Re:Fwd: Re: WCVB Blizzard of '78 Special

[Dave Faneuf <tklaundry@juno.com>]

 From Donna
Am I the only one who has noticed that when the meteorologists were 
drastically WRONG this time around, there was no hype from any of the 
local stations, and little explanation either? One of my pet peeves (oh 
Bruce, we miss you-- you got it right more often than not!) is when 
stations make it sound like the blizzard of all time is coming our way 
and we only get 2 inches. This time, it was the opposite-- we were told 
there would only be about 2-3 inches in Boston, yet it ended up with 
about a foot, and everybody I watched totally downplayed the mistake, 
concentrating on the usual silly "reporter out in the snow" stand-ups... 
How could our very reputable meteorologists be so far off with all the 
sophisticated equipment they have?


Dave:
A number of years ago (I was working at WKOX/WVBF at the time) Weather Services Inc was taking all the old weather maps and trying to enter them into their computers.  It was explained to me at the time that the older more experienced forecasters could recall these charts off the top of their heads when a complicated system was developing and look at the historic record, then make their call.  I guess it was an attempt to replace experience with technology even back then.  I never heard if they completed the project or if it fell by the wayside.
df