Weather scientists are very clever people, who use very clever technology to make mostly accurate predictions.
However, it’s not exact, and weather can change suddenly.
Forecasters do their best, but sometimes they get it wrong.
For example, the British weatherman Michael Fish became infamous for saying:
“Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way.
“Well, if you’re watching, don’t worry, there isn’t!”
This was hours before the worst hurricane in centuries hit the island, killing 19 people.
This was in 1987, and the Brits aren’t the sort to launch frivolous lawsuits against weather forecasters. Instead, Fish is remembered forever for this blunder rather than the thousands of correct forecasts he made over his long career.
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However, legal action was taken in Israel by a woman who took the advice of the country’s weather forecasters .
In the sort of case you’d expect to see in the United States, she was so outraged she took the TV station and its forecaster, Danny Rup to court.
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The case came about after she’d listened to the forecast, which predicted a sunny day.She dressed accordingly but was caught in unexpected rainstorms. The woman claimed she caught flu, missed four days of work and spent money on medication.
She demanded $1,000 in compensation and an apology from Rup.
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Out-of-court settlement
The station chose not to fight the case in court, and settled with her for $1,000 and an apology. It seems likely the court case would’ve meant hiring lawyers for a lot more than $1,000 so bosses may have decided to cut their losses.
It would have been interesting to see how the woman got on in front of lawyers, who would’ve surely grilled her on how being caught in a rainstorm gave her the flu, which is a virus.
