Can the Oakland Tribune give us an accurate weather forecast for Oakland?

The Editor

The Weather Page

The Oakland Tribune

Oakland, CA

To the Editor:

Why can't a newspaper that is based in Oakland, California, produce an accurate weather forecast for Oakland? I realize that this is not a critical issue. In the summertime in Oakland, one simply looks at the morning sky: if it is cloudy and overcast, then it will be cool, and if it is clear in the morning, then it will be a little warmer.

The Tribune's weather page apparently gets its weather forecasts from "the Weather Underground," which invariably overestimates the actual recorded Oakland high temperatures by from 6°F to 13°F. Doesn't "the Weather Underground" ever bother comparing their predictions with the actual recorded highs? Apparently this simple technique is too much bother for them. Its easier just to continue their sloppy work, rather than improve their forecasting model.

Of all the major northern California newspapers, the Oakland Tribune invariably has the most inaccurate forecasts for the afternoon high temperatures in Oakland. Even the Sacramento Bee, which is based in Sacramento, California, ninety miles away, produces more accurate weather forecasts for Oakland.

The evening weather forecasts on television Channel 2 (KTVU) at 6 PM and Channel 4 (KRON) at 9 PM are usually right on the money for predicting the high temperature in Oakland the next day. Why doesn't the Tribune Weather Dept. just "borrow" their forecasts?

Yours truly,

James K. Sayre

1 August 2003