I Check the Weather Forecast Five Times a Day. I Don't *Think* I'm Crazy.

Brent says I'm obsessed. I say I'm just quirky.

For the audio version of this article, read by the author, go here.

---

I can be kind of obsessive about the weather. After a few days of grey skies, I get seriously cranky. But I don’t like too much sun or heat either.

It seems I can only exist in a narrow range of temperatures, like tropical fish. Brent and I once saw a moth in Malaysia that had evolved to live in only one particular forest, and I could relate.

I also always like to know what the weather will be like ahead of time, which is interesting because I don’t consider myself a control freak.

On Brent’s and my recent “Northern Lights” cruise to northern Norway, I paid close attention to the weather forecast for the days ahead.

Very close attention.

On one hand, this made sense. It was a Northern Lights cruise, and the skies needed to be clear to see the darn things. Plus, I wanted good weather to explore the various ports of call during the daylight hours.

But I may have taken it too far. We were above the Arctic Circle, so I knew the weather would be temperamental. Even so, if there was a good forecast, my mood soared. A prediction of rainy days ahead? I felt massively bummed.

I’ve been like this for a while, even when we’re not on cruises. I constantly monitor the ten-day forecast, which Brent says are worthless. Then again, he says all weather forecasts are worthless.

“What does a fifty percent chance of rain mean anyway?” he asks. “It might rain? I know that just by looking out the window!”

I’ve told him that NOAA says that the five-day forecast accurately predicts the weather 90% of the time, but he doesn’t listen.

I think I drive him a little crazy.

But I’m not crazy. Most people keep track of the weather! The Weather Channel exists for a reason. Folks want to know if they should bring an umbrella when they go out or if they’ll have a hard time getting to work the next day because of snow.

But, yeah, most people don’t check the forecast ten twenty times a day, and most people don’t hyperventilate when they see a forecast for five rainy days in a row.

Why am I so obsessed with the weather?

As I said above, it’s partly because I’m a bit of a delicate flower, temperature-wise.

If it gets much hotter than 27 degrees C — or 80 F — I fall onto the closest divan and fan myself, saying, “Why, I do declare, I am positively melting!”

And when the temperature drops below 10 C? — 50 F — I want to head to Malaysia with that moth.

Me in moth form.

Brent barely ever even notices the weather. Sure, if it gets cold, he’ll put on a jacket, but if it rains, he’s usually okay with just getting wet.

While I’m checking the forecast up to twenty thirty times a day, I’ve literally never seen him check it at all.

Once or twice, I may have let him go outside without an umbrella or rain jacket, even though I knew rain was very likely.

I never said I was a saint.