Has anyone else noticed

[Maine Abu El Banat]

Weather predictions has been, to say the least off lately. I follow three local stations, as well as TWC. Many mornings I wake up expecting sun and having rain and visa versa. I remember a few years back they lost a key satellite, has anyone heard of this happening now.

[Maine Abu El Banat]

2. So it's a regular thing

That I haven't noticed till now. Thank you for your response

[Blues Heron]

4. actually quite the opposite

they are getting better - of course they cant predict exactly where each and every thunderstorm pops up - but think of hurricane Sandy - they nailed that counterintuitive left hook track- what - twelve days out? In the 1930s a major hurricane was able to hit Long Island completely undetected.

[rubbersole]

7. The app on my phone is amazingly accurate.

I'm in Florida (I know) with summer afternoon showers pretty much daily. The radar predictions are very close to the times forecast. To quote the great philosopher Paul Simon - "I gather all the news I need from the weather report...'

[multigraincracker]

5. Sometimes I think they need to look out the window.

Checked my weather ap one day and it said "rain to end later in the day". I looked out and the sun was shinning.

[Tree-Hugger]

6. No

I'm a storm chaser and avid weather hobbyist. I monitor weather throughout the day. My local channels have good accuracy. I'm not a big fan of TWC, but I have the app and it's fine and accurate. Other apps I use have been accurate.

There's a ton that goes into forecasting and the idea that it should be easy is misguided. It's not satellites doing all the work. Obviously, they do a lot, but there's still a bunch of good ol' fashioned math and physics that goes into forecasting. I haven't noticed any downturn in accuracy. This newer era with an explosion of storms chasers has also loaned additional resources for forecasting. There are more eyes to the sky and boots on the ground during weather events and that helps fuel additional info - usually for the better, but sometimes worse.

The tricky part in summer comes with hot air masses and dewpoints. A lot of storms need juicy air to survive and grow. Sometimes, they hit pockets where the dewpoint dips or the topography messes with the air or they even expend all their energy too quickly. You expect rain, the ingredients are there, but the atmosphere suddenly stops supporting it. And vice versa. Warm days with higher dewpoints often bring an increased risk of pop of showers and storms and those can be a little harder to nail down. That's when forecasting turns to nowcasting.

Meteorologists, the NWS, the SPC, weather services have struggled in recent years. On one hand, people want all weather information right here and right now at any second. On the other hand, people get very nasty when a warning interrupts a TV show or if a tornado doesn't touch down despite a warning. Add to that the fact that government weather orgs don't see a lot of support. TFG and GQP support the privatization of weather, which is a scary prospect. TFG and GQP also do not want the NWS, NOAA, etc to be in the business of talking about climate change.

[AllaN01Bear]

8. i use goes west alot.

if rain and lo pressure, oops , there goes my poor body.