Here's a forecast for you: Harris will win

An insurance company that specializes in weather forecasts lost a half-million dollar bet on Saturday.

They stand to lose a lot more now.

In essence, Spectrum Weather and Specialty Insurance has called climatologist Cliff Harris a liar. They are saying that Harris’s measurement of 3.6 inches of snow on Saturday is bogus. Either he’s lying outright, or he’s a boob in the middle of nowhere who doesn’t know the difference between rain and snow.

Specialty Weather has denied paying off a $500,000 bet that Cliff’s weather station on Player Drive near the Coeur d’Alene Public Golf Course would log at least 3 inches of snow on Jan. 11. Adding further insult, Harris is the guy who last fall picked Jan. 11, based on meteorological tendencies involving lunar phases, Pacific water temperatures and detailed weather records dating back to 1895, records he’s studied like a monk poring over sacred volumes.

Harris said Tuesday he intends to sue the insurance company for $1.5 million, an amount he says keeping his reputation intact demands.

Harris has for many years been front and center as a local weather expert. Sure, he’s missed some calls on projected storms, including a 95 percent chance of a white Christmas that ended up in puddles rather than piles, thanks to two or three degrees. But Harris hits more than his fair share, too.

On Dec. 27, here’s how The Press reported a Harris prediction:

After some spotty snow over the next week or so, Harris said he believes “the first big snow” will arrive somewhere in the Jan. 9-13 window.

Harris nailed it, with Jan. 11 right in the middle of that window. In those five days, Coeur d’Alene doubled its snowfall totals for the entire season.

While his forecasts are out there for everybody to consume, congratulate or ridicule, what many people don’t see is Cliff Harris’s integrity. The person writing this editorial has worked closely with Cliff for nearly two decades. Much of that time Harris has never collected a dime from the newspaper, contenting himself to providing a valuable public service. Never once has he fudged on a figure to make his predictions look better.

But don’t trust the editor. Listen to Jane Clark, owner of Clark’s Diamond Jewelers, at the center of the current storm.

Jane said Clark’s paid Harris $450 for his work on the promotional event, which includes research and documentation. She told The Press what Harris did not: He donated that $450 to charity.

Here’s another snapshot of the real Cliff Harris.

“He wanted to buy his wife jewelry because he believed [the 3 inches] would happen, but he didn’t because he said it would be a conflict of interest,” Clark said. “Cliff Harris is above reproach.”

A specialty insurance company should have looked closer before picking a fight it’s certain to lose.