Ever wondered why your village was suddenly flooded by a thunderstorm the weather forecasters hadn't mentioned?
Or why they failed to warn you about the dense fog shrouding your home in the morning?
The fact is that predicting the "big picture" of future conditions has got a lot better - Storm Dennis was spotted six days before it arrived.
But getting local forecasts right - street by street and hour by hour - is still a massive challenge.
And that might now change as the Met Office secures the help of a supercomputer project costing £1.2bn.
