Smart Weather

This week we are in the middle of planting soybeans. That means my normal obsession with watching the weather has turned to a whole new level of weather mania. Couple that with the prediction of a major weather system moving in and it creates a lot of drama. I can certainly see why people become storm chasers, however, it still doesn’t seem like a good idea.

In any case, we were going full steam ahead with planting and the forecast dubiously called for severe storms sometime in the afternoon. Sometime in the afternoon seemed to mean anytime between about 2:00 and 10:00, which was not very helpful. Dad and I looked at the forecast and came up with a plan of action that would make it easier to 1) make a mad dash to the shed and 2) not leave a partially planted field.  We started out farther away from the house in the morning and worked our way closer.

The day started out hot and dry with a stiff south wind, admittedly it seemed like a storm was in the works. I monitored two or three, well, maybe four or five different weather sites and gave Dad the update seemingly every hour. I guess technology is great, we can get updated forecasts, the most current radar and other pertinent information at the touch of a button (or at least as long as the battery lasts and I have signal). Dad remained old school and simply watched the western horizon for signs of the impending sever weather event.

Throughout the day, the warnings became direr and the forecasts all became more and more certain that we would not only experience a significant rain event but we would also have severe weather with hail, high winds and even tornados. They still could not pinpoint when the weather would start. This is not very comforting for those of us planting a significant distance from home with expensive seed on the back of a pickup truck. A little more certainty as to the timing would have been greatly appreciated.

Soon a thunderstorm watch was issued and the weather beeps started on the radio as well as alerts showing up on my so called “smart” phone. We worried and stewed even more about the seemingly impending weather event, clouds began to build on the western horizon. Should we quit after this field or keep going? The decision was made to keep going and chance getting rained out in the middle.

As the day went on the clouds got thicker, the temperature dropped and the humidity increased, everything seemed to be coming together. We finished the last field and headed to the shed just as rain drops started hitting the windshield. We felt smug having squeezed all the hours and minutes out of the day and finishing before we got rained out. Modern technology is great.

That evening I watched as the line of storms diverted to the North of us. Still, the weatherman called for rain overnight, tomorrow was surely a wash out. The next morning, I awoke, expecting to see puddles in my yard and probably rain still falling. Instead I looked out on a wet deck and overcast skies. The weatherman predicted scattered pop-up showers all day. Great, talk about no help at all.

Dad and I talked. It was too damp to start right away so we would wait and see what might pop up. Dad made the comment that he was not sure but it seemed like with all the modern technology that we were getting worse at predicting the weather. It sure seems that way. I think we are much better at predicting one of the most unpredictable things, weather. There is much more information to help forecast what might happen. While they were wrong about my part of the world getting severe weather, some of western Kansas was hit and the predictions should have helped people stay safe.

I do fear that with the extended forecasts and the data we all have at our fingertips that we are getting complacent about watching the most obvious indicator of the weather and not looking out our windows. I am very glad to have all the modern advantages but at times I wish they would not be so dramatic or dire with the predictions. I fear it leads to us becoming numb or indifferent to them.

Those forecasting our weather have the second hardest job, next to those who forecast the markets. At least the weather has patterns and things that you can measure that make sense. I also know that I will continue to be addicted to watching the weather and comparing various forecasts and radar images, I think it goes along with the career path I have chosen. However, because we missed the storms last night and the sun is out, pop-up storms be darned, I am going to plant. We all know the weatherman is wrong most of the time. Right?