Today is Groundhog Day, and the major news outlets all have stories about the cute little marmot who is supposed to predict the climate for the next six weeks. It’s always a day that drives meteorologists crazy (although I do like the movie). A study of how often they are right range from 50 percent (pure chance) to 10 percent (wrong most of the time), depending on how you judge their forecast and which of the fuzzy critters you listen to (and not all of them are groundhogs). But this article from Dr. Marshall Shepherd of UGA in Forbes today talks about the real climate predictors at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, and how you should listen to real scientists instead of grumpy rats. You see their work here all the time, and while they are not perfect, they are a lot closer than woodchucks. Why? Science! You can read the article at Forbes.com here.
