Why AT’s Weather Contains Subscription-Only Content

We have to start from the beginning to understand where we are today.

In 2010, I became the nation’s first independent meteorologist to launch a fully digital weather operation on social media, featuring an app, a website, and live tornado coverage that served all of Oklahoma and surrounding states. I funded and developed everything personally in my spare time because I felt called to serve the public again after retiring from broadcast news in 2007. Along the way, I faced criticism, defamatory blog posts, and even the dismissive label “internet meteorologist” from former television colleagues. But I persisted, exploring my creative ideas each step of the way.

In 2018, social‑media platforms began introducing monetization. Algorithms soon prioritized high‑traffic, sensational content. By 2021, numerous imitators took my successful formula, but added clickbait graphics, videos, and exaggerated forecasts to generate impressions and ad revenue. This engagement‑driven model diverged sharply from the science‑based service I created and has tainted the profession, destroying the credibility that science has worked so hard to achieve. Without industry oversight, the public often cannot distinguish between credentialed experts and those without formal training.

For that reason, I transitioned my unique skill set to a private, subscription‑supported format in 2025. Doing so prevented others from repackaging my work and freed me from the dopamine-based ecosystem that favors quantity over quality. Those who recognized the value of accurate, integrity‑driven forecasts, as well as anxiety-free tornado coverage, have joined me on this new path.

No one had previously placed comprehensive weather content that included live tornado coverage behind a paywall until now; such services in the industry have been supported by advertisers, taxpayers, or corporate funding. For 15 years, I sustained AT’s Weather with help from a few outstanding sponsors and generous followers. Yet we all deserve fair compensation, and as we grow older, our time and well‑being become even more precious. Protecting those resources, while maintaining healthy, reciprocal relationships with my audience, motivated this change.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you too join the AT’s Weather community.
– AT

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