It would take a computer that can model every last molecule heck, every last quark on the planet and in the atmosphere before you would be able to turn on the weather channel and find out that the sun will go behind a cloud at 15h23 and three inches of rain will fall from 15h37 to 17h03 precisely. This has been possible because of the increase in computer power and the resolution of the models. But it s bound to level off or slow down. Yet it is possible to discern large-scale patterns in the midst of these complex systems. We understand the physical laws well, but they interact in complicated ways.
Weather prediction is chaos theory in action.
Snowstorms in September, deluges in July, thaws in January, tornadoes, hurricanes, drought, forest fires, fish die-offs, floods, erosion it s getting biblical out there. I figure this for the best objective evidence as to whether the weather's really going nuts or not. There's no base for normal. Normal is just a setting on your dryer. The 1980 s were the warmest decade on record, and after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo chilled things off at the beginning of the 90s, we are back to the levels of the 1980s.