# Weather "forecasters" should be payed by thier accuracy rate...



## Jim Karns (Nov 26, 2007)

Hey all,
Well, this should start a lively discussion 

I think the weather "forecasters" (guessers) should be payed by thier accuracy rate. I think this is VERY fair, as they make a ton of money. Pay them, AND PAY THEM WELL when they get the forecast correct. However, they shouldn't get payed thier enormous paychecks when they get it wrong......Mayber just a stypend that week. In my job, if I got things wrong as many times as these "guessers" do - I would be fired. After all, don't we count on thier knowledge? Don't we plan our snow plowing based on what they tell us? How many times have we spent time & money waiting for snow that isn't coming?
Some of these fools can't get the sun coming up in the East correct (and let's not even go into the amount of times a snow storm "veered to the North" - or "skirted us to the South"!) Let's pay them what they're worth. 
Another question - Do these people practice that "deer in the headlights" look accompanied with the shrugged shoulders?????
*GET THE FORECAST RIGHT - OR FIND ANOTHER JOB! * Enough is enough! :realmad: :realmad:
Ok - I'm better now......


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## buckwheat_la (Oct 11, 2009)

well, yes and no, sometimes i hate when they are so obviously wrong with forecasts that my 18 year old sister could do better, however, there are times when weather paterns just sneak up on them and do unpredictable things, however i think that forecasters do get paid according to how well they forecast, if they forecast well, then more people watch them, meaning they bring up rating, etc etc. i think it is time to invest some money on technology to get forecasting better, then having the "witch hunt" guessing


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## Jim Karns (Nov 26, 2007)

(Sorry - this is in the wrong forum - should have been under the weather subject) I can agree with you (sometimes things go wrong) ....You guys got the good forecasters...LOL. Down here these guys (and gals) seem to get it wrong more than right.


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## Mike_PS (Feb 28, 2005)

I moved this to the correct forum for you


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## jb1390 (Sep 23, 2008)

I agree that sometimes it is frustrating when forecasters are so completely off. However, there are plenty of cases here on plowsite where people pass over difficult work-such as steep driveways, parking lots that haven't been surveyed,etc (difficult jobs with many unknowns-very similar to weather patterns). While most of us need to do our job well-we also take time to prepare-time that forecasters don't have-and don't have the technology for (Forecasters still need to predict the weather-even if they would rather pass on it because of the unknowns). Weather patterns are tough to predict-if there were as many variables in our jobs as in theirs-we would want some slack too. At least now (2010) we have some idea of whether a storm is headed our direction-it used to be that one had no idea until it started snowing.


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## augerandblade (Jan 17, 2009)

Even here I sometimes wonder where are they getting this forecast from. The worst time for a snowfall /storm is around Christmas and New Years, they simply dont care to take the time for a accurate forecast. However the weather is unpredictable and "Eyes Skyward" is your saftest bet.


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## FordFisherman (Dec 5, 2007)

They should be given an accuracy rating similar to a baseball players average. At the end of every month, pay should be based on how accurate they predicted temperature, rainfall and snowfall. At the end of their careers, they will need a certain "average", say .500, to enter the "Meteorological Hall of Fame". I think that Paul Kocin guy is already in...he was pretty good.


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## erkoehler (Sep 25, 2008)

What do they make?


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## FordFisherman (Dec 5, 2007)

I think they do a little better than us per storm...payup


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## chrisby316 (Nov 27, 2002)

The problem with the forecasters today is that they rely very heavily on computer models. Which means that they input the data and the computer tells them what is going to happen. The issue becomes when nature changes and it doesn't follow the previous tracks that the computer has been programmed to know. Also if the information that is put into the computer is incorrect or changes then the outcome is completely different also. 

We also as a society demand more from them today than we ever did in the past. We do not accept percentage forecasts anymore. We want to know is it going to rain or is it now. we don't want to hear that there is a 50% chance of rain. I could have told you that. We also expect totals for rainfall, snow and a precise temperature for the days (or week) following. 

I am just as frustrated this year as everyone else, but we also have to remember that these weathermen ARE predicting the future. Do we hold anyone else who looks into the future to as high of standards? Look at financial advisers or ceos, or even we as business people trying to plan for the future. We have all invested in a stock or an employee or a piece of equipment that has not turned out the way we wanted it to, due to outside factors. 

Sorry this is sooo long just been thinking about this topic for a long time. 

It wouldn't hurt if once in awhile the forecasters ate a little humble pie and admitted that they blew it. Would make me feel better


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## Jim Karns (Nov 26, 2007)

I told you it would be lively,

I guess my biggest gripe with these guessers is thier OVER emphasis of a storm coming. It's worse than watching Nancy Grace!!! I would swear that these folks are in "cahoots" with the bread, milk, egg and snow shovel suppliers. Damn - if wally mart sold bodybags....people would buy them (just in case)... How many times in the last decade has the public been snowed in for more than a day (or 2) at the most. It just doesn't happen in southern New England anymore... I would appreciate if the "guessers" would be a little less over the top and a little more on the money. :waving:
(Never gonna happen - is it???) LOL


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## backupbuddy (Dec 28, 2009)

*Jim Karns*

I would swear that these folks are in "cahoots" with the bread, milk, egg and snow shovel suppliers.

I hear you its like a week out and there talking big storm of a foot or more and it ends up being 4-5 inches when its all said and done. Theres been timesduring the mowing season that if I listened to the forecast for the next day that I would never get any work done. They say it is going to rain and it doesn't. My philosophy is I get up check the radar and make my own forecast I'm usually right 80% of the time. :laughing: But even then you sometimes look at the radar and its lying to you too. It's just a big guessing game.


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## iceyman (Mar 1, 2007)

maybe 30 years into the future we will know whats gonna happen before it does... until then things willl never change...


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

I'd watch more weather on TV if we had that anchor from Michigan "So Bob...where's that 8 inches you promised me last night?"


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