Hurricane Irene Brings Out the Best in Local Weather Reporters…and the Worst

As the Northeast continues to recover from the destruction wrought by Hurricane Irene, it's probably safe to laugh again. So let's take an in-depth look at a couple of local weather reporters, and the vast gulf between their ability to handle reporting from the front lines of the weekend's extreme weather.

First, there's Tucker Barnes, who joined "Good Day New York" from Ocean City, Maryland. Barnes remained unflappable as he grew increasingly coated by an unspecified dirty-looking scum, which he speculated was a mix of sand and plankton. Except, uh, it wasn't. It was raw sewage. Watch the clip straight to the end, when Barnes gets slammed by a tidal wave of the stuff.

Barnes could teach a few lessons to this reporter in Asbury Park, NJ, who meets the risk of getting her ankles kind of wet by panicking, running away, and throwing her equipment at her crew. (Via Gawker.)

This skittish young lady isn't identified, but given the crew's contemptuous laughter at her hysterical overreaction, I'll always think of her as Grace Ryan.