How the Weather Channel Made That Insane Hurricane Florence Storm Surge Animation (wired.com) 144
The Weather Channel's 3-D, room-encompassing depiction of the Hurricane Florence storm surge took many by surprise on Friday (Second video). It doesn't tell, it shows, more bracingly than you'd think would be possible on a meteorological update, writes Wired. Here's how they did it. CNET: In one video, meteorologist Erika Navarro demonstrates what a progressive storm surge would mean at a human level. (Storm surge is simply the "abnormal rise of water generated by a storm" that is "produced by water being pushed toward the shore by the force of the winds," according to the National Hurricane Center.) "Storm surge is going to be potentially life-threatening for some areas along the US coastline," Navarro says. Then she demonstrates what's described as a "reasonable, worst-case scenario for areas along North Carolina." Here's where the video gets heart-in-throat scary. As Navarro stands and speaks, the weather maps behind her dissolve away, and she is shown standing in a computer-generated neighborhood. The CGI water rises behind her, setting a red car afloat and flooding homes.
[...] The Weather Channel has been using augmented reality since 2015. This year, it partnered with content and technology provider The Future Group and its impressive Immersive Mixed Reality technology, which uses Unreal Engine software. The tech debuted on TWC in June, when meteorologist Jim Cantore used it to walk viewers through what would happen if a tornado hit the channel's own studios. A demo showing the power of lightning followed in July. Reaction to the hurricane explainer has been overwhelmingly positive, said Michael Potts, Weather Channel's vice president of design. "It was created to evoke an automatic visceral reaction, to imagine that this could be real," Potts said. "And people are sharing it with friends and family as a warning tool. The amount of engagement across all of our platforms has been some of the highest we've ever seen." The neighborhood Navarro is standing in looks real, but it's all virtual graphics created in a new green-screen studio built at the channel's Atlanta headquarters. "All the graphics you see, from the cars, the street, the houses and the entire neighborhood are created using the Unreal Engine -- they are not real," Potts says. "The circle she is standing in is the presentation area, it's a 'safe' space that is not affected by the weather. ... The maps and data are all real-time and the atmospheric conditions are driven by the forecast." More on this here.
[...] The Weather Channel has been using augmented reality since 2015. This year, it partnered with content and technology provider The Future Group and its impressive Immersive Mixed Reality technology, which uses Unreal Engine software. The tech debuted on TWC in June, when meteorologist Jim Cantore used it to walk viewers through what would happen if a tornado hit the channel's own studios. A demo showing the power of lightning followed in July. Reaction to the hurricane explainer has been overwhelmingly positive, said Michael Potts, Weather Channel's vice president of design. "It was created to evoke an automatic visceral reaction, to imagine that this could be real," Potts said. "And people are sharing it with friends and family as a warning tool. The amount of engagement across all of our platforms has been some of the highest we've ever seen." The neighborhood Navarro is standing in looks real, but it's all virtual graphics created in a new green-screen studio built at the channel's Atlanta headquarters. "All the graphics you see, from the cars, the street, the houses and the entire neighborhood are created using the Unreal Engine -- they are not real," Potts says. "The circle she is standing in is the presentation area, it's a 'safe' space that is not affected by the weather. ... The maps and data are all real-time and the atmospheric conditions are driven by the forecast." More on this here.
I'll tell you how they made it just be watching it (Score:5, Interesting)
*Green screen/chroma keying
*camera tracking
*Fluid simulation
*3D modelling and rendering
All this can be done in Blender [blender.org]
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You sure are raining on their parade...
But you're right, of course, though you forgot the sound effects (unless this comes with fluid simulation).
Get off my simulated lawn! (Score:5, Interesting)
You have to hand it to the people who made similar analog effects [youtube.com] back in the "old days". Scissors, mirrors, paints, and lots of late nights in the dark-room.
Re: I'll tell you how they made it just be watchin (Score:1)
But can you do it in real time? You seem to have missed the essential part. This can be altered live if needed.
Re:I'll tell you how they made it just be watching (Score:4, Insightful)
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Damn, that would be awesome!
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You can't do it in real-time with Blender, not with that detail level.
So no, you do NOT know how they did it.
