Douglas: Drought creeps in, with little rain in sight

Predicting the future is hard. Just ask a CIA analyst, economist, Vikings fan or a pollster.

My take: Pollsters make the meteorologists look good. When was the last time you had a nice long chat with a stranger calling from an unknown number? Nope. My advice: Tune out the noise and ignore the spin. Vote.

By the way, the European forecast model predicts showers on Halloween with a high near 50. No blizzards this year. And although it’s a long way out, NOAA’s GFS model keeps Minnesota (and much of America) dry and mild on Election Day with no big storms.

Meanwhile, our wet summer seems like a meteorological mirage. Moderate drought has crept back into the metro, with severe drought for northern and southwestern counties. We need a good dousing, but despite a few showers Thursday night I don’t see any big rainmakers in sight. Probably no snow into early November. Huh?

La Niña is getting off to a very slow start. Just like winter. Winter outlooks are interesting but unreliable. Just like polls. The science is murky. Buyer beware.