Needless to say, predicting the weather with greater precision would provide prodigious money-making opportunities.
When it comes to Apple, listening to analysts estimates are as good as predicting the weather.
"We're pretty good at predicting the weather a couple of days in advance, " Smith says.
We already rely on statistical models to do everything from flying our airplanes to predicting the weather.
The program includes such novel topics as betting on horse races, creating 3-d images of people and predicting the weather.
One attraction is programs that collaborate with the engineering and physics departments on topics such as betting on horse races, creating 3-D images of people and predicting the weather.
"At the moment predicting monthly house price figures is a little like predicting the weather and it would be foolhardy to talk about a recovery based on one set of data, " said Ashley Brown, director of mortgage broker Moneysprite.
And with the weather forecast for the weekend predicting more heavy rain, the 32-year-old from Cardiff was aware that could even prove to be a winning total.
In Kansas, the National Weather Service was predicting as much as 18 inches of snow.
The BBC weather centre is predicting another "very mild" day for New Year's Eve with highs of 13C (55F).
BBC: 2011 is UK's second warmest year on record - Met Office
In Kansas, where the storm had already started, the National Weather Service was predicting as much as 18 inches of snow.
The National Weather Service was predicting up to 7 inches of heavy, wet snow in southeastern Connecticut through Friday morning and wind gusts that could hit 50 mph, bringing possible power outages.
The National Weather Service has issued excessive heat warnings for parts of Arizona and California starting Monday, predicting temperatures in the range of 110-115 degrees.
Fed with digitised topographical data and a weather forecast, it can make a fair stab at predicting the behaviour of a bush fire.
ECONOMIST: Computer models may soon help to predict forest fires
The network and cable news weather forecasters are having a ball predicting doom - there has not been a threat like this in 30 years, according to one.
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