20 year old tech is so impressive no? (Score:2)
It was almost 25 years ago they did the same animating and morphing people in T2. And while it wasn't doable in realtime then, modifying video in realtime has been possible for at least 10 years, likely more. Anyone remember the upset when one network paid for a building tall billboard ad that would be seen in New Years backdrops, and some other network modified it in real time to make it look like their own logo had been put there instead. Oh the upset.
Now just try that when all your computers are in th
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They're not special. That's the point - it's a non-article. This is stuff Hollywood has been doing for so long it's not news anymore. That it's affordable to the Weather channel might be new.
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Except CNN tried exactly the same thing and it was light blue and pathetic compared to this.
Maybe Hollywood with a budget of millions and people lined up who know what to do could whip it out, but CNN did struggle, and Weather Channel should have done even worse, not way better.
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Sounds like Weather Channel spent more. I doubt it's any more than that. Either way, those are the methods that any company would use - whether they execute it successfully is a different issue.
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This is SlashDot. No one here even has the "Weather Channel" anymore: that went away (along with useless shit like ESPN) when we cut the cable years ago.
Hype Hype Hype (Score:2, Insightful)
Sitting here in Wilmimgton and this storm is a BIG nothing burger.
These idiot goverent officials and news sources really need to stop with the hype. CNN is now Cat Null News. You can view webcams from the Baldhead Island Ferry out of Southport which is 30 minutes away.
And what does it look like? A bad thunderstorm.
The more they hype the wolficane, the more people will ignore these storms until the real deadly category 5 storm hits. This is negligence bar none.
Re:Hype Hype Hype (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Hype Hype Hype (Score:5, Funny)
You forgot to add the "{#`%${%&`+'${`%&NO CARRIER" part at the end.
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He can't do that now, you insensitive clod!
Re:Hype Hype Hype (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Hype Hype Hype (Score:5, Informative)
We were in Boca Raton when Andrew came through (about 80 miles or 130km north of the worst damage, for those who don't know), and you're spot-on. We were geared up for the worst in the days leading to Andrew's landfall, since they didn't know exactly where it would land. By the time it was all said and done, however, the most that we had to deal with were some screens that popped out over our screened-in pool. A neighbor of ours had some flooding in a part of their house that was below the groundwater level, and a few people who didn't have shutters had to replace their windows, but that was about it around us.
But we had friends in Homestead (i.e. where Andrew hit the hardest) who rode the storm out by hiding in the interior bathroom of their home as their house collapsed around them. They crawled out from under the rubble after the storm was over and then had to live out of the half of their house that was left for the next several weeks. I recall them talking years later about how it was actually a really amazing experience, since the community came together in incredibly positive ways in the aftermath, with everyone helping everyone and the attitude staying really upbeat.
Anyway, yeah, just because a hurricane doesn't do much damage in one area that was ready for impact doesn't mean that the storm is, as the OP put it, "a BIG nothing burger". It just means they were fortunate.
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Ultimately, it's
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Went through the devastation of Andrew in Florida. If you were where the eye crossed the state, total devastation. If you weren't, It wasn't a really bad storm. Count yourself lucky the worst part hit somewhere else.
I have relatives near Surf City NC who told me that the eye wall came and went. Winds weren't anything that bad at all and the amount of water falling is typical for a bad storm.
Flooding is just as over rated. Just like Sandy, might as well call this a Category 5 Hypicane. !
But yes, let's keep hyping up these storms so people get underwhelmed and then don't leave for the really dangerous ones.
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Went through the devastation of Andrew in Florida. If you were where the eye crossed the state, total devastation. If you weren't, It wasn't a really bad storm. Count yourself lucky the worst part hit somewhere else.
I have relatives near Surf City NC who told me that the eye wall came and went. Winds weren't anything that bad at all and the amount of water falling is typical for a bad storm.
Flooding is just as over rated. Just like Sandy, might as well call this a Category 5 Hypicane. !
But yes, let's keep hyping up these storms so people get underwhelmed and then don't leave for the really dangerous ones.
Grow a brain.
Then GFY.
I went through Hugo.
Some places? Not too bad. Other places? If you've never seen it, you wouldn't believe it. Pictures of swing bridges blown off? Boats on roads? Trees and power lines down? Buildings with windows blown out and roofs blown off? Oh, you've seen those? Really? You've seen places where that's ALL you see?
