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Before a certain gentleman of our aquaintance starts on me about English I would point out that there is a very distinct difference between 'prediction' and 'forecasting!'

Roy.

Digit wrote:I would point out that there is a very distinct difference between 'prediction' and 'forecasting!'

But on the other side of the pond that nuance, like most, is probably lost ("in translation" between English and English... ).
And then it's a colloquialism.

Nope! The report is from a British English source and in British English there is a distinct difference what ever American English, or Wenglish or Chinglish may use in their versions.
Predictions are what fortune tellers charge you for!

Roy.

Digit wrote:Nope! The report is from a British English source and in British English there is a distinct difference what ever American English, or Wenglish or Chinglish may use in their versions.
Predictions are what fortune tellers charge you for!

That difference may be too subtle for American English, or Wenglish or Chinglish speakers. Who all outnumber you 100 to 1.

Agreed. But as the writer works for a British agency it is hardly unreasonable that he should speak our language.
We have enough problems when the Guardian pronounces that a women in South Africa is 'shot dead and killed' without official bodies murdering the language.

Roy.

Hurricane forecasts can be made years in advance

I have friends and family on the Atlantic coast of South Carolina so I always pay attention to the tropical weather forecasts. This year the NOAA predicted "above average" hurricane activity.

There wasn't.


However, I cannot disagree with the quote above. Forecasts CAN be made.


Accurate forecasts still seem to elude them though.

Thinking back on the difference between forecasts and predictions Min, with the recent record of our lot, predictions is probably the correct term!
Bet they cost a lot more than a fair ground fortune teller though!

Roy.

"Wild-assed guess" might be a better term.

I'm sure you're right about the cost. Satellites aren't cheap.

Minimalist wrote:"Wild-assed guess" might be a better term.

I'm sure you're right about the cost. Satellites aren't cheap.

And apparently only very marginally reliable, it turns out.

So I won't be surprised by a serious downgrading of those spectacular Hubble and ISS results of the last few years...