THE NEXT BOUT OF SNOW (February 18, 2012)

Every day I check the website of the Hydro-Meteorological Institute of Croatia, which offers weather maps for the whole country. In addition to the current weather, there are forecasts for the next three days. Something curious has been happening lately. Three days ago, snow was forecast for tomorrow. It was expected across most parts of Croatia, as well. Two days ago, snow was forecast for the day after tomorrow. And today it is forecast for three days from now. Again, it is expected across most parts of the country. In short, the next bout of snow is regularly postponed by exactly three days. It is easy to guess that the good meteorologists are pretty confused about the weather. The cold spell that brought us the real but short winter a while ago seems to be ebbing away much faster than expected. Put differently, it is not easy to forecast the weather when climate change is afoot.