What about that whole little strip mall that's literally GONE, leaving nothing but flat mud? Can't even find the fucking foundations. That flat spot over ther
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Just like Sandy, might as well call this a Category 5 Hypicane. !
Sandy did $70 Billion in damage. I don't think it's the storm you meant to refer to as a "Hypicane".
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So are you OK? The flooding seems to be fairly bad, looking at news reports from outside.
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Arthur: "What, behind the rabbit?"
Tim: "It IS the rabbit!"
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Yes, and your meteorological degree is sufficiently up to date so that you accurately predicted it was to be a nothing-burger? Could you please point to where you predicted this? And no sneaky covering up the details. We'll want research papers referenced and prior storm behavior properly cited and actually used. Lay it on us!!!
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Sitting here in Wilmimgton and this storm is a BIG nothing burger.
Good luck, keep your feet dry... I have friends in New Bern 100 miles north of you and I can tell you it's not a pretty sight there with the water backing up in the river which is over it's banks more than 5 feet and rising. It's going to be a mess down town and along the river. If you are above the water level, I guess it would be just a stormy and windy afternoon in Wilmington, it's mostly that in New Bern if you are on higher ground.
Also, remember this storm is only a cat 1 now, having dropped in intens
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Every time I see these meteorologists on TV waving their metaphorical "THE END IS NIGH!" signs on the latest "This one is going to kill us all!" weather event in another shameless bid for ratings, I'm reminded of that video of the news "reporter" reporting on a hurricane as if he was about to be blown away by the ferocious winds at any second, only to see a bunch of elderly couples calmly walking around behind him, enjoying the beach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Re:Hype Hype Hype (Score:5, Informative)
I have friends in New Bern whose houses have a foot of water in them. I have a friend in Jacksonville who has likely lost his business because the building lost it's roof. I have friends on Oak Island whose houses are almost certainly heavily damaged...
Fuck you. There's enormous damage and the storm is nowhere near over. You got lucky, but you have to be abysmally stupid and self centered to believe that you represent everyone across a hundred miles of coast and a hundred miles inland.
A mere 9 feet of storm surge? (Score:2, Informative)
Hurricane Hugo hit that same area with a storm surge of more than 20 feet in some areas. (I lived in Mt Pleasant SC at the time - it was, umm, interesting post-hurricane to see pieces of some of the Shem Creek shrimp-boat piers leaning on the McDonalds a few miles inland by the hospital... [goo.gl].)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Hugo#South_Carolina [wikipedia.org]
Hurricane Ike also topped a 20-foot surge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Ike [wikipedia.org]
Katrina was 28 feet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina#Mississ [wikipedia.org]
Really? Looks real? (Score:3, Insightful)
"The neighborhood Navarro is standing in looks real..."
Seriously? So there are people out there who will view this animation and will need to be told that it is not real? They'll think someone 'filmed reality'?
No wonder we have the government that we do....
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So there are people out there who will view this animation and will need to be told that it is not real?
There are (supposed to be) people who view 3rd person satellite video action around Jupiter and Saturn and the actual landings on Mars and think they're real. I don't know if they're being a troll or not -- but I don't THINK so. :-(
NOT the first person in-view scene, but a 3rd person view far away. (Listen to all of the sounds -- this is obviously a faked launch!)
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There is no biological "race" that is anywhere near the historical social idea, but there are some differences which are important for medicine and research.
okay, that was cool !! (Score:2)
When the camera zooms out and shows more of the neighborhood at the end, and the presenter becomes this little bug in the middle of it all - wow, that really drives it home. I also liked how the storm intensified, stronger winds, water color changes. Geez, it all looked real (I've been near big storms and have seen the water & sky change). How big is this friggen stage?!
That is an amazing marriage of technology and reality.
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... it all looked real...
You need to get out more.
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well, real in a virtual sense.
Obviously force fields don't exist that can protect a person standing in the middle of a flood.
Fear certainly increases with visuals like that. (Score:1)
Fear certainly increases with visuals like that.
Category 5 Hypicane! (Score:1)
Yes if you live on the beach, you should go inland. That's just common sense for a big bad thunderstorm.
