Somebody missed fire when it came to today\’s forecast. I checked it last night, and it predicted ESE winds of 9 mph at 8 am.

Guess what. The wind was a good bit stronger than that! I rode out to a point about 10.6 miles from home, and had that wind against me on the way back (immer die alte Leier, as the Germans say).

I was sure that the wind was stronger than 9 mph. Riding against it was very tiring, and I had to make a couple of extra stops. After I got back home, I looked up the 3-day weather history on the NOAA site. I had been right: the wind was 15 mph by 9 am; with gusts ups to 24 mph.

By noon it was blowing at a steady 24 mph, with gusts up to 32 mph; and a wind advisory had been posted. That\’s why I walked to the drug store instead of using the hybrid; I had already had enough of fighting that breeze.

It is now Carnival season, and I wouldn\’t be surprised if parades scheduled for this afternoon and this evening have been postponed or cancelled because of wind conditions. The \”floats\” used in parades are high-profile, and risky in high winds.

I\’m glad I\’m not out there trying to ride now. I\’m even gladder that I\’m not responsible for making weather forecasts. When my predictions missed fire, I\’d have a lot of people mad at me.