Meteorologists tweet apologies for 'historic' storm forecasts

Show Caption Hide Caption Boston mayor: Blizzard forecasts were 'right on here' While some meteorologists were apologizing Wednesday for their blizzard forecasts being off in New York, places like Boston were still digging out from what did indeed turn out to be a historic snow storm for them.

Historic. Crippling. Potentially the biggest in history.

These were just a few of the words and phrases used in forecasts and by officials to describe the winter storm that was set to hammer much of the Northeast Monday night and into Tuesday.

And while Long Island and most areas in New England, such as Boston, were hit hard, forecasts for New York City, New Jersey and Philadelphia proved to be much graver than what actually transpired.

On Sunday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, amid dire forecasts, said, "This could be the biggest snowstorm in the history of this city." But on Tuesday morning, the mayor was sounding a different note, defending the closings and shutdown procedures the city had implemented in anticipation of a potentially devastating storm.

And how did meteorologists behind the forecasts react? Rather than try to ignore their errant projections, some decided to take to social media and acknowledge they got it wrong. Here's a sampling from Twitter of some #blizzardof2015 mea culpas:

Later in the day, Bilo tweeted that she didn't think she "would have done much if anything different" in terms of the forecast she gave, but added "what might have helped would be more probabilistic forecasting."

The New York Metro Weather website did say in a tweet Monday that the "bust potential with this storm is very high." The next morning, after it was clear that many areas were indeed not being hit as hard as projected, the site tweeted: "Still, blame is on us as meteorologists — can't be placed anywhere else. It is a difficult day for us any time a forecast does not work out."

But some meteorologists questioned the hand-wringing.

"I was shocked by the amount of self-flagellation going on with regard to the NYC forecast," said Mike Smith, a meteorologist from AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions. "Over and over, meteorologists were criticizing themselves and their colleagues for getting the Manhattan forecast wrong."

Smith said that the New York City forecast, while hardly perfect, was useful in that it did give people time to prepare for a snowstorm, which did in fact come (albeit only 7.8 inches worth).

"The forecast for Boston, Providence, Worcester, and other areas was nearly perfect," he added. "There is little doubt in my mind that this forecast for Boston, Providence and so many other areas will, in the end, have saved lives."

"If you look at the media reports today, you would think that the storm didn't happen at all," added University of Georgia meteorologist Marshall Shepherd. "It did."

"NYC is the media and business hub of the world. Officials there took dramatic steps (closed roads and subway) and the snow totals now don't necessarily justify it. I am still not averse to over-preparing even if less happens, so kudos to the mayor and others. Keep in mind that Long Island and points only one to two hours from NYC are getting hammered today," he said.

Indeed, parts of Long Island are at nearly 30 inches of snow — and counting.