Mal

Might be the other way around.

I believe the distinction is probability. Prediction tries to nail down the attributes (it will be this warm or it will happen like x, y and z) while forecast puts probability to the attributes. 

But my definition is colored by how it historically been used in seismology. It's why I'm asking regular folks (you all).

From what I can remember, after trying to remember, a forecast uses data to present a probable outcome, while a prediction is just "this will happen" and may or may not be based off of anything in the past.

That's how I remember at least, though I had not thought about it in a while.  

I think what muddy the waters is weather forecasts. Technically they have a probably to them but in everyday life practice, they don't. Hence angry people. At the same time though, expecting normal folks to get and appreciate probabilities (aka statistic) is tough (there wouldn't be gamblers if that was the case).