Be wary of fake Hurricane Irma forecasts
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In the light of the recent catastrophic events in Texas, news of Hurricane Irma is being hyped up more than ever. On Friday, the National Weather Service issued a warning urging people to watch out for fake forecasts.
The National Weather Service issued this tweet on Friday warning people to not be fooled into believing any of the false forecasts being circulated around the Internet. Included in the tweet was an image of an official forecast to remind people of what a credible one looks like.
An easy way to spot a fake forecast is if it predicts any span of time over five days. Official hurricane forecasts do not release more than a five day prediction of a storm. After a falsified forecast was released online, depicting Hurricane Irma to travel through the already flooded areas in Texas, people began to worry.
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Hurricane Irma has already been upgraded to a category 3 level storm with sustained winds up to 115 mph. Predictions show Irma moving through the Caribbean, but emphasize that it’s too early to calculate where it will make landfall.
As far as people posting fake forecasts online, the U.S government states that anyone circulating false weather reports using a government logo could face imprisonment.
“Whoever knowingly issues or publishes any counterfeit weather forecast or warning of weather conditions falsely representing such forecast or warning to have been issued or published by the Weather Bureau, United States Signal Service, or other branch of the Government service, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ninety days, or both,” the law states.
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