Monday Morning Pick-Me-Up
U.S. House Narrowly Passes Health Care Bill
Fall Dinners - Get Inspired!
Is Sammy Sosa Turning White?
Essential Cinema: True Stories
Anyone who is native to the Midwest knows that the weather patterns here are erratic and can significantly vary from day to day, which is why a reliable meteorologist is key to anal types who like to lay out their outfits the night before. Chicagoist is one of those people. And because we’ve been burned by horribly inaccurate forecasts by some local beloved meteorologists, we have set out on a five-week experiment to attempt to determine the most reliable weather source in the Chicago area.
Last Monday began Tom Skilling week. Ever since Chicagoist moved to Chicago, we’ve been led to believe that WGN’s weatherman was the source for weather. But after Skilling left us wearing a miniskirt in a blizzard and wearing a wool sweater on a 75-degree day, we abandoned him and decided we could pull a better forecast out of our ass. For the sake of this experiment, we’ve given him another try.
Read the day-by-day report after the jump.
Monday: We started the first day of our experiment on the wrong foot by being too drunk on beer and playoffs victory to watch the news. After dragging ourselves out of bed Monday morning, we found Skilling’s forecast in the Trib, which predicted a high of 22 and potential snow. We bundled up with our snow boots, hat, gloves, scarf and heaviest coat. By 1 p.m., we were feeling a little sweaty and weighed down. The North Community Bank display at Damen and Division, which is normally pretty accurate, said the temperature was 31 degrees. And it’s sunny. No wonder we’re hot. Well, okay’s 31 degrees; we’re not ready to break out the Slip ’n Slide. But we probably could have left some of this gear at home.
Tuesday: Tom got one right. He predicted a blustery day with a high around 30. And boy, howdy, was it blustery. It blustered the skin right off our lips when we got off of the Red Line and walked to work.
Wednesday: We’ve never experienced two days in a row where a Skilling forecast was so accurate, but when today was actually mostly cloudy with a high in the upper 20s (27 degrees to be exact), we were blown away.
Thursday: ’Twas supposed to be yet another blustery day in the low 20s, but we barely saw the half-mast American flags blowing. Not that we’re complaining; we hate wind. And as far as dressing appropriately, 21 degrees is 21 degrees, with or without wind.
Friday: We could not be more thankful for Friday, not just because it was the end of the week, but because it was supposed to be the first day above freezing in 11 days. And the sun was going to counterbalance our self-diagonosed S.A.D. Tommy predicted mixed sunshine, gusty winds and a high of 38. Again, there were no gusty winds to be had, and the sun seemed to be in full effect all day. But the predicted high seemed to be about accurate. We’re hoping for more 40-degree winter days this week. Thanks, global warming!
First week’s conclusion: We were really skeptical of Skilling because he had led as astray in the past, but he was pretty right on this week. He didn’t accurately predict the wind patterns every day, but the high temperatures were unexpectedly reliable. We may have to take back all of those bad things we’ve cursed under our breath about the Enron felon's brother.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
What has Jeff got to do with the accuracy of the weather forecast?
Skilling is a sensationalist. His long range forecast always predict the most extreme conditions and usually end up being dead wrong.
I'm surprised he got the wind wrong, it seems all he does on the forcast is take about winds. Seriously, I watch him and after he is done, I'm like what the hell will the weather be tomorrow?
But his chipmunk face is the closet we have to a groundhog.So he should get bonus points for that.
I should clarify that I have cursed Skilling under my breath, not because his brother was part of the Enron scandal, but because he has given me ridiculously wrong forecasts in the past. (See above comment re: pull a better one out of my ass.)
My biggest beef with Skilling's 10 minute "State of the Troposphere" updates is that, at some during his waxing rhapsodic about jet streams over the south Pacific or "all those isobars," I invariably start to zone out and miss the actual forecast portion. "Blah blah blah...Back to you Micah and Bob." Shit, I missed it yet again!
It's almost comforting to hear that the forecasts I always miss are mostly wrong.
