Robert Villanueva, chief forecaster for the National Association of Home Builders, said that the jump was so big it could probably not be sustained, particularly since sales of existing homes were only "so-so" last month.

"Both influences are important," said Willi Leibfritz, chief forecaster at the IFO economic research institute in Munich.

The center for the Gulf Coast was initially located in Galveston, with Isaac Cline as chief forecaster; his brother Joseph, a fellow meteorologist, worked for him there.

As of Jan. 17, the Sierras had almost three times the average snowfall for that date, according to Gary Hester, chief forecaster for the California Department of Water Resources in Sacramento.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph on the 150th anniversary of the first published weather forecast, Bill Giles, the then chief forecaster, said he was to blame.

"Around the 15th of May," said Dr. Whiteside, chief forecaster for GeoForecaster Inc. of Lafayette, Calif.

Douglas Handler, chief forecaster for Wharton Econometrics, disagreed.

"We are going to have very slow growth for construction in general," said Doug Handler, chief forecaster for Wharton Econometrics of Philadelphia.

But Doug Handler, chief forecaster for Wharton Econometrics of Philadelphia, said the inventory figures were showing no unwanted buildup of goods and should translate into higher production figures.

After Congress appropriated funding for four hurricane forecast centers in 1935, Norton became the chief forecaster of the Jacksonville office.