. Now, when forecasters were
forecasters, ( and the ordinary chap on the bench could read AND understand
an article in the QJ ) Mr C.K.M. Douglas would think to himself ' I have
seen one exactly like that, 25 years ago, which turned right at the last
moment '

Mmm, a very romantic view. I was a junior forecaster in 1966 and probably
brighter than the average and I can tell you that neither I or any of the more
senior forecasters, whose judgments I respected, could make head nor tail of
most of the stuff in the QJ, not that it mattered in the least. And knowing
that a Low behaved in a certain way 25 years ago, although it bespeaks great
and valuable experience, is not as useful as it might look. One of the truisms
I have learnt since is that an unusual synoptic situation suddenly appears for
the first time, repeats itself a few times over a period of a month or two, and
is then never seen again. This can fool anyone, as has happened just now.
Why did I leave the Met Office? Well, what 23-yr-old wants to go to bed at
8.30 a.m. so tired as to feel quite ****ed, yet be actually totally sober. It
was 9 to 5 for me after that, with the weather as a rather intense hobby.
Sorry!

Tudor Hughes, Warlingham, Surrey.