FARGO-It happens several times every summer.
You're watching your favorite programming on WDAY and then we cut in to tell you about a severe storm.
Why do we interrupt the programming to tell people what's going on?
The answer to that question is very complicated.
It has its roots in the fact that we are a news station.
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It's our job to inform people of important information; recognizing at the same time that we're interrupting people's favorite programs.
We don't do this just because we like it, but because we feel it's important to stay on the air.
It has a lot to do with who is being affected, how many people are being affected and how dangerous we think this storm is.
We have some hard rules about that.
If there's a tornado warning, we're going to break into programming.
If there's a really strong, severe storm that has life threatening conditions.
When the hail starts to become big.
When the winds get to be 70, 80 mph.
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If there's the kind of stuff that can roll a vehicle, then we're going to cut in no matter what.
We do have a very large coverage area.
It's one of the largest coverage areas for a TV station outfit in the United States.
There may be a severe thunderstorm that's rolling out of Bottineau County toward Rollette, N.D., and we have to cover that storm.
There will be somebody that's in Fergus Falls, Minn., who really doesn't care.
If you're in the heart of the storm, it's important information coming your way.
For more on severe weather in our area, be sure to watch our live "Severe Weather Special" at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday, April 27.
It'll be streamed here on the WDAY website, Facebook page and on our StormTracker Weather App.
