Compairing The Accuracy of
Television Weather Forecasts
Nick W.
The purpose of this experiment was to find which
of the three local weather forecasts was more accurate on short-term 24-hour
predictions for high temperatures of the day and the daily weather conditions.
To conduct the experiment, the nightly news program was video taped for
thirty days. The video tape was played back and the data was recorded and
analyzed to determine which station's forecast was more accurate.
When the recording period was completes, it was found that WPVI ABC 6 and
WCAU NBC 10 were the most accurate weather forecasters. Both stations had
an average of being .06 degrees below the actual high temperature for the
thirty day period. KYW CBS 3 was the least accurate forecaster of the three
stations with an average of .46 degrees above the actual temperatures for
a thirty day period. All three stations had a one hundred percent accuracy
rate for forecasting the weather conditions for the thirty day period.