Without weather forecasts, city-dwellers may be taken by surprise when rain sweeps in.
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Image Courtesy of UCAR
Survey Finds That Americans Think Weather Forecasts Are Important
News story originally written on June 23, 2009
A new study found that nine out of 10 adult Americans look at the weather forecast more than three times a day. The study looked at what people think about weather forecasts and how important they think they are.
Jeffrey Lazo, the lead scientist on this study, explains that understanding how people use day-to-day weather information can help scientists develop more helpful weather forecasts and warnings from places like the National Weather Service. "Better communication strategies can be developed for hazardous weather like hurricanes, winter storms, and floods," Lazo says.
Julie Demuth, the coauthor of the study, said they learned that people are very curious about weather. "This tells us that people generally have a high level of interest in weather forecasts, regardless of whether they use this information directly for planning and decision-making," says Demuth. Many people use forecasts for planning specific activities, such as vacations, and routine daily activities, such as deciding what to wear and how to get to work or school.
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