Game Five of the 2008 World Series, played in Philadephia, PA, was called short due to rain on Monday evening. In his post-game news conference, Major League Baseball's Commissioner, Bud Selig, cited faulty forecasts for the unfortunate premature halt of the game. He mentioned that the clearly erroneous forecasts had only called for a tenth of an inch of rain between 8 PM and midnight. For most who won't check their facts, this sounds like an atrocious error by meteorologists! But, a check of the numbers yields .13" of rain by the time the game was called. Though this means there was an error of three hundredths of an inch of rain at that time - and ten hundredths of an inch of rain by midnight when the official amount was .23" of rain, many would agree that's a pretty darn good precipitation forecast. We'll see in the morning-after analysis if the mainstream media checks these facts!
This situation also calls into question exactly where the forecast information is coming from. At no point did the Commissioner mention where he got his forecast information, but interestingly enough, Bob DuPuy, Major League Baseball's chief operating officer, made comments after tonight's game: "The weather tomorrow is supposed to be worse."
A check of the National Weather Service forecast from Monday night through Tuesday night yields the following:
"Overnight: Rain. Low around 40. Northwest wind between 13 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Tuesday: Rain, mainly before 2pm. High near 47. Windy, with a west wind between 18 and 28 mph, with gusts as high as 46 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Tuesday Night: A chance of showers, mainly before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 39. West wind between 14 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%."
Clearly, the National Weather Service forecast is far more favorable for Tuesday and Tuesday night than it is for Monday night. So what will Major League Baseball decide? And will they continue to blame bad forecasts, or take responsibility for decisions the organization makes?
Phils, Rays tied at 2 when rain suspends Game 5 from Associated Press
This situation also calls into question exactly where the forecast information is coming from. At no point did the Commissioner mention where he got his forecast information, but interestingly enough, Bob DuPuy, Major League Baseball's chief operating officer, made comments after tonight's game: "The weather tomorrow is supposed to be worse."
A check of the National Weather Service forecast from Monday night through Tuesday night yields the following:
"Overnight: Rain. Low around 40. Northwest wind between 13 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Tuesday: Rain, mainly before 2pm. High near 47. Windy, with a west wind between 18 and 28 mph, with gusts as high as 46 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Tuesday Night: A chance of showers, mainly before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 39. West wind between 14 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%."
Clearly, the National Weather Service forecast is far more favorable for Tuesday and Tuesday night than it is for Monday night. So what will Major League Baseball decide? And will they continue to blame bad forecasts, or take responsibility for decisions the organization makes?
Phils, Rays tied at 2 when rain suspends Game 5 from Associated Press
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