Who is Billy Blizzard Boy?
Billy Blizzard Boy used to be a boy who was fed up with MoCoSnow's monopoly over the school closing/delay prediction service. Now, Billy Blizzard Boy has evolved into a team of individuals who work to offer a viable and accessible alternative to other school closing/delay services.
What makes Billy Blizzard Boy different?
Billy Blizzard Boy does not profit off of his service, unlike other prediction services. Billy Blizzard Boy's only goal is to provide Montgomery County students with the most accurate information regarding school closures, delays, and early dismissals before they are officially announced.
What methods are used to predict school delays, closures, and early releases?
The Billy Blizzard Boy team employs a variety of techniques to create predictions, including looking at forecast maps from numerous sources, looking at past MCPS decisions, blind guessing, educated guessing, and salmon weighing.
Why should I choose Billy Blizzard Boy over other prediction services such as MoCoSnow?
If you value accuracy, Billy Blizzard Boy is the service for you. Although MoCoSnow has claimed to be the "#1 source for information on inclement weather, closings and delays, predictions, and forecasts in Montgomery County, MD", this has been incorrect since Billy Blizzard Boy's entrance into the school closing/delay prediction business at the start of the 2018-19 school year. During that school year, Billy Blizzard Boy was 20% more accurate than MoCoSnow's predictions. During the last relevant school year (2019-20), the disparity has become even larger. Billy Blizzard Boy was been over 40% more accurate than MoCoSnow, having correctly predicted all but one day of school. MoCoSnow, in contrast, has been right just half the time this season. In fact, during the 2019-20 school year, MoCoSnow performed no better than the control of assuming every day was a full day.
Unfortunately, MoCoSnow has attacked Billy Blizzard Boy on his podcast, calling him a liar for the above claims (which can all be validated at the below link) and a copycat for doing the same thing that he is. However, Billy Blizzard Boy believes that weather predictions should be a community effort and not something reserved for meteorologists or self-proclaimed "experts". In order to accomplish this, Billy Blizzard Boy is creating a weather station at his high school, aiming to get his peers involved in weather predicting and, more broadly, atmospheric science.
Source for Accuracy Claims: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XLGH48U6Hb4UnIcN1L6VNPfspZh7peqMiaV8dqBBnEg/edit#gid=0
Unfortunately, MoCoSnow has attacked Billy Blizzard Boy on his podcast, calling him a liar for the above claims (which can all be validated at the below link) and a copycat for doing the same thing that he is. However, Billy Blizzard Boy believes that weather predictions should be a community effort and not something reserved for meteorologists or self-proclaimed "experts". In order to accomplish this, Billy Blizzard Boy is creating a weather station at his high school, aiming to get his peers involved in weather predicting and, more broadly, atmospheric science.
Source for Accuracy Claims: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XLGH48U6Hb4UnIcN1L6VNPfspZh7peqMiaV8dqBBnEg/edit#gid=0