  Get it?

Some of the meteorologists at the National Weather Service in South Burlington, Vermont sure do. 

They went full on Star Wars with their forecasting this morning. Their social media output is like the opening of a Star Wars movie epic.  

The social media weather forecasts begin, "In the North Country far far away..." in the familiar movie graphics.

Weather geeks like me like to dive deep into the National Weather Service forecast discussion page to help understand the reasoning behind the weather forecasts. These discussions get into technical terms like "frontogenesis" and how helicity might impact a QLSC, that type of thing. 

This morning's forecast discussion of course gets mixed up with Star Wars.  

While contemplating the prospects for any sunshine on Thursday, they had this to say, mixing weather and Star Wars geekdom into high art of a sort: "Under increasing surface pressure and mid-level ridging, expected for Thursday a dry, though partly cloudy day is. With any luck, some sunshine we may see; but as Obi-Wan would say, 'In my experience, there is no such thing as luck.'" 

Well, yeah, this is Vermont. We often do not luck out with the weather.  

The discussion for the end of the week and weekend go on with this Star Wars-type language. It looks like the forecasting Star Wars stuff from NWS Burlington was the brainchild of meteorologist Nichole Hammond, so good on her! 

I'm glad Hammond and the other meteorologists at the National Weather Service in South Burlington often have a little fun with their forecasting today. It just makes them all the more approachable and human, and by extension, trustworthy.  

There's no dangerous weather in the Vermont forecast this week, so the Star Wars levity doesn't distract from any important messages. (When bonafide weather threats arise, the National Weather Service gets really serious, really fast).

So, May the fourth be with you to ward off any raindrops that come your way amid a showery forecast for today.