By Lynn Walsh, Texas Watchdog

In a newsroom the words "bad weather" often mean long hours, overtime and lots of live coverage. It is the sort of thing that as journalists we dread but can wind up loving.

For most of the country recently, "bad weather" has meant cold temperatures, snow and ice, which for many parts of the country is nothing new. But in other parts (like here in Houston, Texas, where I live) it's an uncommon and unwelcome occurrence that shuts down cities and leave viewers and listeners glued to local weather coverage.

Being from the north and having previously worked for television stations in the State of Ohio winter weather and the stories it brings with it from icy roads to school closings are just part of the daily news rundown.

Anyone who has worked at a television station where snow and cold temperatures are the norm for parts of the year, would probably agree with me when I say it can get a little overdone. From the wall-to-wall coverage of "snowmageddon" to live newscasts that extend hours-beyond what is normally scheduled, weather stories eat up valuable story-telling time in newscasts.

How many stories can a viewer really consume and enjoy about the snowy road conditions, tips to prevent pipes from freezing and how to keep electric costs down? The coverage of winter weather becomes even less of a novelty when promised "10-12 inches" arrive in dustings of less than two.

So, you could imagine my reaction, when at 11 a.m. on a Friday morning, the local television news stations in Houston are still live on-air with wall-to-wall winter weather coverage -- here we go again! (To set the stage: the promise of snow in Houston did not turn into much more than some icy roads for most of the city, except in the outlining areas where there was some accumulation, but nothing that came above your tennis shoes.)

The stations were doing the usual cold weather coverage: roads, ice, cold temperatures. After watching the live coverage continue in dismay, I noticed that not only did I need to reconsider my initial negative reaction but that the people around me, Houstonians, actually were getting into the coverage.

At the gym, people could not take their eyes off of the televisions -- some were even stopping their cardio routine to get closer to the screen to listen. Not only were they listening, but they seemed genuinely entertained and interested in what the reporters and the anchors were talking about: ice, cold temperatures and some snow.

I was shocked! Until I remembered, I am not in Ohio anymore. I am in Texas where winter weather is not common, where people may not have experience scraping ice from their cars or driving through snow.

This is when it hit me, unusual weather, like temperatures in the 20's in February in Houston, is something people are interested in. Having to walk on icy sidewalks and even bundling up to wait for the bus stops are not tasks that come as second nature to them.

The non-stop local news coverage of weather that can be overdone and exaggerated in many markets, was in this case warranted and it seems well received.

Have you seen something similar to this while jumping across the country as a journalist? I would love to hear about! Contact me Lynn.K.Walsh@gmail.com or on Twitter @LWalsh.