weather vortex

Meteorology is a fascinating field of study. I can understand wanting to know the science behind the weather and climate. I can also appreciate the skill involved in attempting to predict the forecast. However, one has to wonder if there aren't some success rate statistics unknown to the general public for each weatherman (or lady) and their history of successful predictions. And, if there is a record somewhere, are meteorologists paid based on these records?

For example, when we lived in Colorado, we used to joke around and suggest that the industry's weathermen were sent to Colorado, because the weather was so erratic that it didn't matter what they predicted. We'd get snow one day and it would be seventy degrees the next. We've lived in some areas where the predictions were almost always wrong, and our current town seems to fall into that category as well.

Perhaps it has something to do with the variable terrain when compared to the point of prediction, or maybe this really is the best that man can get at predicting nature. History and climate patterns can only tell us so much. One thing is for certain, though. You never hear about out-of-work weathermen, which leads me to believe that there must be quite a bit of room for error in their predictions. It would be nice if the rest of our lines of work had that kind of margin of error, wouldn't it?