Weather forecasts

[Rich Z]

I've got one of those desktop gadgets on my PC screen that shows the latest weather forecast for five days. It's almost funny watching it change nearly every hour. Even the forecast for TODAY will change to make corrections when the OBSERVATION contradicted the FORECAST.

Looking at a 10 day forecast is completely useless. Forecasting the weather 10 days from now is no better than throwing a dart at forecasts written on sticky notes on a wall.

Seriously, is the weather becoming that much more unpredictable lately, or is it just getting harder to find good help in meteorology? It seems like things are actually getting worse rather than better.

[Mark Dalton]

I'm not sure what the deal is with meteorologists but I'll bet almost anything that if you look at their resume, somewhere on it they worked at McDonalds flipping burgers.

[Rich Z]

Actually that does make sense. I guess they got cocky with their abilities after a few years of being able to predict when the french fry buzzer was going to go off.

[CHASZ51]

They can't even get it right 3 days out. This is just another and warm and dry winter.

[vett boy]

I use Accuweather 30 forecast which is wrong 93.7 % of the time after 7 days.

[Rich Z]

Well today's weather certainly turned out better than I had expected. Looks like more of the same for the next couple of days then plummets to a low of 29 degrees Tuesday night. Assuming the forecast is accurate, of course.

I didn't even want to be in the garage and instead Connie and I spent time outside clearing underbrush to create a perimeter around the house. The grape vines will absolutely take over unless you keep at them. So we're going to keep at it till the mosquitoes come back to chase us out of the woods.

Still seems awesome to see butterflies in January. Also found a box turtle along one of our paths munching on a mushroom.

[CHASZ51]

We have had almost no cold weather this last fall or this winter so far. At least last year we had 3 shots of cold weather that lasted a day.

[Kap142]

Regardless of cause the climate is changing.

[Rich Z]

You have to wonder why people will get all upset about climate change when all they are comparing to is maybe a few hundred years of recorded history. Heck, often not even that. Maybe just what they know of their memory within their own lifetimes. We just passed a milestone of a 26,000 year cycle on December 21. What was the global climate like on this planet the last time that happened? What external influences can be acted against this planet that we don't have a clue about? I don't believe anyone can make a convincing argument that the earth HAS to stay the same as we remember it within our lifetimes, much less over millennia and certainly changes have been happening LONG before mankind could have possibly had a hand in influencing those changes.

It's much like the limited lifespans of ants in an ant mound in a desert wash expecting their place in the world to remain exactly the same sunny weather, day to day, until the first big thunderstorm comes along and washes their mound away. An event that might not happen at all within the lifetimes of those ants, but last happened several of their generations ago.

We are no different in the big scheme of things in this universe. And just like those ants, there are things that we can do absolutely nothing about, even if we knew it was coming.

[Rich Z]

So, in the last 24 hours, the forecast for tonight's low changed from 29 to 35 degrees. The last forecast change was made just about an hour ago.