In the wake of a milder-than-expected snowstorm, the president of the American Meteorological Society has batted aside claims that balky short-term weather forecasts undermine long-term climate models.

Last week, a snowstorm forecast for the Mid-Atlantic, the “Snowquester,” petered out in some areas expected to be hit hard. The incident served as another reminder that, as the Washington Post's Jason Samenow explained, short-term weather prediction is difficult, and carries a certain pressure to arrive at “the bottom line” for the benefit of viewers without qualification or explanation of uncertainties (of which there are many).

You may already know how this next part goes: writing in Forbes, the Cato Institute's Patrick Michaels suggested the “busted forecast” of the storm was actually a lesson that “Our ”best science" can be wrong," and that in this sense there were “parallels with global warming.” He allowed that this was a “statement of the human condition” -- presumably, rather than another example of scientists acting “Like lab rats that will do anything to keep the cocaine flowing.” Unfortunately for a guy who invoked “The Natural” in his column, Michaels' logic was about as persuasive as that of a scout deciding that a .335 lifetime hitter may bat .111 the next few years based on a single 1-for-9 doubleheader.

Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd, the president of the American Meteorological Society, wrote in an email to Media Matters that Michaels' argument indicates a “fundamental [...] misunderstanding of weather and climate models,” an “apples vs. oranges comparison.” Weather models try to predict the weather at a specific place and time, while climate models project the average of those weather events over a longer time period and larger area, which is more predictable.

Back to that baseball analogy: Minnesota Twins' first baseman Rod Carew went 0-for-5 on April 26, 1977. On the season, he hit .388, leading the league. Carew finished his 19-year career with a .329 average, about 1.6 hits for every 5 at-bats. Given all this, it would have been very hard to predict his performance in any one game -- but easier to predict how he would hit generally.

Shepherd added that the “somewhat bad” Snowquester forecast was being “cherry-picked” from several “great” recent weather forecasts.

Michaels is among the professional climate “skeptic” world's few actual climate scientists, and has been paid handsomely by the fossil fuel industry for this dubious distinction, but making such a fundamental mistake in his column further undermines his credibility.