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Meteorolgy: Get Out The Dartboard |
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Written by Jim Christian
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Friday, 20 July 2007 |
To the Editor,
Every day, I go to my computer and click on the Environment Canada website for the five-day forecast. I don't know why I waste the time.
They do have attractive little weather icons, and, well, Canadians really like to talk about the weather. But, it is almost always wrong. About the only thing they get right is the current conditions, and I don't need to go to a website to tell me that. If I want to plan a summer vacation, I may as well throw a dart at a board on the wall to tell what weather to expect in five days, or even tomorrow.
We've often been told that meteorology is an inexact science; but, recently, I've come to see it rather as a form of art, or even entertainment. And, now, we have climate scientists telling us that there's a "climate crisis" and that if we don't all switch to twisty light-bulbs and drive "smart" cars, that their climate models show the Earth is going to pop. I greet such predictions with as much belief as their five-day forecasts. Perhaps they would be more
accurate if they used a dartboard.
Jim Christian
Herring Cove, NS
Editor's note: HalifaxLive remembers a time in the not too distant past when weather forecasting appeared to be coming into its own. More times than not, meteorologists where pumping out fairly accurate five-day predictions almost to the point that we could actually make weather-related plans. This is no longer the case and we agree with Mr. Christian's assessment of weather forecasting in 2007 and we'll make our own prediction: dartboard sales are about to explode. Taking a quick look out the window is another method for accurate weather forecasting. One more method worth mentioning: the old adage, "red sky at night sailor's delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning" has never failed us. |
