HalleysComet's Dictionary: Weather Forecasting
Weather Forecasting: A branch of mystic prognostication with pronounced trappings of pseudoscience. The primary "scientific" aspect of Weather Forecasting, comically called Meteorology by believers and practitioners, is as follows:
Meteorologists tend to have a better track record than Economists. This is believed to be, in part, because weather forecasting involves observations of real world phenomenon, while Economists follow obtuse "rules" that have no connection to real world human behavior.
- Make some guesses as to how the wind will change in the next few days.
- Call the folks upwind and ask them what's happening. (This part is now highly automated thanks to computers)
- Guess how time will impact the weather that you figure will end up in your area.
- Make your predictions. Add percentages to give the impression that you didn't just pull all the data out of your lower abdomen.
- Add some pretty charts and computer generated graphics.
Meteorologists tend to have a better track record than Economists. This is believed to be, in part, because weather forecasting involves observations of real world phenomenon, while Economists follow obtuse "rules" that have no connection to real world human behavior.