Off the top of my head, two reasons construction projects are notorious for going over budget would be because of labour (union) costs, not to mention corruption (cf. Quebec's Charbonneau Commission).
Why single out weather? Lots of human activities are impacted by weather. What's the analogy to software?
> Why single out weather? Lots of human activities are impacted by weather. What's the analogy to software?
To point out there's still a large variable in the construction projects isted, and it's not as cut and dried as you made out.
Here in the UK (land of rain) the weather is a major source of extra costs in small (under £1M) projects. Source: chief surveyor of a county council's highway department.
The contracts are well negotiated by the construction firm (and I understand is an industry standard clause, so you can't just hire a different firm), so if work can't be done on your project due to inclement weather, they will put in a claime for their labour costs for thse days, plus hire of plant that's on-site. AFAIK they won't get the full cost, but they're good at putting in frequent claims :)
Why single out weather? Lots of human activities are impacted by weather. What's the analogy to software?