Originally Posted by
Rowan
Interesting, but what happens when you are touring in a country where English is a second or third language (ie, no radio stations broadcast in English).
I've generally been a "poke my head out the tent and see what is happening" sort of tourist. If the weather is bad, I stay put or seek sturdier accommodation.
There are areas where I would manage my touring plans to avoid severe weather conditions. The cyclone/hurricane areas would be one, and the tornado alleys would be another.
My distrust of weather forecasters is ever increasing. Sometimes they are right, but more often they are wrong. And with this in mind, I am increasingly concerned about the major influence of their "science" on public policy across the globe.
I don't think we should confuse weather forecasts with science. Most scientists generally observe events that have actually happened and form conclusions on that basis. Weather forecasters, on the other hand, seem to ignore things that have actually happened and try to write forecasts that will look good to certain people (such as tourist operators in this city, which is why summer forecasts here always seem to understate the temperature by several degrees).
However, I generally do as you do on in my touring plans, and try to avoid the most extreme weather conditions. Although I might add that some of my most memorable rides have been in conditions that others might describe as "extreme", such as the typhoon in Japan last year -- although there, the mountains kept me pretty sheltered from the wind.