Have you hugged your weatherman today?

Posted at 5:00 PM on January 20, 2009 by Paul Huttner (2 Comments)

I admit I'm a total weather geek.

I probably view at least 40 weather related items a day. Some days it may exceed 100. Radars, satellite loops, surface maps, climate data, computer models, forecast discussions and climate change articles are all on the Weather Lab menu.

So the findings of a recent NCAR study didn't surprise me.

How often do you check the forecast?

NCAR in Boulder, Colorado surveyed 1,500 Americans and found the average person checks the forecast at least 3 times per day. That's over 100 times a month, without breaking a sweat.

It turns out that when we're driving in our cars, scanning the paper or checking in on the news we tune to weather instinctively.

It also turns out it saves us money. The value to the average U.S. household from those free weather forecasts is estimated to be $285 per year, or $32 billion for the entire U.S. And that doesn't count all the businesses that use free weather to save big bucks on planning and operations.

So give your favorite weatherman a hug next time you see him. Even if it is10 below.

PH

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Comments (2)

Paul,

You've made a very good point here as we often take our weather forecasts and the people that make them happen for granted. It's certainly not an exact science but that's part of why it's interesting.

Don't take this personally but I'll reserve my weatherman hugs for my cousin who is a meteorologist.

Dave

Posted by Dave A. | January 22, 2009 10:09 AM

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Thanks for the comment and appreciation Dave. And that is a figurative hug, of course.

PH

Posted by Paul Huttner | January 22, 2009 9:22 PM

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