Unreliable

Botswana Daily News

Tonota MP Pono Moatlhodi criticised the Department of Meteorological Services for inaccurate weather forecasts, noting that the department has bought an expensive radar system that has become a white elephant.

Moatlhodi suggested that Botswana's elephant population must be reduced by offering some of them to other countries.

Under The Weather

Turkmen President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov fired the head of his meteorological service, Suhanberdi Bayramov, on 29 March for inaccurate weather forecasts. Turkmen TV broadcast the cabinet meeting the next day. In this excerpt, Niyazov addresses Begench Atamuradov, deputy chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and minister of agriculture:

"The meteorological service keeps giving us the same old weather forecasts every day. How is it possible to work like this? [Suhanberdi Bayramov, head of the Hydrometeorological Committee] is cheating the state and the people. He said that it would be 29 degrees Celsius yesterday and today he keeps repeating the same thing. But there was no such heat! All of his weather forecasts are like that.

"[Addressing Bayramov] You are fired! How could you write a weather forecast like that? You said it was 29 degrees Celsius yesterday and 29 degrees Celsius today. Where is the heat? Where was yesterday's heat? Even before this, the information you were providing wasn't up to scratch.

"You said there will be no rain, but it rains. You failed to forecast the recent three days of rainfall. You said that there would be no rain in the near future.

"What are you doing there working as a team? You are fired! Leave the session. The forecasts should be at least somewhat realistic. But this doesn't even come close to reality.

"[Addressing Atamuradov] I told you about 20 days ago to keep making demands on Bayramov, because you can't event plant cotton [with forecasts like this].

"I think aviation doesn't get any [worthwhile] information from him either. There is a guy who graduated from the Hydrometeorology Institute of Leningrad. He's from Birata [eastern Turkmenistan] -- appoint him. He is publishing a magazine. He tries to do his best. But you, Begench, you don't care."

North County News

According to former Commerce Secretary William Daley, the cost of weather-related emergency planning and disaster warnings cost more than $15 billion annually. It is also estimated that inaccurate weather forecasts cost electricity customers several hundred millions of dollars a year in the United States.