Weather or not

Can anyone tell me why the weather folks on local newscasts have to give five minutes of explanation about the weather and how they arrive at the forecast before actually letting us in on the forecast? It's as if they're trying hard (too hard, really) to convince us (or themselves?) that they're doing their best to get it right. OK, fine. I understand that the weather is a complex and tricky phenomenon to predict and I actually think that the weather services do a very good job of it for the most part. But taking so long to explain it is superfluous. The explanation doesn't make the forecast any more accurate, it just kills time for no good reason. And we certainly don't need to see footage of snow in Paducaville, Michigan.

Usually, even if I'm waiting to get the forecast (which is rare) by the time they get around to it I've mentally tuned out. I'll never understand why they can't just give the simple five day forecast and then move on to other news. I don't really care how they arrived at it. And at six in the evening or eleven at night I don't care about a recap of the day's weather either since A) I was out in it for myself and know already, or B) I wasn't out in it in which case it didn't affect me.

And while I'm on the subject, why do they even need to have on-air meteorologists? The regular anchor can read the forecast just as well and skip the mumbo jumbo all about dew points and barometric pressures and such.

Just one of my pet peeves, I guess.

Oh, and another thing... I'm always amazed when a station promos that they have the "exclusive" [your-local-weather-service-here] forecast. I mean, how exclusive is it, really? There are four major over-the-air local TV network affiliates (and countless radio stations of course) and they all seem to brag about having an "exclusive" weather forecast. But no matter which local weather service they tout, they're all pretty much the same forecast differing by only a degree or two in predicted highs and lows. I can't really imagine someone out there in the viewing audience watching a particular channel just because they use a particular weather service.

By the way, it was overcast this morning after raining all day yesterday, but the sun is just starting to peek out from the clouds as I type this. Looks like it's going to be a nice day. See, I have a window. Most days that's all the weather service I need.