Uploaded February 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Ever been stuck in a thunderstorm annoyed because your weather app says it was supposed to be sunny? Or saddled with three new unused shovels after reading a prediction for a snowier than normal winter? We've all been there, cursing the meteorologist. But what if I told you that 5-day weather forecasts can accurately predict the weather about 90% of the time. And that you're probably thinking about seasonal forecasts entirely the wrong way. What's going on? Come learn how meteorologists actually make their weather and climate forecasts, and what it really means when we say there's a 30% chance of rain.
Tom Di Liberto is a climate scientist and award-winning science communicator working as a federal contractor with Groundswell at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office as the senior climate scientist for NOAA’s Climate.gov and social media editor for the NOAA Climate accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He has also served as emcee of the Department of State’s U.S. Center at the United Nations climate change conferences COP21, COP22, COP26 and COP27 where he helped lead the U.S. government’s public outreach space during the negotiations.
Questions for Tom may be typed into the chat window during the presentation.
Views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
Ever been stuck in a thunderstorm annoyed because your weather app says it was supposed to be sunny? Or saddled with three new unused shovels after reading a prediction for a snowier than normal winter? We've all been there, cursing the meteorologist. But what if I told you that 5-day weather forecasts can accurately predict the weather about 90% of the time. And that you're probably thinking about seasonal forecasts entirely the wrong way. What's going on? Come learn how meteorologists actually make their weather and climate forecasts, and what it really means when we say there's a 30% chance of rain.
Tom Di Liberto is a climate scientist and award-winning science communicator working as a federal contractor with Groundswell at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office as the senior climate scientist for NOAA’s Climate.gov and social media editor for the NOAA Climate accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He has also served as emcee of the Department of State’s U.S. Center at the United Nations climate change conferences COP21, COP22, COP26 and COP27 where he helped lead the U.S. government’s public outreach space during the negotiations.
Questions for Tom may be typed into the chat window during the presentation.
Views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Capital Area Skeptics.
