Just a few extra notes and personal thoughts concerning the NCWFC that are not included with the other information:

Having a bad city?
If you start to have some bad days at the beginning of a city, DO NOT stop forecasting for that city. A common misconception that I have heard over the years is that if you miss three or more forecasts for a city, then you are disqualified for that city and the forecasts that you made do not count in the overall standings. This is not true.

It is true that you will be disqualified from that city. However, the forecasts that you made AS WELL AS THE FORECASTS THAT YOU DID NOT MAKE count towards your overall cumulative score. You will be assigned persistence for the forecasts that you did not enter, and that will almost always be a serious detriment to your overall score.

Why is this done? To prevent people from artificially throwing out poor forecasts. It simply is not fair to the people that forecast for the entire year. The ONLY WAY that a city does not count towards your overall score is to opt out. However, you must do so BEFORE the forecast period starts.

The moral of the story: if you care about your overall score (and PSU's overall team score), then do not stop forecasting for a city if you start off poorly.

"The verifications are wrong!"
This happens from time to time. In my haste to post daily standings in the morning I sometimes make a mistake. If you think that a verification is wrong, please feel free to tell me.

"I can't enter my forecast on the computer!"
On the rare occasion that you are prevented from entering your forecast on the computer system (i.e., for a technical reason, not because you drove to the mall and realized that you forgot to enter your forecast), then send an e-mail message with your forecaster name, real name, and forecast to wjs1@psu.edu. I will check the time that you sent the email! If you do not have access to e-mail, then see me (608 Walker), Fred, or Todd in person. I am rarely in the office after 3:30 pm, so please plan to see me early in the day.

"The forecast assigned to me is not what I entered!"
or "I entered a forecast but the forecast summary says that I did not!"
All that I can say about this is, make sure that you enter your forecast correctly. When entering your forecast on the computer, the program automatically echoes back the forecast that you entered and asks you if it is okay. Make a habit of checking to make sure that IT IS correct before quitting.

Because the forecasts need to be in by a certain time (0000 Z), I cannot enter a forecast for you or change your forecast after this time unless you have a GOOD excuse. So if you experience problems, let me know ASAP!