Weather.com (aka The Weather Channel) has a ten day forecast. That's right, a ten day forecast, even though they can't get a three day forecast right. I don't know how many times they have claimed a warmup in the last month, only to have it peter out. The third day of the forecast usually shows a high near 40, with the fourth and fifth days warmer than that. Then that gets pushed back the following day...and then pushed back again...and pushed back...it is like they have no ability at all to make an accurate forecast in the winter beyond two days into the future. I could make a more accurate long range forecast based on the averages and current readings. Seriously.
One of my favorite tv weather moments occured the Sunday before Katrina hit. I was flipping through the national news channels (like CNN and Fox News), trying to get the latest on the hurricane's movements, when I realized that the so-called weather experts were just blonde airheads reading off the teleprompter. Everyone was off for the weekend, or on the typical end of August vacation. The biggest weather story, if not news story of the year, and there was no one around to provide any insight into the events.
Stay tuned for part two of my rant about weather forecasting when I will write about the skill that it takes to forecast in the summer a high of 88, with partly cloudy skies and a 20% chance of rain.
