The Weatherman

CHAPTER ONE

Oliver shook his head. His conclusions just weren’t making sense. Perhaps a second opinion would help. He walked down the hall to an open door and leaned against the doorway, looking in at Eileen sitting behind her desk. He watched as she shuffled through the array of printouts spread out in front of her, completely oblivious to his presence. Periodically, her attention would move to her computer monitor, and she’d make a brief entry before returning her attention to the papers strewn about. He noticed she looked tired and a bit worn out, and her clothes were rumpled and wrinkled. And to be honest, he knew that the same could be said of him... not just today, but most days. He knew his coworkers called him a workaholic, and some of them were bold enough to say it to his face instead of behind his back. But his supervisors loved his work ethic, and he couldn’t change if he wanted to, it was just part of who he was.

Eileen was just as much of a hard worker as he was. On the one hand he hated to disturb her, but on the other hand it seemed like she could use a break.

That looks serious.

Startled, Eileen looked up at Oliver, who was now standing in front of her desk.

Might be, Oliver, might be, she said, returning to her work.

Oliver watched his colleague for another moment before he moved aside some files stacked on a folding chair and sat down. She was an attractive woman.  Many years ago, they had gone out on a handful of dates, at the end of which they had both agreed that, while they would always be quite fond of each other, their relationship would never go beyond a deep and abiding friendship. 

As he continued to watch Eileen, periodically he would hear her mutter something under her breath. She frequently spoke to herself, and Oliver had learned a long time ago that she didn’t appreciate interruptions. But he was tall, and the chair was uncomfortable. He shifted in his chair and Eileen looked up as she heard the chair creak.

Oh. You’re still here.

"Don’t let me interrupt. I can wait until you come to a break... I’m just too tired to keep standing. But finish what you’re doing, I can wait.

Oliver smiled to himself as Eileen returned to work, as if he wasn’t there. Her concentration and focus were amazing. Watching her was almost mesmerizing. He couldn’t think of any of his other fellow employees who were that committed to their work. While he typically stayed late at least three nights a week, the rest of his department had always clocked out by five, except for those who’d left ten minutes earlier. And the other departments were all the same.

Some time later, Oliver was suddenly startled awake. He hadn’t even realized that he’d dozed off, but at the sound of Eileen chuckling he found himself sitting up so abruptly that his chair began to tip over. Still laughing, Eileen stood up and started to take a step toward Oliver, but before she could get there his chair collapsed, dumping him onto the floor. She rushed over to help him up.

She managed to stop laughing before asking Are you hurt? Only my pride, he grumbled.

Sorry. To be honest, I forgot you were here. I finished the section I was working on and looked up, and there you were, perched on that chair like a praying mantis. She giggled, You reminded me of one of those old time skits. You know, the one with the really tall skinny guy, who was always stumbling over things.

He glared at her, but as he considered how the scene must have looked, his features relaxed into a rueful grin.

Eileen matched his grin and pointed to the chair. You broke my chair!

And, indeed, the chair was bent, likely beyond repair.

Oliver took her by the elbow, steering her out the door. Then in that case, I think you owe me a coffee.

Me? You broke my chair, I think I’m the one who’s owed a cup, and besides, you never drink coffee.

Fine, fine, we’ll fight about it on the way to the cafeteria.

CHAPTER TWO

Eileen and Oliver were in the checkout line at the cafeteria of the Harris Gray Otis House. The building had served as the headquarters for the American Meteorological Society since 1958 but had been built a century and a half before that, and was showing serious signs of wear. In addition, there were some odd acoustical conditions throughout the building; the debate as to whether Charles Bullfinch had intentionally designed the building that way or not, was ongoing. By mutual agreement, the two researchers headed over to a table that — while in the center of the room — was amazingly protected from casual eavesdropping. Even so, Oliver smiled in approval as Eileen pulled out her phone and set it to play a random radio station, to provide further privacy.

Although Oliver had gone to Eileen’s office with an agenda of his own, it was clear that she had something important on her mind, so he said nothing and waited for her to begin.

I’m continuing to find patterns that don’t make sense. Oliver felt like he’d walked into the middle of a conversation.

It’s almost as if someone is intentionally interfering with things, so that forecasts will be wrong.

Ahhh, now Oliver understood what she was talking about, and he considered her statement for a moment.

You mean some thing, not some one.

