NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TO STOP YELLING IN ALL CAPS IN FORECASTS

Weather nerds, rejoice.

The National Weather Service announced on Monday that it will soon stop using all-caps style in its weather broadcasts, ending a long-standing but frequently mocked holdover that stems to the days of typewriters. 

"LISTEN UP!" NOAA spokesperson Susan Buchanan writes in an email, "BEGINNING ON MAY 11, NOAA’S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECASTS WILL STOP YELLING AT YOU."

The weather agency says the changes come as a result of upgrades to its computer system, and that a 30-day notification period is officially underway.

The all-caps style is reportedly a result of an antiquated system that was built to move weather reports over a "wire" made up of teleprinters. Those, the agency explains, resembled "typewriters hooked up to telephone lines." 

Here's a sample Regional Weather Summary that was issued by NWS Quad Cities, IAIL.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

While a few forecasters were apparently ready to change styles since the '90s, it was the customers that kept them stuck in the past, refusing to upgrade their equipment.

But the times are a-changing. And at least one forecaster is embracing the future with open arms.

"People are accustomed to reading forecasts in upper case letters and seeing mixed-case use might seem strange at first," said NWS meteorologist Art Thomas in the NOAA email. "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."

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