NWS Seattle's musically-infused weather tweets a smash hit

SEATTLE -- The weather may feel like a broken record in Seattle with the same rainy pattern this autumn, but the forecasts from the local National Weather Service office are singing a different tune.

Every hour, in fact.

Wednesday night into Thursday morning, those who follow the Seattle office of the National Weather Service's Twitter feed were treated to more than just current temperatures and the news that it's about to rain… again.

"Hi. It's me again," NWS meteorologist Dustin Guy tweeted Wednesday night as he began his overnight shift. "Feeling lyrical."

That tweet came at the bottom of some lyrics from The Police's classic "Message In A Bottle" along with the region's current temperatures, superimposed as a message in a bottle.

And so started an hourly serenade – a tweet each hour with a new rift on the forecast.

Guy has been frequently tweeting musically-infused messages on NWS Seattle's Twitter feed, and it's become a popular feature.

"I started doing music tweets a few years ago," Guy told FOX Weather. "I usually compose them based on a theme of some kind. Sometimes it's connected to an artist's birthday. Other times, I'll compose a tweet based on songs by either a single artist or a single album by that artist."

He said the first tweet's inspiration from The Police came from watching concert videos on his most recent day off.

"So, I decided to keep the lyrical theme going early this morning with songs that either referenced the night or, in one particular case, a specific hour (such as "3 AM Eternal" by the KLF, tweeted at 3:02 a.m.)," he said. "I've been an eclectic music listener throughout my life, so it feels pretty effortless to produce music tweets. They often include some of my favorite artists: Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Police, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, The Smiths, New Order... I was heavily influenced by the 80s 'new wave' and 'alternative rock' groups of the 70s and 80s."

And indeed, many do get his ‘messages in the bottle’. The @NWSSeattle Twitter feed has over 142,000 followers and is the most-followed local National Weather Service office in America.

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"We're very pleased with the balance we've struck between engaging with our followers in a fun and entertaining way when the weather is slow and changing to a more serious tone when significant weather is expected," said National Weather Service Seattle Warning Coordination Meteorologist Reid Wolcott. "Since we live in an area where there can be long stretches of time between significant weather events, this balance is critical to keeping our followers on board (and increasing their number) during the slow times. We're fortunate to have a very talented and creative team of meteorologists on board here at NWS Seattle."

The tweets provide some levity for what has been a rather gray and rainy stretch for the Seattle area. 

Some city residents are indeed ‘sending out an SOS’ – Save Our Sunshine. The city just recorded one of its wettest Novembers on record with five atmospheric rivers, hasn't seen a three-day break from the rain since late September, and Halloween was the last time a day has had less than 50% cloud cover. 

If you're eager to see what comes next, Guy is working the overnight shift again Thursday night and promises a new round of musically-enhanced tweets.

"They're pretty random," Guy said. "Just depends on what inspires me on any given day!"