Well, when I first started having suspicions, I assumed it was some thing. Actually, what I assumed was that it was some freak of nature. Like these new species of butterflies that have suddenly cropped up. Then I started wondering if it was an error somehow integral to our weather chartings and calculations, or perhaps a faulty model. But now... well, I just don’t know. She chewed her lower lip. I know this sounds crazy, but I’m starting to wonder if someone is out there intentionally manipulating the weather.

Oliver chuckled. That’s nothing new, Leen. Meteorologists have been manipulating weather for over a century.

Yeah, yeah. But those projects were either unsuccessful, or too expensive to be worthwhile.

Every meteorologist learned about the projects in their first year of school. The British Air Ministry’s WWII plans to evaporate fog, the 1995 Soviet effort to reflect sunshine to warm Siberia, and the 2025 effort by the National Weather Service to create non-melting snowflakes; those were just a few of the projects.

That’s not quite true. Sure, there was FIDO, and Snowflake, and even Nimbus S, but don’t forget about Project Stormfury and Operation Popeye, both of which worked well. My point is that meteorologists have been manipulating weather since the 1940s.

Okay.  But I've checked all the internet sources, as well as weather organization bulletin boards, and I can't find anything that seems to fit what I'm seeing.

Oliver shrugged, noncommittally.  I don’t see what this has to do with the legal department.

Eileen sighed. Absolutely nothing. It’s a special project I’m doing for Verger.

Verger? The head of Climatology? Since when do you report to him?

I don’t. But last week, Verger asked my supervisor if someone in Legal could do a quick project, and Sheila told him that she’d put her head researcher on it.

Oliver grinned. No such thing as a quick project.

Yeah. And I don’t get why he wanted someone in Legal to do this. But there’s more something more going on. I don’t want to talk about it here. Can we get together tomorrow night?

No, I’m tied up tomorrow night. His phone rang. Oliver glanced at the display, and sighed. Sorry, that’s Joe. I have to take this. He answered the phone. Yes, Mr. Tompkins. No, but I can be there in five minutes. Yes, I’ll bring it with me, I think you’ll be pleased. Oliver

disconnected the call, and stood up. Sorry, Leen, I have to go, but I’ll call you, and we’ll set something up.

Oliver smiled to himself as he strode out of the room. He’d gone to Eileen’s office because he wanted to bounce some ideas off of her, he wanted her opinion on a problem he was having with his current project. But she’d monopolized the entire conversation, and he’d never had a chance to tell her what was on his mind. He’d just have to wait until the next time they talked.

CHAPTER THREE

Josie sat in her dressing room in front of the mirror, but her thoughts were far from this room and the studio.

Ms. Skye. There was a knock at the door. Ms. Skye, seven minutes until airtime. A pause. Then with a note of concern, Ms. Skye?

Josie sighed, and brought her thoughts back to the present, and the studio. Yes, George, I heard you. I’ll be out in ninety seconds. She turned her focus to the mirror and confirmed that she looked ready to go on-air. She got up and left her dressing room, taking her place, and her pose, in front of the weather map. The cameraman gave her a smile and a thumbs up indicating that everything was all set, and held up two fingers, indicating two minutes until air time. At the bigger television stations, the news desks had multiple cameramen, and they had stage managers to provide the countdowns. Oh yeah, and there were make-up people and hair stylists. Of course, at the bigger television stations, meteorologists over the age of thirty-five were quickly moved away from the cameras during prime time, and by the time they reached forty-five they had no air time at all. So she wasn’t going to complain about the limited resources here at KAQQ. And at least she didn’t have to share a dressing room with anyone else. She brought her focus back to the broadcast in time to see the cameraman begin the five second countdown.

Good evening, Wankers Corner, I’m Josie Skye, with your forecast for northwest Oregon for the rest of tonight and tomorrow morning.

Twenty-five minutes later, Josie returned to her dressing room. She had stood in front of the weather map twice more, repeating the same forecast each time. The rest of the time she’d sat behind the desk with the news anchors, smiling during their reports and engaging in the casual chit chat that she found silly, but the audience enjoyed. She began wiping the make-up off her face, killing time until what she knew would come next.

God damn it, Josie. The station manager didn’t bother to knock, he just barged in. Frankly, Josie hadn’t expected anything different. She turned in her chair to face her boss; the station manager was also the station owner.

Evening, Lou. Pleasant night, isn’t it?

