Sunday Fun: Why Railroads Need Advanced Weather Warnings

While awaiting a phone call, the television was on Turner Classic Movies and there was a 1931 picture playing titled Other Men's Women. As a meteorologist and railfan, this segment caught my attention. If only they had precision storm warnings in 1931!

Today, AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions provides track-specific storm warnings for most of the major railroads in North America. In 2016, a segment of Union Pacific track, with a speed limit of 70 mph, washed out west of Topeka. Fortunately, we told the railroad about the danger. They sent a

track surveyor to check and, sure enough, the bridge was gone. So, unlike the fictional washout in 1931, catastrophe was avoided.