We'll rain on your parade, forecasters tell rogue pundits : Nature

We'll rain on your parade, forecasters tell rogue pundits : Nature

Interesting short article in Nature referring to a project to evaluate the competence of private weather forecasters (may require a subscription?).

Frustrated weather forecasters are fighting back against rogue companies that sell forecasts with claims of impressive accuracy, but that have no apparent scientific basis.

Meteorologists are concerned that the rise of private forecasters could affect the reputation of their trade. They are reluctant to name specific firms for fear of legal action, but say that some forecast providers use professional-looking websites to hide the fact they are using scientifically flawed methods that produce unreliable predictions. "We have companies claiming they can predict months ahead, using methods they will not mention," says Pascal Mailier, a meteorologist at the University of Reading, UK.

They couldn't mean Piers Corbyn, could they???