Weather Guessing

I had a friend who worked in meteorology when she was in the military.  Her branch was known colloquially as “the weather guessers”. I was reminded of this yesterday morning when the “light morning snow, accumulations less than an inch” turned into several inches of snow in just a few hours. There were a few flakes drifting about as we arrived at the recreation center for class, and ninety minutes later, I swept about three inches of snow off the car. I hadn’t seen that coming, and neither did the forecasters. Glad I keep a scraper and extra gloves in the car.

With all the computer models and satellite data available, we generally get accurate forecasts, with storms hitting as predicted and departing in the same manner. Other times, not so much. A small variation can increase the amount of snow, a storm can stall (think some recent hurricanes) and all of a sudden things are quite different than anticipated. It’s easy to forget that predications are just that, predictions. Highly educated and informed guesses, but as one of my all time favorite bumper stickers reminds me: Mother Nature Bats Last. A tough reminder for us humans who are so prone to want security and guarantees. And someone else to take the blame when things don’t go as we wish.

For today’s Ragtag Daily Prompt of Forecast.