Topic: It pays to read the paper, and write the editor...

[SLOweather]

On the 11th of June, I read this in the local morning paper:

 Frustrating forecasts

On June 3, between 7 and 7:30 a. m., I viewed four different temperature forecasts from various TV stations. The temperatures listed were 56, 66, 62 and 61 degrees. Don’t they all get the forecasts and stats from the same satellite?

I guess my original suspicions may be right. When they get their diplomas from the “weather school,” they each receive a gold coin. Heads on one side and tails on the other.

Yours for accuracy in weather forecasts I remain.

(author's name deleted)

Morro Bay

I promptly replied, and today, the paper ran my letter, in it's entirety, with the www.SLOweather.com below my name! And both letters are available on the paper's website.

Degrees of accuracy

Regarding “Frustrating forecasts,” (June 11); Temperature is one of the more variable of the weather parameters in measurement and therefore difficult to accurately forecast. It is affected by location, elevation and the microclimate where it is measured and can vary widely over a small area.

For instance, as I write this (6:42 a. m., June 11) the temperature at my home out by the driveway is 66 degrees F. Meanwhile, at the same time, approximately 300 feet away horizontally and 100 feet vertically lower in elevation down in the woods, the temperature is 56 degrees F, a full 10 degrees cooler.

Also, there are several different weather services to which TV, radio and print media may subscribe. All have their own meteorologists on staff and create their own forecasts. A quick survey of six online forecasts shows forecast highs for San Luis Obispo ranging from 71 to 87 degrees. That 16 degree spread is much larger than the 5 degree spread Mr. (name deleted) cited.

At SLOweather.com, I create my own local forecast at least twice each day from National Weather Service model data and data from my own weather station, and I can attest to the difficulty in creating an accurate one.

Chris Arndt,

www.SLOweather.com

 

[WeatherBeacon]

Excellent! Well written letter, Chris! Nicely done!

(And the plug for the web site is more than just icing on the cake.)

Kevin...

[WeatherBeacon]

I'll add that I like the fact that you provided data (evidence), whereas the original writer was merely expressing an ignorant opinion (and I mean "ignorant" in the primary sense -- lacking knowledge, lacking understanding). His letter also revealed his ignorance by believing that forecasts simply come from a satellite. The good thing is that the paper printed your rebuttal.

It's really easy to poke fun at people, but I prefer to let meteorologists, weather enthusiasts, professors, farmers, seamstresses, lawyers, etc. (fill in your own occupation) make fun of themselves, etc. (Well, okay, so lawyers are fair game. ) That's one of my pet peeves -- people making fun of occupations when they are ignorant of what such people do.

Well done on the letter!

Kevin...

[Mark / Ohio]

I have to hand it to you Chris.      You never miss an opportunity.   

.... That's one of my pet peeves -- people making fun of occupations when they are ignorant of what such people do....

Agreed.  I've asked more than one customer why they were paying me to do the work when they already had the problem figured out including how long it should take me to fix and what I should be charging.  Usual response is "I don't have a soldering iron."