“Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers”

“Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers” is one-line saying that comes from aviation. The saying means that, like horoscopes, weather forecasts aren’t very accurate. “Remember that a terminal forecast is a horoscope with numbers” was cited in Flying magazine in September 1996. “Remember that an FSS (flight service station—ed.) forecast report is a horoscope with numbers” was cited in the book Flying & Learning: Basics for Every Pilot (1997).
 
“Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers” was cited in print in 2002.
 
     
Google Books
September 1996, Flying magazine, “Quips & Quotes” by Len Morgan, pg. 98, col. 2:
“Remember that a terminal forecast is a horoscope with numbers.”
 
Google Books
Flying & Learning:
Basics for Every Pilot
By William P. Heitman
Durham, NC: Dreamflyer Publications
1997
Pg. 133:
Remember that an FSS forecast report is a horoscope with numbers.
 
Google Groups: rec.aviation.student
Three useless things to a pilot
Greg Clark
3/16/97
(...)
A terminal forecast is a horoscope with numbers.
 
Google Groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim
Aviationisms
James
10/12/02
(...)
>  Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers.
   
AviationBanter forum
March 18th 04, 03:58 AM
Greg Burkhart
Default OT? Some old aviation sayings…
(...)
Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers.
 
Google Books
Blue-collar Wings:
Remembering Thirty Years of Private Flying
By Robert J. Keith
New York, NY: iUniverse
2007
Pg. 157:
Someone once said that a weather forecast is nothing more than a horoscope with numbers.
 
Google Books
Oh No! We’re Gonna Die Too:
More Humorous Tales of Close Calls in Alaska’s Wilderness
By Bob Bell
Anchorage, AK: BBB Publications
2009
Pg. ?:
As pilots say “weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers.”
 
Twitter
Ryan
‏@SkyRyda
Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers!
10:54 PM - 11 Mar 2009
     
15 July 2010, Aiken (SC) Standard, “Daily Bridge Club” by Frank Stewart (Tribune Media Services), pg. 4C, col. 1:
“Weather forecasts!” a player snorted. “They’re like horoscopes with numbers.”
 
Google Books
European Air Power:
Challenges and Opportunities
Edited by John Andreas Olsen
Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press
2014
Pg. XI:
Weather forecasts are just horoscopes with numbers, so look outside to determine what the weather is like.
     
Twitter
OpenAirplane
‏@OpenAirplane
“A terminal forecast is a horoscope with numbers.” – anon
1:33 PM - 4 Jul 2014
 
Twitter
Think Aviation
‏@ThinkAviation
“Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers.” Unknown
8:00 AM - 8 Jan 2015