What does Probability of Precipitation mean?

With meteorology being an inexact science, there are a lot of unknowns. In a forecast, we use something called P.o.P. or Probability of Precipitation.

You'll often see wording such as "60 percent chance of showers" but what does that mean?

Some think it means it will rain 60 percent of the time that day, others think it means it will rain over 60 percent of the area.

The Probability of Precipitation in fact means the chance that some rain could fall over a specific area. So if there is a 60 percent chance of showers, there is a 60 percent chance that showers will occur at some point(s) in the forecast period.