A Really Wrong Forecast

Faulty weather predictions for Winter 2010

Remember the long-range forecasts last fall? This winter in the Midwest was supposed to be warmer than usual, because of one of the Pacific currents. I've forgotten if it was supposed to be La Niña or El Niño.

In a blog poll this fall, Prairie Bluestem readers predicted a cold, snowy winter. Their instincts were more accurate than the predictions of meteorologists.

I read this today:

While predictions of a mild winter prevailed in the fall, meteorologist Joe Bastardi of AccuWeather is now predicting that the United States will have the worst winter in 25 years.

Bastardi reports that the last time severely low temperatures were seen all across the country was in January 1985, when below-zero temperatures struck the country from Chicago east to New York and south to Macon, Ga.

Source: "Midwest Sees Near-Record Lows, Snow By The Foot," an MMX/CBS report published January 5, 2010, by CBS2 of Chicago

I remember January of 1985. I had just found out that I was pregnant with Keely, and I was "morning sick" most of the time. My memories of my queasy stomach are much more vivid than my memories of the cold weather. Maybe there's a lesson to be learned: if I keep my mind busy with something else, the cold temperatures will be easier to endure.