The weather forecast: Has it become another propoganda tool?

[live love laugh]

I recall reading something here a long time ago about weather forecasts being trumped up. That is, earlier in the week forecasts usually paint a rosy weekend picture only to be revised later in the week usually to something less pleasant.

That happened this week. The weekend was supposed to be hot and sunny with highs in the 70's here in Wisconsin. Tonight, I have the heat on. It's cold, windy and desolate. I have the shades drawn for fear I will look out the window and see tumbleweeds rolling down the street. :scared:

Seriously, are we being played with the weather too or I am too tinfoilhat for my own good?

[lutefisk]

1. I've been suspicious about that, too.

The ten day forecast only gets worse, not better. At least in the part of Wisconsin I watch. Maybe it's about people visiting web sites that give them good news more often, increasing advertising revenue for the web site that gives them the good news- even if it always changes for the worse, later.

[live love laugh]

3. I have seen the weekend downgrades happen several times which is

why I brought this up.

I suppose there would have to be a reason for this if you or I am correct and I can't really think of one other than the fact that people make plans and spend money on the weekend. If they expected it to be cold and rainy or snowy, maybe it would keep people from buying stuff like gas and shopping.

But then who would be behind this kind of manipulation? The retail industry? Big oil?

P.S. I won't tell you where I live in Wisconsin because you may send the people with the white coats to pick me up after this crazy post. But I had to put it out there for a reality check.

:rofl:

[Kelly Rupert]

5. The same people behind each and every conspiracy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationality_theorem

[Kelly Rupert]

2. I would think that you're just being tinfoilish here.

Keep in mind that weather is an extremely inexact science; predictions often never work exactly as planned. At the moment, I'm in Minnesota, and it was sunny and warm today; it's probably the same system you were supposed to be getting. There might be some slight degree of bias towards picking the best of all possible options (if only because humans like to pick nice things) but I doubt anyone's consciously playing you. People have been complaining about weather forecasts ever since the first almanacs.

[live love laugh]

4. Agreed. And it's really not that important, I just wanted to bounce the notion around

and see what turned up.