This article discusses findings from a nationwide internet-based survey on how people perceive, use, and value weather forecast information. The focus is on how people perceive and make decisions using daily weather information. The four concepts the researchers look into specifically are: sources, perceptions, uses, and values. The findings are plentiful. Regarding weather sources, a greater number of respondents receive weather forecasts from media sources than from the NWS or weather radio. Participants perceived the public and private sectors as one entity, and thus the researchers suggest collaboration between the two instead of competition. The majority of respondents were confident in the forecasts given short lead times; the increase in lead time was associated with less confidence in the forecasts. Most value was put on knowing the chance and type of precipitation, as well as when and where the precipitation will occur. Wind direction and cloud cover were found to be least important. The majority of participants obtained weather forecasts either in the early morning or evening. The authors calculated how much people would pay for weather forecasts and found that the total approximated value for the more than 300 billion forecasts received each year is $31.5 billion. This is substantially greater than the $5.1 billion in NWS costs.
