What REALLY grinds your gears?

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by RobH4413

Probably just me, but I get irked when people rip on weather men. They are literally predicting the weather.

They are using advanced algorithms and historical records of data to crunch numbers and weigh different models to help form a consensus. It's incredible when you sit back and think how difficult that must be. Think about the complexity of a million different variables that must exist, and 9 out of 10 times they absolutely nail it.

Then it snows 5 inches instead of 7 and everyone bitches. Fuck you, everyone.

well, technically the computers are running 1000's of simulations by changing variables slightly as seeing the possible results. I think it's a problem with people not understanding how the predictions work. 20% chance of rain doesn't mean it'll rain 20% of the time today, it means that 20% of the simulated models show rain formations occurring.

but yeah, it's not like they're not trying their best, and it's not like national government agencies and local stations haven't invested millions in getting it as right as possible. it's also amazing how much historical data is actually out there (we've been doing observation/tracking in the US since the early 1800's).