Weather today is much more accurate than years ago when I was a pilot in the Air Force. I started learning weather then myself, because my life depended on it. We didn't have satellites in those days and it could be very far from accurate. On a trip from Knoxville, TN to Puerto Rico one time, I flew into and through an unforecasted hurricane! When I got on the other side, I called it in and was pretty ticked off at the weather forecast. I was reporting on HF to McDill at Tampa and th guy I had chewed on said " Sir they just declared that storm a hurricane about 5 minutes ago! There was nothing remotely associated with a storm of that intensity on my official "forecast". I had to rely on a very early radar to pick my way through those cells and got beat up pretty bad. That was in the early 70's. Today, we know when a depression forms off the coast of Africa and can track it on an IPhone!
The Weather Channel came along in the early 80's and I watched it every day to keep the big picture weather in my mind. I also look out the window. I quit flying in the late 80's after having 5 business aircraft all but 1 with radar, and I figured my reflexes and skills just weren't up to my standards, and with business demands I just wasn't focused enough.
I took up sailing and have found the best forecasts are from Sailflow. I also like the Gribs from NOAA and animate them using my INavX app on the IPad. Weather is very local and wind is local, but in the big picture it is pretty constant. You have to look at what has happened, what is current, and get a good animation program to see what will likely happen in the future. I made two crossings with my wife across the northern Gulf of Mexico. She doesn't like offshore and not being able to see land and has some issues with vertigo, so I have to pick a good weather window when she is with me. Both crossings were forecast with waves less than 2 feet and winds less than 10 knots. We had 3-4 foot waves for a short period and winds to 20 knots both times - but of short durations, but the passages were both very comfortable for her as she saw the animations in advance just like I did and realized that weather forecasts are general and an estimate of what to expect. She had her patch on and did great.
If you are complaining about weather today, you just don't know how good you have it compared to just a few years ago. We've gone where you didn't even know a hurricane was there, to wanting to know 3 days out exactly where it will go and what the forecast winds are going to be. With supercomputers, and satellites, it will only get better.
. I guess I should have said 400 years ago.
