Winter’s Four Letter Word: S-N-O-W

It is a four-letter word that brings a smile to the face of children (and teachers) and a frown to those of us who have no choice but to deal with it. It seemed like we used this word just about every day last winter, often saying it with utter disgust.

You know the word: SNOW. until the other day we wondered if it would make any appearance in the shore area. Well it did, combined with bitter cold and clearly more could be on the way if not this weekend then over the next two months of winter.

I have an ulterior motive for bringing this up today because not only are you likely to hear SNOW over the next couple of days but Ocean County Stormwatch as well.
That’s the term that goes with the on air and on line notification service we provide during times of bad weather. In the old days(like the first 30 years I worked here) when it came time to find out if your school was closed or delayed or your meeting was cancelled you turned on the radio and waited for the list to be read. Even then we did more than just school announcements as the goal was always to provide the information you needed on snow and bad weather days.

Times have changed and while we still read some announcements on the air you don’t have to wait to get the information you need. Our Stormwatch program is linked to our website wobm.com and is for schools, organizations, clubs and others to report cancellations and delays of their events and programs. They can do that from their laptop, tablet or even mobile device and it’s FREE.

Simply go on wobm.com and register to have your club, organization or community group become part of Stormwatch. You’ll find all the information you need at the top of the page where it says “What’s Hot." next to that you’ll see Ocean County Stormwatch….just fill out the short form and you’re in.

Then whenever you need to make a weather-related announcement YOU can do so. This is the only way to report the information and get it posted on line and also announced on the radio if appropriate. You cannot do this over the phone. Ocean County Stormwatch is a web-based system only. The nice thing is that those who need the information can simply go to the site and it will be there immediately after it’s posted.

Important note here. If your school, organization or group is already part of Stormwatch then you need your log-in information and NOW would be a good time to get it before bad weather hits. You can also make any changes to your current account but again do it now. By the way it’s just 60 days till spring!