Part 5/7:
Meteorologists stress the need for realistic timelines when discussing weather forecasts. For storms, predictions are generally most accurate five days in advance, boasting up to 90% reliability, while forecasts made seven days out can achieve around 80% accuracy. Attempting to predict snow totals down to the decimal point two weeks before an event is neither feasible nor reliable.
Forecasts are based on atmospheric observations collected via various sophisticated methods, including weather balloons, ground sensors, satellites, and radar technology. Recent advancements in AI and computer modeling are promising, but they still reinforce the principle that short-term predictions yield better accuracy.