Fast information takes over for fact checking sometimes, and this photo is a great example.
Here is a picture I shared on August 12, 2011 of a super cell thunderstorm hitting Pensacola Florida on August 10. I shared it on TV, Twitter and Facebook. It was stolen and re-tagged as Hurricane Irene making landfall in either Virginia or North Carolina, then made it's way across the planet in hours.
I was impressed at first when I got a Tweet to my account @JustinWeather in 'Spanish'. But I was in the middle of TV coverage in Ocean City as Hurricane Irene was just moving away, so I couldn't pay attention.
Then more flooded in (see a few at the bottom of this post). Eventually, I was able to determine that my photo (which came from a friend) had gone viral around the planet, but for the wrong reasons.
The thing is, some people realized it already. Those fine folks in Spain and beyond had tagged me with my original photo to get the point out that it was another storm, but it was too late. In the interest of honesty and integrity, I want to thank those that tried to help spread the truth, some sample of those tweets are at the bottom of this post. Here is the original Twitter post of that pic I titled Holy Cloud.
My Facebook page was also flooded with people warning me about the picture they had seen weeks ago, being shared as a new land falling hurricane image. The origanal photo had this discussion to prove it's origin. In fact I think this this photo even better from that same storm in Pensacola, FL. But by this point, it was already being used by other TV stations (I will not name here).
I had done my best to clear the air, even writing this note to Snopes.com , but the spread of the photo has had much more momentum
In any event, if you see this, please reply to sender the truth. No one got hurt, but it is a sign that for some, the spread of something interesting might be more important that waiting to get the facts straight. Now you know the truth, and may be a little cautious next time.
TWEETS: From Twitter about my photo
@digitalmeteo Emilio Rey
FAKE Irene: twitpic.com/6caimh Es una supercélula fotografiada por @JustinWeather el pasado 12 de Agosto twitpic.com/64v76e en Pensacola
@MacarenaRG
RT @digitalmeteo FAKE Irene: twitpic.com/6caimh Es una supercélula fotografiada por @JustinWeather el 12 de Agosto twitpic.com/64v76e
@digitalmeteo Emilio Rey
@nnessa87 de hecho puedes seguir al auténtico fotógrafo, con el que estoy charlando. Es @JustinWeather :) La foto es del 12A en Pensacola
@nnessa87 Sarah Gutierrez
@digitalmeteo @JustinWeather ok gracias pues esa foto la estan dando ya en todos los informativos por lo menos en USA
@cris_andina Cris Andina
FAKE Irene: twitpic.com/6caimh Es una supercélula fotografiada por @JustinWeather el pasado 12 de Agosto twitpic.com/64v76e en Pensacola
@Esther__VLC Esther
La foto era 1 FAKE Irene twitpic.com/6caimh Es una supercélula fotografiada por @JustinWeather 12 Agosto twitpic.com/64v76e en Pensacola
@Tosgriju Juan Carlos
“@digitalmeteo: FAKE Irene: twitpic.com/6caimh Es una supercélula fotografiada por @JustinWeather el pasado 12 de Agos twitpic.com/64v76e
@grahambot Graham Marsden
@JustinWeather the Holy Cloud pic has gotten out of control! NBC4 Washington just aired it on broadcast, again claiming it's Irene.
@juanfran_bp juanfran.
@DiegoUbierna es un FAKE! "@digitalmeteo: Es una supercélula fotografiada por @JustinWeather el pasado 12 de Agosto twitpic.com/64v76e
@alvarosantos71 ALVARO SANTOS
@digitalmeteo: Es una supercélula fotografiada por @JustinWeather el pasado 12 de Agosto twitpic.com/64v76e
@InakiSilveira Iñaki Silveira
Robar una foto de una tormenta de Agosto al meteorólogo @JustinWeather y twittearla como foto del huracán #irene #twitterfacts
@InakiSilveira Iñaki Silveira
Robar una foto de una tormenta de Agosto al meteorólogo @JustinWeather y twittearla como foto del huracán #irene #twitterfacts
@Amalia_Enriquez Amalia Enríquez
@jorgelopezbio @justinweather retwitteado quedas!
Jorge López Leonard@o
jorgelopezbio Jorge López Leonardo
@Amalia_Enriquez La foto es de una tormenta en Penascola, FL el 10 de agosto. La hizo @justinweather. Mira su TL! :-)
PJASchultz P@J
@JustinWeather But obvi fake for Irene. Ayone who watched a wx report for 30 sec knows she just did not have that kind of cloud wall.
@Maica G.Quintanilla
maicagq13 Maica G.Quintanilla
@vicentegfornes @amalia_enriquez @justinweather Ya aclarado ...menudo lío en un momento!!! Aun así impresiona..;))
@Vicente Gomez Fornes
vicentegfornes Vicente Gomez Fornes
@maicagq13 '@Amalia_Enriquez La foto es de una tormenta en Penascola, FL el 10 de agosto. La hizo @justinweather. Mira su TL! :-)'
@emggaliana Eva Mª García
@digitalmeteo Era una broma. El pobre @justinweather no tiene culpa que le cojan la foto del 12 agosto y la tuiteen como si fuera de hoy...
@digitalmeteo Emilio Rey
@emggaliana @justinweather que no que Justiniano nunca ha querido engañar!!!
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