49 Terrifying, Crazy And Unlucky Pics Of Mother Nature Showing Its Wild Side

To learn more about the weather, we contacted Bob McDavitt, a weather guru who uses /\/\etBoB to provide weather information for cruising sailors, primarily for those in the South Pacific.

McDavitt was born in Marton, New Zealand, and was schooled in Wellington. He graduated with B.Sc (hons) degrees in Maths and Computer Science from Victoria University, and has been a meteorologist since 1975.

For twenty years, McDavitt was the MetService Weather Ambassador, and focused on promoting friendly relations with weather users. This involved communicating awareness about any incoming nasty weather, keeping an eye on the impact of the weather on the coming season and any special events, and arranging MetService promotions, displays, and exhibitions.

"The meteorological way of making a weather prediction is based on the scientific method," McDavitt told Bored Panda.

"1) Data is gathered to measure what is happening now; 2) This data is turned into a grid of numbers; 3) Computer programs that mimic known physics extrapolate these numbers into a future state/time; 4)These numbers are then converted into text and graphics to send off to users who are warned when defined thresholds are exceeded," the weather guru explained.

It is said that a five-day forecast can accurately predict the weather approximately 90 percent of the time, a seven-day forecast is right about 80 percent of the time, and a 10-day—or longer—forecast will live up to its words only about half the time.

Models have to use estimates and assumptions to predict the weather. But the atmosphere is constantly changing and those estimates are less reliable the further you get into the future.

"Weather is a mix of pattern and chaos," McDavitt pointed out. "We can only follow the pattern and attempt to work out the bounds of the chaos."