Year to year, it baffles me how seriously people take weather forecasters and weather forecasting.  This past weekend, friends and family of mine made some intense statements about how lousy weather forecasters are on the news channels.  And maybe what's even worse, comments were made about how weather forecasters “hedge” their forecasts by saying things such as “it may snow” or “snow is probable” instead of saying it will snow. 

Well no kidding.  You don't say.  Hmmm, maybe they hedge their forecasts because they actually cannot predict the future.  They need to hedge their statements because some overreactive viewers will get pissed if they are wrong.  Weather forecasting has got to be an extremely difficult task.  Hell, it might even be more difficult than estimating software development. 

Forecasts are to be taken with a grain of salt.  So the next time you hear someone complain about the accuracy of a forecast, ask them to wash their hands and give them a kick in the shin.