It's Weatherman's Day

Alright, Paul Poteet, today is your day!

Thank you for your forecasts - the 20% chance of precipitation; the mostly cloudy/party sunny conundrum; the big snow that just misses us; and the other 85% of the time when you have it correct.

The country's first weatherman, John Jeffries was born this day in 1744.  He kept weather records from 1774 to 1816.

No word on if he also wore loud plaid sport coats while delivering the long range forecast for Valley Forge.

When we lived up north, the weather guy came on the radio every morning throughout the summer and every day he would say there was a slight chance of rain.

It could be 95 and dry as a bone, but he always included a slight chance of rain in the forecast.  That's one way to never be wrong.

It's easy to pick on weather forecasters... with their super-dooper Doppler 15,000 and exclusive weather forecast guarantees... but each day we tune in to find out what to wear and whether to take an umbrella.

A local weather station promises a free umbrella to a viewer if they miss the day's high temperature by more than 4 degrees.  That's cute, but I'm not sure how a guarantee leads to a better forecast.

These men and women can save lives.  Accurate forecasts of tornadoes and hurricanes means people can seek shelter in time to avoid disaster.  If we pay attention during the winter, we can be ready for poor driving conditions or dangerous wind chill.

My friend, Paul Poteet, is doing weather on Facebook where there is always a chance of drama with occasional bursts of sunshine.

He's helped Lutheran High School of Indianapolis with it's annual LuFest Dinner Auction and the talent he brings each year makes for a special evening.  That's one forecast anyone attending can make with no chance of being wrong.  Thanks, Paul.

If you think the weather guys, going all the way back to Mr. Jeffries era are always wrong, then what you need is a weather rope.

The rope should be an inch thick.  Nail it to a post and put it in the backyard.

Interpreting the weather rope is straightforward:

Wet rope -  rain

Dry rope - fair

White rope - snow

Swinging rope - wind

Invisible rope - fog

No rope - take cover!