4 February 2018
Groundhog Day From A Meteorologist’s Perspective
Posted by Dan Satterfield
When I referred to Punxsutawney Phil as “that rat in Pennsylvania” on air last week, I received a hot email from a viewer upset about it (The groundhog is indeed a rodent but explaining this did no good). I also had the following Twitter message:
I think Ashton is correct, and I know where she is coming from. I’d agree that most people do indeed know that Punxsutawney Phil or any other groundhog cannot forecast the weather. It’s obvious to most people that cloud cover in a tiny part of Pennsylvania on a certain February morning has no relevance to the weather over the next six weeks. Especially considering that it was cloudy all day in Punxsutawney Friday and the little rat (I did it again) saw his shadow anyhow.
Shhh! I hear that the whole thing is run by a big eastern syndicate you know…
That said, I (and many of my fellow meteorologists) will continue to point out that this tradition has no basis of any kind on science, and the tweet thread I posted Saturday night explains why.
In case you do not believe about the sugar pills (Still out of stock at CVS, but Walgreens will sell you six sugar pills for 29.99 if you’re still dumb enough to buy them.):
But wait! There is more!
Read this piece by the BBC about two doctors who are battling against snake oil pushers.
Below are two Youtube searches. Can you spot the crazy???
So, I’m going to point out that the groundhogs can’t predict the weather, and copper has no magic powers other than carrying electricity. Oh, and a lot of other science folks are going to keep telling people that detox diets can endanger your life, homeopathy is quack, and vaccines do not cause autism (but they do save lives).
Because SCIENCE is what we do to keep from lying to ourselves (R. Feynman).
P.S. Message for YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki , (@SusanWojcicki) listing videos by most popular may not be the best way to do it. When your crazy uncle wrote to the local paper about being visited by aliens in 1983, they threw it in the trash because it wasn’t news. The person who got to decide that was the editor. They also did your uncle a favor by not making him a laughing stock. You’re a news source, start acting like it.
You need an editor.
Thnx, I really needed that.
Dan Satterfield has worked as an on air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. Forecasting weather is Dan's job, but all of Earth Science is his passion. This journal is where Dan writes about things he has too little time for on air. Dan blogs about peer-reviewed Earth science for Junior High level audiences and up.
Thanks Dan for keeping it real!!! Thanks for pointing out that some people have their heads up their buttox so far that they will never see the light of day. Keep up the great forecasts and all the science you share with your forecast. You make weather very interesting for me and other people who can walk upright..
Dan:
Thank you for fighting the good fight. I appreciate your unflinching approach to the truth. Don’t ever give up. There are far more of us than you think that rely upon you to inform us of new sources of information so we can continue to fight the anti-science troglodytes of this country and the world.
I think the rodent thing got started in Colonial times, really. Everybody I know realizes a groundhog doesn’t forecast the weather.