I'm sure that we can all agree that weather in New England is tough to predict. When we watch the news we have to take our weather forecasts with a grain of salt because our weather changes all the time and doesn't always go as anticipated.
That being said, it is nice to have a forecast available when a major storm hits. We have the luxury to be able to turn on the TV and watch an extended weather report that tells us what to expect. We were able to watch meteorologists track the most recent storm, Irene, almost a week in advance so that we could be prepared. Again, it is an inexact science and instead of getting a hurricane it fizzled out into a tropical storm. They were able to warn us about flooding and wind damage which did occur.
It is estimated that a hurricane prediction three days in advance today is as accurate as a one-day forecast was 20 years ago! Before we had all of the technology that we have today it was very hard to predict storms. The New England Hurricane of 1938 was a category 3 hurricane and was estimated to have killed between 682 and 800 people. These folks didn't know how to prepare for a hurricane, didn't know how strong it was going to be when it hit, and didn't have mandatory evacuations that we can order today when we know what is coming.
So I am very grateful for weather forecasts and the technology that we have today.
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