I've been in a foul mood lately. I finally figured out why.

It came to me when I exited the salt mine into the alley the other day and started swearing at Jim Steele.

Jim Steele was nowhere in sight. He was, I'm convinced, at the weather office, hunched over his computer, chortling to himself as he put together the latest forecast.

"Looks like rain," he was probably saying to himself as he stared at an incoming frontal system. "For a good joke, let's tell them sunny and warm."

Indeed, it was raining. That morning, it had been snowing, so I plowed the driveway. Then it started blowing. By the time I left for work, the snow was a foot deep in the driveway.

"You so and so," I cussed out Jim Steele. "You are a vicious man."

Everyone knows weather forecasters seldom get it right, but this winter they've outdone themselves on that score. If they say it's going to freeze, it thaws. If they predict a warming trend, you can depend on waking up to a 40-below Arctic wind chill.

A fifth-grader somewhere in the States did a study on the accuracy of weather forecasts by recording temperature and rainfall at her home for a week, then watched the TV forecasts to compare.

Her conclusion was that if you're planning your weekend, you shouldn't bother watching the TV weather forecast till Friday.

A somewhat more scientific study — by the Freakonomics people, I believe — showed that forecasts weren't much good beyond three days.

"Presentation takes precedence over accuracy," one TV station manager said of criteria for hiring on-air weather people.

"All viewers care about is the next day," said another. "Accuracy is not a big deal to viewers."

I'm wondering what hometown boy and Global weather star Mark Madryga would have to say for himself. People seem to like him, even if they can't plan their weekends around his forecasts.

I shouldn't give the TV guys too rough a time, though. Most of them just repeat what Environment Canada tells them. And our newspaper's forecast isn't a lot better, since it, too, relies on information from Environment Canada.

Everyone also knows crummy weather makes people crabby. Winters like the one we've had this year makes them even crabbier.

When I started berating the absent Jim Steele, it wasn't just that day's weather that bothered me. It was the daily surprises since around the middle of last November.

They even have a name for what makes people grouchy during lack of sunshine — Seasonable Affective Disorder (SAD). People naturally feel happier during the sunny summer months. If it rains or snows too much, or when the days get too short, they get mopey.

Supposedly, lack of sunshine may even impact memory and put some people into a mental fog. It's probably that vitamin D thing.

I figured I'd get somebody from the TRU psychology department to give me the straight goods on this, but nobody called me back. They're probably all depressed over the weather and don't feel like talking.

When Jason (J-dog) Hewlett, our ace investigative reporter, told me he was going to call Jim Steele for an update on the latest lousy incoming weather, I suggested he ask him when winter is going to end.

"March 21," several voices chimed in.

"I'm not talking about the solstice," I said. "I mean, when is it really going to end."

A few minutes later, Hewlett was at my desk. "He says March 15."

That's a little over a week from now. I'd say I can hardly wait, but I don't believe him.

One more thing: scientists say April showers increase the rate of suicides. Goody.

mrothenburger@kamloopsnews.ca">mrothenburger@kamloopsnews.ca

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