Shouldn’t it be WEATHER WARNING? What am I missing? This sounds to me like the twisting of the English language, like commercials that ask, How Do You Pizza? or This is how we salad!
PLEASE! Use proper grammar, make it make sense!
KOMO uses WEATHER WARN for the least of changes in weather. It’s not like we are going to have a hurricane. Smokey haze. OMG!!! Thanks for the WEATHER WARN.
Keeps me awake at night
October 1, 2025 at QZVX
Jason Remington says:
Background on another stupid Sinclair directive and how it came to be…
Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns or operates nearly 200 TV stations across the U.S., rolled out standardized weather alert branding in the late 2010s as part of their push for uniform, attention-grabbing on-air elements. This includes lower-thirds and full-screen graphics like “WEATHER WARN” during forecasts or alerts. It replaced an even more sensational earlier version called “Code Red” at some stations, following backlash over its alarmist tone. Example from a 2019 Incident: At Sinclair’s WICS (Springfield, IL), meteorologist Joe Crain publicly criticized the “Code Red” alerts as overhyped during a routine rain forecast. After going viral and drawing ire from Sinclair execs, he was fired. The station then swapped to “Weather Warn” to dial back the drama while keeping the urgent vibe.
Similar tweaks happened at other affiliates, like those using “Weather Warning” routinely before weather segments.
Grammatically: “Warn” is a verb (e.g., “We warn of storms”), but here it’s jammed next to “weather” without an article, preposition, or gerund form (like “Weather Warning” or “Weather Alert”). Proper English would be: “Weather Warning” (noun + noun, standard in meteorology—e.g., NWS uses this).
“Weather Warns” (if pluralizing alerts).
Or fully: “Weather Warning Issued.”
Dropping the “-ing” turns it into a bare imperative or fragment, which isn’t wrong in branding (think Nike’s “Just Do It”) but lacks polish.
Leave a voicemail
September 25, 2025 at QZVX
Jason Remington says:
KOMO will not answer the phone, unless you know the extension of the particular person you want to reach or if you have a news tip. My question goes unanswered.
Contact KOMO
September 25, 2025 at QZVX
Jason Remington says:
So, I sent an email inquiring about use of the English language with “Weather Warn.” It is like the phrase “This is how we pizza.” Maybe someone at KOMO can explain.
T.K.
September 25, 2025 at QZVX
T.K. says:
I’m pretty sure the “Weather Warn Day” is a Sinclair corporate mandate used at all their stations. Many of these irritating phrases originate from people who don’t know the difference between a noun and a verb. It’s a sign of a general decline in literacy. If they were to resurrect the type of segments Brook Stanford used to do, they would probably call them “Project People Help” instead of the People Helper.
The one that drives me bonkers is when corporate types call a request “an ask.”
Fun with words
September 25, 2025 at QZVX
Dick Ellingson says:
Somebody once told me that Bill O’Mara was reading a spot on KFKF and spoonerized “fitted shoes”.
Good thing he wasn’t calling games for the Tampa Tarpons.
Thanks for the explainer.
September 25, 2025 at QZVX
Dick Ellingson says:
Now, when did a dead giveaway become a tell? And without my let!