Why is the wind forecast always spot-on?

I really admire the people who forecast the weather. They get it right more often than not, even though people tend to remember only the missed predictions. But there’s one thing I wish they WOULD get wrong.

The people who forecast the weather usually do a darn fine job of it. They say it’s going to snow, and it snows. They say it’s going to be sunny, and it’s sunny. They might be wrong about the amount of snow or rain or sun sometimes, but usually, they’re pretty darn close. A lot closer than I could be, that’s for sure.

But once in a while, they’re really wrong. A while back, for example, the kids got out of school for a blizzard that never hit. A blizzard requires two things; wind and snow. We got the wind, but no snow to speak of. Yet the kids got a snow day anyway.

But it’s not what was called for but didn’t materialize that bothered me the most. No, the problem was what we did get.

With all their meteorology training, why can weather predictors have so much trouble accurately predicting snow, rain, hail, sunshine, clouds and mud, but be right on when it comes to wind? It’s just freaky.

Yes, it is Wyoming, and I suppose any fool could be right nine times out of 10 if he said, “I think it’s going to be windy today.” But it’s not just a factor of wind versus no wind. No, they actually get the velocity pegged, too.

Maybe there’s some strange weatherman Voodoo going on, and by predicting, say, a 30-mph wind, they’re actually calling for it. If you’re a meteorologist, humor me. For the next few weeks, no matter how strong your suspicions are, DO NOT predict any wind. If you’re wrong, you’ll only be wrong for a couple of weeks. If it doesn’t work, you can go back to weather forecasts as usual. But if we don’t get any wind, we’ll know that when you warn us about gusts and gales, you’re actually inviting it.

Then again, maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part. I would like to be pleasantly surprised about the wind just once. Or maybe twice.