A Welshman in Milano: Weather Forcasts

giovedì, giugno 17, 2004

Weather Forcasts

No, I'm not about to launch into an "I hate Michael Fish" diatribe - even though the man does rather deserve all of the scorn that has been poured on him over the years - in my humble opinion, that is. No, this is as a result of a friend of mine in the UK telling me how sorry he is feeling for me due to the fact of the weather in the UK being so much warmer than it is here in Milano.

What!? Can that be true? Well, the short answer is a resounding 'NO', which, as I'm sitting in my office looking at an outside thermometer, reading 29C at this moment, makes the expected 21 in London look decidedly on the chilly side.

But why? Why is the weather always forcast so very badly? It doesn't matter where you are in the world, either. It is ALWAYS the same. Always WRONG. But, why is that? I routinely see that the weather forcasters here in Italy - usually a very smart looking Colonel something-or-other - are precise and look completely believable whilst they tell us that it is going to rain in the afternoon, or that the clouds (WHAT clouds? The sun is shining!) will dissipitate by evening. Within the next 15 mins there is then a pretty graphical presentation of the day's weather for those that missed the Colonel and - surprise, surprise - it's different. Wheras the Colonel told us to wrap up and keep our umbrella's handy - the graphics show the sun beating down all day with no hint of any rain this side of the Alps! I like the fact that it is usually preceeded by the horoscope forcast for the day as well. Maybe that sums it all up though - they are both hopeful presentations of our impending day.