Catching up on the blog after the holiday break - nice reference to Anchorman. Besides an area-weighted verification, has CPC considered a population-weighted verification? For example, in Figure 2, you have North Dakota with an increased chance of below-normal temperatures and part of New England with an increased chance of above-normal temperatures. The two areas are roughly the same size but there are a lot more people in New England than North Dakota, so a correct (or incorrect) forecast in New England may have a much larger impact economically.