Kingdom of scale

摘要

It still mildly surprises me how, with all their panoply of satellites, weather buoys, long range aircraft and mega-computers, the met boys can still get it wrong. I suppose expecting sufficient precision from the weatherman is a bit of childish wish-fulfilment. Weather is complicated. Evolving weather systems are complex. When it all doesn't quite unfold as promised, we feel a bit miffed. And so it was at the 2013 BMFA Nats. We were expecting long periods of bright weather but in the words of the old song: "When I needed sunshine I got rain..."