---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sure, there may be thousands of "lurkers" who religiously check up on your site for not only trusted advisories and updates, but also greater insights by others who share an interest in Meteorology. Of the thousands however, how many are contributing? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Admittedly, I am one of the "thousands". Admittedly, this time of the year I do a quick "drive by" a couple of times a day and then move on.
True, it sometimes appears that there is not as much collaboration here as some of the other sites. However, in my opinion, the information that appears here is often of higher quality and better "qualified".
I like the structure here and I think that the CFHC bunch have kept a good balance. Some people need the structure. Some of us just like to see it... Or maybe we just need therapy!
Putting things in perspective... I check a hand full of status reports every day. None of the them are directly Wx related, although most everyone here knows that Wx affects everything. This time of the year, CFHC is also part of my daily status check routine, when I can make time to look.
There are plenty of other forums or sources of this type of information, but I know that I can count on this one to pretty much stay on message and provide concise information and commentary regarding Tropical Systems. I think that CFHC is a good source for information that is additional and complimentary to NHC information. That may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it works for me, and seems to work for some other folks I know who also work for Public Safety and / or Emergency Management / Response agencies, who also keep an eye on the information here.
As far as contributing to the information flow - A - My agency does not allow it, while on their network or using their computers (I am at home now, on my PC), and I am one of the people tasked with enforcing that policy. Of course, that does not mean I cannot look at it a few times a day. B - Any time I think I know something about the weather, the regulars here illustrate that I am still way out of my league and that I just need to read and learn. Ultimately that is a good thing and speaks well for the following that this site has. C - These types of opinions are about the only thing that I can contribute, based on the previous two items.
As far as contributing financially - I think that I can speak for just about everyone who is employed by a government agency. Sorry, we can barely afford to get to work each day. Hopefully the contributions of time away from our jobs and families and the sweat that many of us generate during the response to the land falling storms (and other incidents) is worth something to the group here. I suspect that it is.
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