Reply #31: If you're asking about my OP, you are so wrong. [View All]

I don't fault forecasters who can't predict exactly when or where a tornado might hit. All they can do is issue watches and warnings. For the same reason, I can't criticize the margins of error employed by hurricane forecasters. They're giving chaos it's due.

But here in Atlanta, the TV forecasting gurus are already saying that they believed there was a possibility that the Gulf tropical disturbance that triggered this mess could be disruptive. The honest ones are saying they made a judgment call by not stressing that more directly. I give them 2 points for candor, which is a plus when you're in a profession where after absorbing who knows how many models and how many printouts, it really comes down to your gut.

And the area affected covered the entire Southeast. That's 10s of thousands of square miles. Not just the dots on a map where a twister touches down, or the narrow path of a hurricane. It's meteorology's take on the Heisenberg principle. The larger the area that could be affected by a weather event, the easier it is to give a heads up to the people who should be concerned. For whatever reason, that didn't happen in this case.

I stand by my OP. And you really should work on your communications skills.