https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/tell-the-weather-girl-to-shut-up-trolls-barrage-tv-meteorologist-with-abuse-after-she-interrupted-popular-show-for-storm-warnings/70007384
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‘Tell the weather girl to shut up:’ Trolls barrage TV meteorologist with abuse after she interrupted popular show for storm warnings
By Amanda Schmidt, AccuWeather staff writer
TV meteorologist backlash after interruption
FOX17 WZTV chief meteorologist Katy Morgan showing viewers some of the abuse she was subjected to after breaking into a broadcast of ‘The Masked Singer’ to give an extreme weather warning. (Twitter/@katymorganwx)
Four tornadoes touched down in Tennessee on Thursday, Feb. 7, prompting wall-to-wall storm coverage on local television stations in Nashville.
Following the severe weather warnings on Thursday, Chief Meteorologist at Nashville’s Fox station WZTV Katy Morgan received harsh criticism due to the interruptions.
The meteorologist took to Twitter to share some of the negative remarks that she received following the severe weather interruption.
Viewers dropped negative comments, such as “tell the weather girl to shut up,” “weather people are not important” and “inconsiderate camera hog.”
Yesterday 2 people died due to flooding. 2 tornadoes caused damage. Unfortunately, I had to cover The Masked Singer to warn people about the dangerous conditions moving in. Here are some comments I received while on air. I will always put lives ahead of a TV show. pic.twitter.com/DmRf2cSZzq
— Katy Morgan (@katymorganwx) February 8, 2019
After Morgan tweeted about the negative viewer response, dozens of followers came to her defense and responded with messages of support.
Hats off to @katymorganwx! Took a lot of courage to share this. It’s our job as broadcast meteorologists to protect lives when the weather is dangerous. Even when it means interrupting prime time programming. https://twitter.com/katymorganwx/status/1093710745253171201
— Meteorologist Vanessa Alonso KQ2 (@VAlonsoKQ2) February 8, 2019
Don’t ever let the haters get you down. Keep up your amazing work bringing life saving information to all who need it. You are an inspiration!
— Travis (@CRManofSteel) February 8, 2019
Ignore those ignoramuses! Thank you for saving lives!
— Justin Logan WAVE 3 (@jloganwxguy) February 8, 2019
Sad and disgraceful. Thank you for your public service.
— Jerry Lee Scott (@jerryscottsings) February 8, 2019
Katy, ignore the sheer ignorance of the “few”, you are valued by many AND you look awesome in blue. 
I’m sure your community thanks you for your hard work, just as we do @simpsonwhnt for all he and the entire WHNT team does for ours.
— Mandy (@mom2three92) February 8, 2019
During extreme weather events, it is not unusual for meteorologists to interrupt prescheduled television programs with severe weather warnings. Even news anchors interrupt programming when there’s breaking news, although typically to a lesser degree.
As a result of the storms in Nashville, two people died due to flooding and two tornadoes caused damage.
During extreme weather, such as in this case, meteorologists aim to provide warnings ahead of disaster to keep people safe.
Unfortunately, Morgan writes on Twitter, she had to interrupt “The Masked Singer” to warn people about the dangerous conditions moving in.
Advances in weather science and technology and cooperation between government weather services and the American Weather Industry have resulted in increasingly accurate tornado warnings.
Improvements in this technology have led to greatly reduced risk for such tragedies when warnings provide enough time to move people to safety when severe weather threatens.