However, the strength of this storm especially near the eye is pathetically weak. Don't let your anxieties run high because you
let the weatherman on TV told you how bad it was live from the dead center.
Here's a better metric to go off of for the true strength of the storm: if a reporter is able to travel to and stand near where the eye wall is while shouting how bad it is, the storm isn't that bad.
The st
They've really taken fear-mongering to a new level (Score:1)
I've seen some pretty impressive shameless exaggeration and exploitation of weather events for ratings over the years, mind you. But the Weather Channel has really stepped it up a notch here in a graphics department. Kudos to them!
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It's not just the Weather Channel, it's every news outlet available. Every storm is "the storm of the century!!!!" and "more dangerous". This is part of a larger approach to hype *everything* far beyond its rational danger or importance, due to the need to fill 10 different 24-hour news channels with content, and the more shrill and unrealistic you are the more people want to watch. Same with the ever-escalating hype associated with global warming, Trump, child kidnappings, etc.
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"Donald Trump, Global Warming, or Hurricane Florence--Which Will Get To Your Kids and Kill Them First?" Stay tuned to find out!
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No mod points, so here's a "Virtual +5 Funny".
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I've seen some pretty impressive shameless exaggeration and exploitation of weather events for ratings over the years, mind you. But the Weather Channel has really stepped it up a notch here in a graphics department. Kudos to them!
Fear mongering? How so? Mandatory evacuation orders are not a joke. Even a three foot storm surge is not a joke.
Ten feet of water, 150 plus people in New Bern that did not head the MANDATORY evacuation warning. That is a foot higher than the example they showed in the animation.
https://weather.com/storms/hur... [weather.com]
http://www.newbernnc.gov/news_... [newbernnc.gov]
Maybe if people see what a storm surge could actually do with animations like this, less people would ignore the evacuation orders.
Mayor of New Bern interview - 10.
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The video shows the firefighter walking a woman to safety and the water isn't even up to her waist. That doesn't look anything like the animation to me.
But yes, people should evacuate on the coast when a hurricane approaches. But that still doesn't make it the end of the world or the SUPER DEADLY STORM OF THE CENTURY the way these "reporters" always hype it up these days.
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That's because the surge isn't the same uniform height everywhere. It is up to the second floor of some houses in lower lying areas.
If someone willfully ignores the evacuation orders, then they should be charged a fine if they later need rescuing.
Re:They've really taken fear-mongering to a new le (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: They've really taken fear-mongering to a new l (Score:1)
Typical liberal schill. All real American patriots should hunker down in the basement with their prepped rations and guns. Evacuations are a democratic plot to take your guns and force you into FEMA gay camps!
Don't people read anymore (Score:2)
Highly unnecessary (Score:2, Funny)
Some people are idiots.
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"Oh I get it now! A 3 foot storm surge means there could be 3 feet of water on the road! Thank you weather network for explaining this with excessive graphical representation, because my mind could not possibly comprehend height of water."
Some people are idiots.
you say that but some people hear storm surge and they don't know what that means. Honestly it's an overwraught term anyway. But it does have a specific meaning and most people who don't live in typical hurricane pathways don't always know what it is.
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And yes, we have residents in this country who are indeed that stupid.
nice job (Score:2)
Pretty cool visualization, although I'd argue that their first 'stop' at three feet really looked more like four, but that's certainly quibbling. It was quite well done.
Really? Screw the AR stuff! (Score:2)
MAN -- I could even go scuba walking with that!
YouTube comments (Score:2)
Hmm.. if it's effective then go for it. (Score:2)
Slashdot, Slashdot, Slashdot... (Score:2)
How the Weather Channel Made That Insane Hurricane Florence Storm Surge Animation
Really? Fucking really? Slashdot, have you forgotten how old your audience is? We are not dickhead kids who think the word "insane" has to be used in every second sentence. And of all the words misused and abused for hyperbole, that one has to be among the worst.
And get off my lawn!
Asshats...
Extreme Weather Hype Very Frustrating (Score:1)
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It Spares Suffering Weathermen (Score:2)
Who hasn't seen the (usually live) video of long-suffering weathermen standing out there in a shiny wet rainjacket or suit, being blown away (and the godz alone know how the cameramen manage).
