Before You Start Digging On The Weather Man
By Linda Farneth
The jokes are as old as the profession. “Weather Man, the only job you can be wrong about 99% of the time!”
Well how often do you say that about soothsayers, like Nostradamus or fortune tellers like famous Burmese Swe Swe Win. What about stock annalists? Well you might have a thing or two to say to them if you’ve investing in stocks based on their predictions, but what about the weather man.
Why do we get so angry when the weather forecasters are wrong? Well simply put those who invest something based on weather predictions often feel they have wasted something since the weather didn’t do what “it was supposed to”.
Some people often over invest, either money or time. Some go out and shop buying extra items they wouldn’t buy, if they didn’t have an idea they might be stuck inside for a while or even days. Many people impulse buy heaters, lanterns and battery operated gadgets because the weather is predicted to produce wide-spread power outages.
All this shopping takes time. Time that people invest, becoming a part of the crazy crowds of people running to the store mindlessly stocking up on Toilet paper, bread and milk. (the three weather staples)
Then there are those who change their business meeting schedules or dutifully stay home from work at the request of officials who are acting on the side of caution all based on the predictions of meteorologists…weathermen!
Now if you don’t think that’s a lot of pressure then I know of a few openings at the post office that are very relaxing!
What goes into creating weather predictions is a lot of technical stuff that weather enthusiasts love to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a midnight snack, but the rest of us…We just want to know if we need to pack a scarf or snow shoes for our next vacation. Or if we need to get up early to shovel snow or sleep in…or just plan to stay home!
Now let’s look at those wrong predictions! Despite the fact that we are all important and what we do tomorrow is of more interest to us then what our neighbors in the next county or state do… we all have to realize the weathermen have to predict the weather for ALL of us.
And there are often times when the weather is literally different on one side of the road then it is on the other. Don’t believe me. If you ever go to Florida don’t be surprised if it is raining on your side of the street but your neighbor has to break out the water hose to keep the palm trees watered! I’ve seen it. I’ve even rode the edge of a rain cloud on my bike when I was a kid, like a surfer rides the waves at Oahu.
So the next time you say, I didn’t get any snow, check with the surrounding areas, they probably did.
Colonial Beach News 