In response to Tyler Friederich’s article on Dec. 4 concerning the poor forecasting of the winter storm, I would first like to thank him for pointing out, in the last third of his article, that winter weather is indeed the most difficult weather to forecast (in many cases, the distance between the snow and the rain is only one county). Also, too often, meteorologists only receive attention when their predictions are wrong. However, in the case of the most recent winter storm, a few things must be mentioned.

First, weather prediction organizations, particularly TV news stations, have a responsibility to inform the public as soon as possible of any impending weather hazards. Using computer models for weather predictions is done more often because of efficiency, not because of a meteorologist’s philosophy that computers are better.

Second, I doubt Mr. Friederich would have been pleased if the forecast called for little to no snow, and then six to twelve inches of snow actually fell. With respect to predicting weather hazards, playing it safe is preferred. I certainly would not want the deaths of people on my conscience when I make predictions in the future.

Daniel Pounder

Graduate Student