Inside the Weather Wars That May Threaten the Daily Forecast You Depend On

Paul Sauer spins his head like a hawk, standing on the roof of the Marine Air Terminal at La Guardia Airport, as jets whine and fume on the tarmac below. "Pretty straightforward today," he shouts. "A little stratocumulus to the north. A little bit of middle clouds, which is still moving through us to the south. And a little bit of cirrus above that." He turns on his heels and heads back down to his office, one floor below. "The machine is not going to see that," he says.

Paul Sauer spins his head like a hawk, standing on the roof of the Marine Air Terminal at La Guardia Airport, as jets whine and fume on the tarmac below. "Pretty straightforward today," he shouts. "A little stratocumulus to the north. A little bit of middle clouds, which is still moving through us to the south. And a little bit of cirrus above that." He turns on his heels and heads back down to his office, one floor below. "The machine is not going to see that," he says.