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/a... [buzzfeednews.com]
"Twitter user @gourdnibler captured a Weather Channel reporter struggling to stand upright and seemingly holding onto dear life — until the camera pans out a bit and captures two people casually strolling in the background."
https://twitter.com/twitter/st... [twitter.com]
https://www.youtube.com/ [youtube.com]
Re:Shit. (Score:5, Informative)
They're probably closer to the truth than whatever you're thinking.
For the record: A storm surge is primarily caused by the relationship between the winds and the ocean’s surface. [nationalgeographic.org]
There is another source that basically says the same thing. To wit: As winds swirl around a hurricane or tropical storm, seawater is pushed into a mound at the storm’s center. Faster wind is able to pile up more water. [ucar.edu]
Also, per UCAR, about 5% of the storm surge is due to low pressure within the hurricane; the majority of the effect is from wind.
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Yeah, either be wrong OR be an asshole (Score:5, Informative)
I guess GP hadn't heard the rules:
A) It's okay to be wrong. None of us knows everything.
B) We'll tolerate being an asshole when you're pointing out something stupid.
BUT you have to pick one or the other. Don't be an asshole and be wrong at the same time. Calling someone dumb while "correcting" their true statement with your own goof isn't a good look. Don't be an asshole when you don't know what you are talking about.
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Nicely put. Your surge to +5 is deserved.
Exactly. Good example, thanks (Score:2)
Thanks for that example. That's exactly what I mean - saying that would be both wrong and you'd be a jerk, plus you threw in stupid as well. Perfect example of how to sound like a loser.
Re: Shit. (Score:2)
I only know this because I had my Coast Guard certifications even before my driver's license.
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I know you already addressed me once, but I have to answer this one.
Do you know what makes wind? A differential between high and low pressure. The "sucking" is wind.
Re:Shit. (Score:5, Informative)
"...produced by water being pushed toward the shore by the force of the winds," according to the National Hurricane Center.
So even they're ignorant as to what causes storm surge... or they've got a young, dumb intern who took a guess... and failed.
What part of anything they said is wrong? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Mechanics
At least five processes can be involved in altering tide levels during storms:
The atmospheric pressure effect
The direct wind effect
The effect of the Earth's rotation
The effect of waves near the shore
The rainfall effect.[11]
Re: Shit. (Score:2)
Re:Shit. (Score:5, Informative)
I don't know anything about it, but NOAA agrees: "The impact on surge of the low pressure associated with intense storms is minimal in comparison to the water being forced toward the shore by the wind."
Re: Shit. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: Shit. (Score:1)
Um, the National Hurricane Center is actually part of the National Weather Service. They're responsible for issuing hurricane watches and warnings for most of the United States. They issue hurricane forecasts for the North East Pacific and the North Atlantic. NHC is very credible.
As for the on-air meteorologist discussed in the article, she has a PhD in meteorology from the University of Washington. They have a large and well-respected meteorology program. So, no, not some young dumb intern.
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Storm surge is also hugely dependent on the underwater topography along the hurricane's path.
Think of if this way: it's a lot easier to blow water across a table top than it is to blow water up a wall.
Hurricane Andrew hit Miami as a cat 5 and outside of a few isolated cases caused only about 4-6 feet of storm surge because the ocean off Miami gets really deep really fast. (And the Bahamas likely blocked a lot of it, too).
But mere Cat 2 Ike generated a 20+ foot storm surge across huge areas because the oce
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You also have to look at the shape of the land/sea interface. If you have a storm blowing directly along the long axis of a shallow, funnel-shaped estuary, you're going to get some spectacular effects at the narrow end, especially combined with rain-driven rising river levels.
This is one of the reasons the fact that the fact that you rode out a storm in your house in the past doesn't necessarily mean you're safe from a similar storm later. Minor changes in wind heading could result in very different effe
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So even they're ignorant as to what causes storm surge.
What do you think causes a storm surge?
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What do you think causes a storm surge?
Puberty or menopause
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shitpost
Problem with peeps these days. A sense of humor of a chapped ass.
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Puberty, posts of shit and chapped asses. You hit the Trifecta!
Shitlord status in two posts! I am humbled 8^)
Re: Shit. (Score:2)
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More annoyingly, storm surge doesn't happen in your backyard unless you live on a river. Showing this in some random neighborhood is not accurate in any way.