I grew up with Tom Skilling. Don't mess with the Tom Skilling! Compared to some of the other fools this town has had pontificating about the weather, Skilling is a real pro. Forecasting is a real conundrum. Despite all the models and computers, there are too many variables. I'm always willing to cut meteorologists some slack. Skilling lives and breathes weather and climate; he knows his shit and he's good at educating others. He occasionally speaks at severe weather seminars, which is where I met him several years ago.
I so hope this becomes a weekly regular feature.
Plus? Fuck Skilling ... long live Harry Volkman!
I agree with Tankboy, I'm gonna be looking for this every Monday now. Also, Harry Volkman is the shit. (probably the first time that sentence has ever been phrased in the English language)
And Skilling is supposed to be an actual meteorologist. I'm dying to see how those talking heads who just read off a teleprompter at the larger networks do (I'm looking at you, "Ginger Zee", if that is your real name...)
I'm with Seattlest Tom -- I grew up with Skilling. I love him. Plus, look how happy he gets talking about the weather! Who else can talk about wind patterns and EL Nino with absolute glee and excitement?
I agree 100% with Cletus. Skilling is more boring than the guys that narrate nature documentaries. But when I can stay focused he is usually right.
Ginger Zee could stand there and read out of a phone book for all I care. She's giving Ana Belaval a run for her hot news chick money.
Hey nmpkm- Be careful when you assume someone is a "talking head" just because they're young, attractive, and female. I was a classmate of Ginger's in the meteorology program at Valparaiso University. She took the same classes I did--which included physics, calculus, and a dynamics class featuring equations that stretched across two pages of my notebook. You might be surprised who's really a talking head (Steve Baskerville, Paul Konrad) and who's not. (Okay, so Konrad's not that big of a surprise, though I still love watching him in the morning!)
Just so we're clear, I dig Tom tremendously, I just get frustrated at times when he gets a little too off topic. Or perhaps I'm just frustrated with myself for not being able to stay focused and being some sort of weather wuss.
"Pay attention boy! He's talking 'bout dew points!!!"
Crusader01,
Was Ginger Zee her real name? I ask and made the connection because it sounded like such an obvious fake name, like most newscasters have. But if it is her real name, and I've found no proof one way or another, that'd ratchet up my enjoyment level immensely.
Tommy Skilling is the weather god, no 2 ways about it, the other channels can have their hotties purporting to know the weather but the Tommy is the only one to turn to for the real scoop on weather in Chicago.
Chuck Norris gets his weather reports from Tom Skilling. That's how bad ass Skilling is.
Chuck Norris gets his weather reports from Tom Skilling. That's how bad ass Skilling is.
nmpkm,
Who cares?! Many people use an alternative name for convenience if their name is not pronouncable or doesn't sound all that great. I think I have been discriminated by my name many times. She's still hot and this is coming from a straight female. I also heard that she's a kickboxer, so watch what you say about her. ;) When she was at another news station, she did the weather and also the news. Watching her, it's obvious that she's not a teleprompt reader! As for Tom, his weather lecture...oh sorry, I mean weather forecast puts me to sleep that it loses my attention and I end up missing the weather outlook for the week. He rambles and gives too much details like he's lecturing meteorology students. The audience do not need to hear all that. Kudos to him for his immense knowledge on the subject but it drives me nuts on how long it takes. And yeah, as a result, I don't watch his weather forecasts out of frustration. LOL!
Her real name is Ginger Zuidgeest
Skilling, Taft, Avelos, Baskerville, and that sleazy tramp Tammie Souza all take a back seat to the one and only King Volkman. Volkam never saw a jet stream he couldn't predict and was near perfect in his 40+ years forecasting the weather. Volkman's enthusiasm and grace in front of the screen is unmatched when reporting temperatures, wind, barometric pressure, and due points. I can't believe how many times Skilling changes his forecast and what a clownshow it is over on Fox. Volkman will live forever and go down as the Michael Jordan of predicting weather along wth the title "Greatest Meteorologist of All Time"....the rest of those circus freaks can have fun playing for a distant second.......