Funny Weather Business
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Weather is chaotic and dangerous. It kills people and destroys their property. So, why is the television weather person the one who gets saddled with birthdays and giant watermelons and plastic reindeer? What's so funny about a chance of showers? Hi, I'm Dave Thurlow and this is The Weather Notebook.

The comedic traces of forecasting go back to the 1950s, when the enduring format of serious news followed by weather and sports got locked into place. After the heavy news of things like the McCarthy hearings or the Korean War, the weather forecast gave the viewer something to chuckle at. It was the golden age of televised silliness when weather girls gushed about how they simply adore weather and all manner of creatures -- lambs, gulls, turkeys, and a menagerie of puppets -- hammed it up. Speaking of hamming it up, Willard Scott, who graduated from being Ronald McDonald to the weather slot on the Today Show, once remarked, A trained gorilla could do this.

Even as early as 1895 the Weather Bureau was regarded as somewhat of a joke. It was common for scientific forecasting methods to be challenged by aching bunions and battle scars. But, perhaps it is just human nature to laugh at someone trying to predict the weather. These days, in our electronic global village, the weatherman is the seer who knows just a little bit more about the atmosphere than we do. Sometimes. Maybe the laughter isn't ridicule but nervous giggling in the face of the unknown.

Thanks today to writer David Laskin, who is also a contributor to the Weather Notebook's new companion book called Soul of the Sky. Check out our website for more. That's mountwashington.org. Our show is funded by Subaru and the National Science Foundation.