Published: September 21, 2007 06:34 pm         

Beyond eight days, it’s a guess

How much can we trust weather forecasts? Well, we’ve got an answer, thanks to a report from The American Meteorological Society.

First reported in a blog by Frank Roylance of The Baltimore Sun, the information from the meteorological society included these highlights:

• The accuracy of daily forecasts beyond eight days is “relatively low.”

• The accuracy of monthly and three-month forecasts of average temperature and precipitation has doubled since 1995.

• Five-day forecasts of the location and intensity of major cyclonic storms are as accurate today as three-day forecasts were in the early 1990s.

• 48-hour precipitation forecasts are now as accurate as 24-hour forecasts a decade ago....

Fall officially begins today and soon we’ll be able to enjoy the splendid foliage colors. In fact, Times-News Outdoor Editor Mike Sawyers received email photos last week from his cousin, Jon Tucci, showing trees ringing West Virginia’s Spruce Knob Lake in full color. Tucci, incidentally, is a former mayor of Weston, W.Va.

Readers who would like to find out when tree colors will be peaking this year can call several toll-free hotlines:

Maryland — (800) 532-8371

West Virginia — (800) 225-5982

Pennsylvania — (800) 325-5467

Skyline Drive — (540) 999-3500....

Another fall ritual is the changing of clocks. But this year, instead of the change coming in October, Daylight Saving Time will not revert to standard time until the first Sunday in November (Nov. 4).

Congress enacted legislation that now switches clocks on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November every year....

It looks like the new Allegany County District Court building is headed for approval.

Delegate Kevin Kelly said Michael A. Gaines Sr., Assistant Secretary of the Maryland Department of General Services toured the present District Court building on Pershing Street and the proposed new site, the Verizon building next door, on Tuesday. The Allegany County Delegation to Annapolis was present for the visit.

Approval for the new District Court site, which would add one floor to the Verizon building, is on the agenda for the Maryland Board of Public Works meeting Oct. 3....

From time to time, we get requests from people who do not want to see their real estate property transactions published in the paper. We turn down those requests, because the transactions are a matter of public record, are filed at the court house and are available on the Internet.

Dawne Lindsey, clerk of the Allegany County Circuit Court, also gets such requests. But her office has nothing to do with our decision to publish deed transactions. Some people don’t understand that, and end up getting upset with Lindsey and her staff.

Please, don’t blame Lindsey. Printing property transactions is a routine situation at newspapers and those deed columns are among the most-read items in the Times-News....

Scripps Howard News Service reports that a big brouhaha has broken out over the placement of “In God We Trust” on new presidential dollar coins. The Christian Coalition of America is complaining that the phrase appears not on the face or back of the $1 coins, but on the edges of the coins instead. The group also complains about the tiny letters of the phrase.

So far, a House bill to redesign the coins and place the motto prominently on either the front or back of the coin has more than 100 co-sponsors....

Seen on the Internet — More Mostly Useless Facts:

• Walt Disney was afraid of mice.

• Months that begin on a Sunday will always have a “Friday the 13th.”

• Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.

• In most advertisements, including newspapers, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10

• When the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers play football at home, the stadium becomes the state’s third largest city.

• It’s possible to lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs.

Jan Alderton can be reached at jpalderton@times-news.com.