Meteorologists are scratching their heads today, trying to figure out how they could have gotten their forecast so wrong in re the Blizzard of ’15. The winter storm that was supposed to dump 2 feet of snow or more on the Northeast from southern New Jersey to Maine.
In New York, schools were closed and so was transportation in and out of the city beginning at 11 p.m. last night in anticipation of gale-force winds, impassable roads, and likely power outages.
Many of those scientists have taken to social media this morning to offer their mea culpas and publicly assuage their bruised egos. As the New York Post’s Chris Perez notes, Gary Szatkowski of the National Weather Service has several messages on Twitter. Typical are these two:
My deepest apologies to many key decision makers and so many members of the general public.
— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 27, 2015
You made a lot of tough decisions expecting us to get it right, and we didn’t. Once again, I’m sorry. — Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 27, 2015
Some forecasters tried to make the worst of a good situation. Here’s James Gregorio of News 12 New Jersey:
Good morning NJ! Clearly not the blockbuster storm for NJ, but still a pretty nasty storm. #forecast miss
— James Gregorio (@JamesGWeather) January 27, 2015
Others, like CBS Philadelphia’s Kate Bilo, hope simply to have better luck next time:
Alright, this dunce is headed to bed. Lots more snow chances ahead as the cold gets locked in. We’ll get the next one.
— Kate Bilo CBS3 (@katebilo) January 27, 2015
