While most urbanites lament whenever it rains, precipitation can be a vital aspect of the livelihood of many a person - such as farmers and skiers - and as such it is important to be able to forecast the weather. Man has created many instruments to measure what is happening, what has happened and what is forecast to happen in terms of the weather. The data collected from the several regional weather outposts are sent to a central location for tabulation and forecasting. Dissemination of these forecasts is vital, especially in the prediction of extreme weather situations.