AFTER 167 YEARS OF SCREAMING, NWS forecasts to join 21st century

SEATTLE (KOMO) - OMG!

The National Weather Service announced Monday it is finally abandoning an antiquated 167-year-old practice of typing forecasts IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS and joining the more muted ranks of just typing them like they're in an email.

Weather service spokeswoman Susan Buchanan said the agency started using all capital letters in 1849 forecasts because of the telegraph. Twenty years ago, the agency tried phasing out the practice, but old equipment wouldn't recognize lower-case letters. Yes, even in 1996, when civilization had advanced to 28.8k baud modems and cell phones the size of small toasters, the government still had some communication equipment that only Paul Revere could have thought was technically advanced.

But now, fast forward (and I mean, fast forward) all the way to today, when their technology has finally caught up to the social media age where typing in all caps is reserved for shouting or trolling, or both.

"People are accustomed to reading forecasts in upper-case letters and seeing mixed-case use might seem strange at first," NWS meteorologist Art Thomas said in a press release announcing the changes. "It seemed strange to me until I got used to it over the course of testing the new system, but now it seems so normal."

The process becomes official on May 11 -- they still have to allow 30 days for notification via Pony Express to those still using the old equipment that changes are afoot.

For those who miss the capital letters, don't worry, they'll still use them in severe weather situations when shouting is appropriate. So, if you see capital letters in a forecast this summer, take heed!

What will the future hold?

That got me to thinking. Now that the NWS has caught up to somewhat recent English typing practices, where could the agency go in the future?

I present my proposed NWS forecast for 2046:

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.