PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 4, 2021
A recent writer clams weathercasters “are wrong about 80 percent of the time.” Meteorologists are not “wrong” 80 percent of the time. National Weather Service verification statistics, available online, show short-term forecast accuracies of 80 to 90 percent and steadily improving. Unfortunately, statements like “80 percent wrong,” which blatantly conflict with the facts, have become typical strategies of some who dispute all sorts of realities like climate change, COVID vaccine efficacy and verified election results. While TV meteorologists don’t have time to give different hour-by-hour forecasts for every town, NWS online forecasts provide that very service. ~ Bill (Eric) Danielson, Chebeague Island