The Weather

Short Story Day 144 of 365

When the alert went off on her phone while she was standing in line at the store, Shawna read the National Weather Service bulletin written in all caps warning her of impending weather. She lived in one of the counties the bulletin identified as being in the path of the blizzard-like conditions.

Shawna looked outside and it was still a breezy 70 degrees in February. She wasn’t the only one who received the same alert. One by one customers checked their alerts, read the message, and clicked away. She noticed they had the same puzzled look on their faces as they read the message.

“They’re saying a blizzard’s coming through,” Nadine the clerk said as she scanned Shawna’s groceries.

“That’s what I hear. Was it a warning or a watch or an advisory? I can’t remember which is which anymore.”

“Oh, it was a warning all right,” Nadine said. “The worst. I’m sure of it. Saw a similar announcement while I was dressing for work this morning. Supposed to hit about four this afternoon. It’s been crazy busy in here since before lunch.”

“Yeah, I noticed all your water, milk, eggs, your staples. They’re all gone,” Shawna said. “Surprised the toilet paper is still on the shelves.”

“Oh, we’ll get a run on that…let me rephrase that, those shelves will be empty before three, just you watch.”

“So, do you believe them?” Shawna asked.

Nadine looked at Shawna as if she had green hair. “Why wouldn’t I? ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and CNN. They’re all reporting it. Then the National Weather Service. It’s all over the radio too. Why wouldn’t I believe it?” Nadine scanned two more items and squinted at Shawna. “What? You don’t believe them?”

“Meh, too much hype,” Shawna said. “Take a look outside. It’s 70 out there and they’re telling me a blizzard’s coming my way, with seven inches of snow?”

Shawna opened her weather app. “See, take a look here, 42% chance of it happening at 4, 61% at 4:15 and 53% at 4:30. 42, 61, 53. I think they’re just making these numbers up. Maybe they’re even funded by the grocery stores to keep the people coming in and buying. But those kinds of numbers are just made up.”

Nadine scanned Shawna’s last three items, pressed a few buttons, and gave Shawna the total. It was obvious Shawna had said something that upset her, something that was giving her a lot to think about. Shawna paid and grabbed her bags.

“Unfortunately, weather people are like politicians. There’s no penalty for getting things wrong. I think they’re right about 38% of the time, but I could be wrong.”

Shawna didn’t need to turn around to see Nadine’s reaction.

She did, however, overhear Nadine’s first words with the next customer, “They’re saying there’s a blizzard coming through…”