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NOAA and the National Weather Service have amassed a bureaucracy of which there is no equal. Hundreds of thousands of reporters who in some way touch into the reports generated on every radio and TV station by a network of supercomoputers and minor networks attached to them from which come their daily ideas.
You take your SUV, topcoat, unbrella, extra field jacket etc. based upon what you hear.
Guess What??? Half of the time they are wrong. Not only are they wrong they are not accountable. Have you ever heard of one of them coming back and reviewing last weeks weather...I mean the actual weather and why they missed it? Of course you haven't. They're too busy reading the latest crap off the computers and passing along another passel of prunes which a flip of the coin can match and sometimes be more accurate.
Christian prayers are also nothing but a flip of the coin and we sure as Pete never hear them retracing and explaining why god went ahead and did his will.
NOAA and the National Weather Service have amassed a bureaucracy of which there is no equal. Hundreds of thousands of reporters who in some way touch into the reports generated on every radio and TV station by a network of supercomoputers and minor networks attached to them from which come their daily ideas.
You take your SUV, topcoat, unbrella, extra field jacket etc. based upon what you hear.
Guess What??? Half of the time they are wrong. Not only are they wrong they are not accountable. Have you ever heard of one of them coming back and reviewing last weeks weather...I mean the actual weather and why they missed it? Of course you haven't. They're too busy reading the latest crap off the computers and passing along another passel of prunes which a flip of the coin can match and sometimes be more accurate.
Christian prayers are also nothing but a flip of the coin and we sure as Pete never hear them retracing and explaining why god went ahead and did his will.
You'll have to help me, because I think I'm missing the point?
And I'm not sure where you get the number "hundreds of thousands" from. The entire Department of Commerce has less than 150k employees.
You'll have to help me, because I think I'm missing the point?
And I'm not sure where you get the number "hundreds of thousands" from. The entire Department of Commerce has less than 150k employees.
Yeah...that might be a little strong. Personnel from all weather related occupations should total high though if NOAA, NWS, the military, newspapers, radio, TV etc. is totalled. Anyway...have you ever heard one tell why they missed a forecast like before they give a new prediction? I haven't.
Ugh, if you are going to rant, at least get your facts straight. You know nothing about the weather field.
NOAA employs HUNDREDS of personnel whose job is to research past weather events and apply this knowledge to improving forecast modeling. If you think that forecast models have been static for even the last 5 years you are grossly mistaken. They are adjusted based upon years and years of research. At the local level, each NWS forecast office (120+ local offices) has one member of management (called the Science and Operations Officer) whose sole job is to research forecast performance of the local office and to train it's forecasters appropriately. Case studies are reviewed frequently to learn from past events. Even your general NWS forecaster, when not working at their 24/7 rotating shift job, has periodically assigned shifts where they work on projects to improve forecasting for the office (or nationwide).
Shall I mention the numerous magazine publications which work to advance meteorological research? The hundreds of universities that work nationally and internationally to pool atmospheric research knowledge?
Every meteorologist knows that forecasting the weather is not 100% - we just wish it were. We know that we can mess up big time and it's always a humbling experience that we grow upon. Yet, overall the average NWS employee performs BETTER than the forecast models. If the models were our only crutch, we would not have a job but instead would just let the model populate and disseminate the forecast. It's a simple as that. However, personal experience, pattern recognition, the ability to contact public outlets (weather spotters), and process information as only a human can do, all aid in the production of a forecast. Believe me, we HATE being wrong.
So I ask you, if you think that we are wrong more than half of the time, please point me to the appropriate statistics. Are you talking about forecasted weather? Temperature? Dew point? What? Is being "off" by 1 degree Fahrenheit considered being wrong? Or are you just emotionally stuck on the few times we got it wrong and it ruined your day?
I invite you to visit your local NWS forecast office and see for yourself. It's open to the public!!! Call and ask to talk to the office SOO if you have your doubts.
I can't speak for your media venues such as TV meteorologists or the private sector meteorologists (such as accuweather) since they have different rules and standards -- often revolving around what their producer or manager thinks will make a buck. They receive forecast models from NOAA but it is up to them to make what they will from it. NOAA does NOT tell these outlets what to forecast. We've NEVER told someone to wear their coat in a forecast. I've seen TV weathermen adjust forecasts towards the more extreme to garner more ratings. Also note that your TV weatherman likely doesn't have a degree in Meteorology and is just waiting to get that job as a reporter in a larger market.
At any rate, WTH does this have to do with religion or philosophy? Who cares if a weatherdude is Christian or not? We all forecast the same. I've never seen a forecaster pray on the job.
PS. Dept of Commerce's budget is one of the smallest of all federal departments. How is this "amassed in bureaucracy of which there is no equal?"
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