Re:Why the snow forecast for New York City was so bad
by CPLX on Tuesday January 27, 2015 @01:37PM
(#8954805)
Fair enough, but it's worth noting that line is the difference between empty ocean and twenty million people, threee major airports and the financial capital of the world. It's sort of the definition of a distinction denoting an actual difference.
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Re:Why the snow forecast for New York City was so bad
by mikeash on Tuesday January 27, 2015 @01:47PM
(#8954869)
I think the problem is that people don't really understand nonlinearities in these things.
Imagine somebody aims a gun at you and I say, "Watch out, he's going to shoot you!" Then he fires the gun, but it misses you by an inch. You wouldn't say "you idiot, the bullet didn't hit me at all." But the weather equivalent has people thinking forecasters are stupid.
Re:Why the snow forecast for New York City was so bad
by RunningWild on Wednesday January 28, 2015 @02:51AM
(#8958646)
Except that (probably) no one predicts where bullets go for a living whereas, for weather reporters (or, more accurately, meteorologists), it's their job.
I theorize if we started smashing them in the balls with a tackhammer every time they're wrong, you'd see both a mass exodus out of that field and a marked increase in accuracy.