Portfolio 4: Why do some Cities Give less Accurate Temperature Forecast than Others Revisted-Looking at Individual Cities

In this project, we added interactive components to the Mean Accuracy of Temperature Forecast Versus Latitude graph and the Mean Accuracy of Temperature Forecast Versus Average Annual Precipitation from Portfolio 2. After adding the interactive components, we can see the corresponding city and state name for each individual dot, which allows us to roughly see the latitude or average annual precipitation of a city and its mean accuracy of temperature forecast on the graph. The interactive graphs make it easier for us to compare two cities as well as identifying unusual dots (cities) that deviate from the general trend.

From this interactive plot, we can see that Fairbanks of Alaska has exceptionally high latitude (far to the north) and high mean accuracy of temperature forecast while San Juan of Puerto Rico has exceptionally low latitude (far to the south) and low mean accuracy of temperature. This is interesting because common sense tells us the opposite. Based on common sense, we would predict that Puerto Rico near the equator will have more accurate temperature forecast since temperature near the equator is usually more predictable (always hot!) while Alaska near the arctic circle will have less accurate forecast as the temperature near the North Pole is not that predictable. Also, Seattle, Washington is a very interesting city to look at since it has relatively high latitude but relative low mean temperature forecast accuracy, away from the general trend. Future work can be done to investigate why this is the case for Seattle.

From the interactive plot, we can see that Juneau in Alaska is special because it has very high average annual precipitation while also relatively high mean accuracy of temperature forecast, deviating from the general trend that higher the average annual precipitation, lower the mean accuracy. The cities in Florida including Key West, St Petersburg, Orlando, and Tampa are interesting to look at because they have moderate average annual precipitation but quite low mean accuracy in temperature forecast. Again, it is very interesting that Seattle, Washington deviates from the general trend. It has low-moderate average annual precipitation but low mean accuracy.