Wish I'd Been Wrong
by Wayne Gentry, Meteorologist

“Gee, I sure wish I had a job where I could be wrong half the time and still keep my job.” If I had a nickel for everytime I heard that, I’d be rich. We weathermen learn to live with jabs from our audiences…even though stockbrokers and sports writers only dream of approaching our accuracy rate. For many in the Meteorological community, the hurricane season of 2005 provided some degree of redemption for our scientific abilities…and we all wish we HAD been wrong.

While the record breaking Tropical season in the Atlantic (Hurricane ZETA?) and resulting damage ruled the headlines, the Pacific basin was actually more tame than average. This belies the belief that all of this year’s Atlantic turmoil was driven by heat alone. And here in the good ‘ol USA, we had no shortage of significant weather stories. Snow pack issues in the Southwestern US, near record drought in the Pacific Northwest and Great Plains, and record precipitation in the Northeast. But, perhaps most importantly, 2005 goes into the books as one of the warmest years since 1895. No state was cooler, and we maintained warmer than usual temperatures right through New Year’s Eve.

So what, you ask? We like it warm! What’s the problem? Well, there IS a relationship between high temperatures and tropical activity, but there are countless other variables that fit into the equation, too.

OK, enough looking back, and I’ve got to save something for the next issue of our newsletter. Suffice it to say, winter months in the Southeast are looking to be slightly cooler and wetter than usual…which many people will consider a blessing after the heat of 2005. The outlook for the long term is that we’ll continue to see warmer than average temperatures for the Southeast again in 2006…and, while it’s a bit early to tell, tropical activity will probably be above what we have come to accept as average.

On a positive note, April showers bring May flowers, and better grass on the golf course. I’ll be watching the sky, you keep watching The Tourist Network!