Lou threw himself into the only other chair in the small room, running his hand through his thinning hair. We talked about this just last week. Do you have any idea — Any. Idea. — of the can of liability worms you’ve opened? Not just for yourself — but the entire station. What were you thinking? By the end of his questions, he was standing up again, and his face had turned bright red.

Lou, settle down. Give me a bit of credit. I would not have issued the forecast I did, unless I was absolutely, positively, certain of it.

Josie. Look, kid, I respect your knowledge, and skill and ability as a meteorologist. But this isn’t 2015, it’s 2045.

Hey! Is that a crack about my age?

Lou sighed and settled back into the chair. No, well yes. Well no, not a crack about your age, but things are very different than they were back when you went to school.

Josie had attended the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona under an American Meteorological Society scholarship. She’d gone there because it was one of the few schools offering a PhD program in Atmospheric Sciences. After she’d earned her degree she’d qualified for a rare and prestigious internship, getting a placement at the Bureau of Royal Rainmaking in Thailand.

Lou, trust me. I know what I’m doing.

"I know you do. You’re the best in the business. I have no idea why you stay with us rather than going somewhere bigger and better. But

weather today is not what it was. And weather forecasting has become very risky. He held up a hand to stop her, as she started to reply. And while you may be willing to take the risk for yourself, it’s not fair for you to put every single employee at the station at risk. If you go down, the entire station goes down."

But—

No, let me finish. When I implemented the policy that weather forecasts were to go no further in the future than eight hours, it was not the whim of an old man.

Josie was always amused that Lou acted as if he was much older than she was, when in fact he wasn’t even old enough to be her father.

We were one of the last stations to implement such a policy; I resisted as long as I felt I could. Lou stood, and began to pace. I know it’s been difficult for you, but we’ve been able to avoid an inaccurate weather forecast for the past five months. We are one of the very few television stations able to say that we have never been sued. Not just that there have been no successful suits, but that there has been no litigation at all. He stopped his pacing and stared at her. I’d like to maintain that record.

Josie found herself speechless. All the responses she’d been mentally preparing to deliver, now seemed to evaporate. Perhaps her actions had been reckless and unreasonable. She dropped her gaze to the floor, unable to face him. Lou. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it. You’re right.

Lou appeared surprised at her change in demeanor as well as her apology, and seemed uncertain how to respond. He gave a quick nod, and headed for the door. With his hand on the knob, he turned back to her and muttered, You’re good, Josie, maybe the best. But you also need to be smart. Get some rest, we’ll talk more tomorrow, and he left.

Josie packed up her laptop, grabbed her jacket, and headed home. But she had a feeling that getting some rest was not going to be an option tonight. She was already stewing over the talk that she and Lou would have the next day.

CHAPTER FOUR

Weather News, Amalgamated

September 16, 2045

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a surprise ruling today when it upheld a decision in which the National Weather Service was found liable for a faulty weather forecast in the case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. NWS. While there have been previous instances of the courts issuing rulings in lawsuits involving claims of negligence on the part of weather forecasters, this is the first time that the highest court in the land has accepted jurisdiction in such a case. In addition, this case is very unusual in that in nearly all previous instances, weather forecasters and weather services have been found not liable.

In early July of 2043, the National Weather Service issued a report that there would be extreme weather conditions including gale force winds and heavy rain over an eighteen-hour period of time in central Pennsylvania. As a result of this forecast, the governor of Pennsylvania closed the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and issued an Executive Order that all vehicles more than ten feet in height were required to stay off all public roads until further notice. Not only did the gale force winds and rain not take place, but weather conditions were in fact quite mild and pleasant during the relevant time frame. The Commonwealth filed suit against the NWS, claiming that, as a result of the forecast and the reasonable actions of the governor in response to that forecast, the Commonwealth lost approximately $500,000 in potential toll booth income. Further, the Commonwealth alleged that the NWS should be responsible for payment of the Circuit Court judgment that awarded seven commercial trucking companies damages in the amount of 4.6 million dollars when the court found the Commonwealth liable for loss of business due to the eighteen hours of lost driving time suffered by the companies when they were not permitted to have their vehicles on the road.

The National Weather Service pointed to the 1984 decision in Brown v. U.S., where the First Circuit Court of Appeals held that the National Weather Service, as a branch of the government, is protected from liability for inaccurate forecasts under the discretionary function exception of the Federal Tort Claims Act.