then there is the horrific state of forecasting in 1980 and earlier
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeastern_United_States_blizzard_of_1978
One of the major problems with the Blizzard of 1978 was the lack of foreknowledge about the storm's severity. Weather forecasting in New England is difficult, and meteorologists had developed a reputation as being inaccurate. Forecasting techniques and technology had improved dramatically in the 1970s, but the public was still quite skeptical. Snow failed to arrive in Monday's pre-dawn hours as predicted, and many locals felt it to be another failed forecast—despite the accuracy of National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters' predictions concerning the Great Blizzard—and they went to work and school as normal. Because of this, people had neither time nor incentive to prepare.
I'm not sure I agree with that finding. A great example happened this week in North Georgia where they were forecasting ice and snow from the polar vortex storm up until the night before and it didn't happen. In fact the advisory that was supposed to last into the night ended up being cancelled around lunchtime that day. Yes NWS tends to be the most accurate of the group, but it's still a guessing game even for 12 hours out.