Forecast in the forecast

It’s always the small editorials that get us in trouble.

We noted last week that the weather forecast we saw (emphasis on “we saw”) didn’t include snow for Little Rock on Friday. Then on Friday the snow came to Little Rock. Gentle Reader replied:

“As a retired National Weather Service meteorologist, I feel I must comment on your Saturday editorial concerning the accuracy of weather forecasting. First, I would certainly acknowledge that any competent meteorologist would say that weather forecasting is not an exact science, and that forecasts will not always turn out to be correct.

“Second, there are many sources of weather forecasts, and they do not always agree. Online, clickbait can be a problem. As has been brought up several times recently, people should always be aware of their source of weather information and its reliability.

“As to Saturday’s editorial concerning the snow, I would have to point out that the editorial writer was clearly not paying attention to the National Weather Service forecast, which did include snow for Friday morning . . . . ”

Gentle Reader didn’t give us permission to use his name, and we didn’t ask, so we won’t. But he wanted a “clarification” of the editorial.

Okay. To clarify: The snow caught us by surprise. And no, we’re not in the habit of seeking out the National Weather Service when the Weather Channel is so handy. (Maybe as our friend advises, we should seek out more official sources.)

For the record and just-so-youknow: The Weather Channel told us that by 9:15 a.m. Monday morning, rain would be pouring down in Little Rock. As we write at 11:45 a.m., it hasn’t started yet.