When legal writes weather alerts.

This, pasted from the Weather Channel site and the fine folks at the National Weather Service. It’s the best example of how to say “we don’t know diddley, but we are not sure how to admit that.” Attorneys take years of deep schooling to learn to write like this (caps are theirs, not mine):

issued by The National Weather Service
Nashville, TN
3:26 pm CST, Mon., Jan. 24, 2011

SO FAR THIS SEASON WE HAVE HAD FAIRLY HIGH CONFIDENCE ON OUR SNOW EVENT FORECASTS… BUT WEATHER PATTERNS HAVE CHANGED… AND CONFIDENCE IS NOT AS HIGH FOR THIS EVENT IN TERMS OF SNOW ACCUMULATIONS. NEVERTHELESS… RECENT COMPUTER MODEL FORECASTS HAVE BECOME MORE IN AGREEMENT… AND IF THIS TREND CONTINUES TONIGHT AND TUESDAY… CONFIDENCE IN SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL IMPROVE.

Unplanned

I think I would like to go
See the ocean for a while,
Wear sandy khaki and a holey tshirt
And smell the salty air while winding down the sunset.
I’ll sit and get that “what are we gonna do now?” feeling
Before remembering
That I don’t have to do anything.
I can watch the waves roll in,
Take a walk with you,
Eat or make love or fall fast asleep –
Anything completely offhand, unplanned,
While the water froths
and palm fronds hiss above the ice cream sand.