Are weathermen checked for forecast accuracy? Have advances in technology improved the accuracy of weather forecasting?
Dear Cecil: Box scores tell you how a baseball team has done. Stock listings tell you how a stock has performed. But I’ve never seen a mechanism indicating whether weathermen have any idea what they’re talking about. Does anyone keep track of how accurate they are? — Steven Goldberg Is there any evidence that computer tracking has improved the accuracy of weather forecasting? Despite the introduction of cutting-edge technologies, the weatherpeople seem to get it wrong as much as ever. — Tom Simpson Now, Tom, be fair. Weather forecasting is one of those things, like hairpieces and housework, that attract notice only when there’s a problem. I’m guessing you’ve never had a coworker turn to you and gush, “They said the high would be 78 yesterday, and you know what it was? Seventy-eight! Man, that National Weather Service is something else!” As you’d imagine, advances in weather prediction closely follow advances in technology and communications. Early forecasters had to make their best gu
