Country people are fanatical for all things meteorological. Nearly all country people have both a thermometer and rain gauge placed in locations visible from their kitchen. Some country people supplement those tools with a barometer and a weather radio but the number of barometers is far greater than the number of country people who can interpret barometric readings. A select few possess a “4-in-1″ weather tool in place of individual devices.
There is much diversity among country people in their consumption of weather data. Relatively few country people speak only to their neighbor to learn how many tenths of an inch of rain fell on any given day or the precise local temperature. Most tune into their local television station six minutes after the five to view a segment that is titled “First Alert Forecast” or some variation thereof. While weather radios are usually reserved for emergencies it is not unusual for a country person to keep the radio on a very low volume at all times in case a “severe weather watch” is issued for their county. The bravest country people actually learn of weather phenomena. “Storm spotters” and “weather watchers” take up the charge of confirming severe local weather and relaying news of severe weather to local authorities so that alerts can be broadcast via police scanner. Those with a police scanner are expected to notify those without scanners when severe weather strikes.
Non-emergency weather is also of interest to country people as is city weather. If you plan to speak to a country person be prepared to address the following questions: what is the temperature where you are? have you gotten any precip where you are and, if so, how much precip have you received? Also, be careful to not confuse ice, freezing rain, sleet and wintry mix as country people are very sensitive to variations on a snowfall.
