The Weather Man*

Meteorological technology has really come a long way. I think it’s pretty amazing that we can predict the weather so far in advance. On weather.com you can get weather details for 10 days from now. That’s pretty far out tho – so you have to take it as what it is – an educated guess.
But I really don’t understand why everyone gets mad at weathermen when they don’t nail the forecast.
The key word here is ‘forecast’.
Lets look to Websters…

Main Entry: fore•cast
Pronunciation: -"kast; fOr-'kast, for-'
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): forecast also fore•cast•ed; fore•cast•ing
transitive senses
1 a : to calculate or predict (some future event or condition) usually as a result of study and analysis of available pertinent data; especially : to predict (weather conditions) on the basis of correlated meteorological observations b : to indicate as likely to occur
2 : to serve as a forecast of : PRESAGE
intransitive senses : to calculate the future
synonym see FORETELL
- fore•cast•able /-"kas-t&-b&l/ adjective
- fore•cast•er noun

I see ‘likely to occur’. Do you see that? Do I need to get the definition for 'likely'?

So … now when the wind – controlled by forces greater than network TV – shifts and an approaching storm changes paths and we get more, or less of whatever it was that was ‘forecast’ to be coming our way… does it make you feel better to say the weatherman is an idiot?

* 'Man' is used figuratively