diff --git a/src/pyiem/grid/util.py b/src/pyiem/grid/util.py
index 03bcabd7..105a4b4d 100644
--- a/src/pyiem/grid/util.py
+++ b/src/pyiem/grid/util.py
@@ -3,26 +3,26 @@
 import numpy as np
 
 
-def grid_smear(grid: np.ndarray, pad: int = 4) -> np.ndarray:
+def grid_smear(grid: np.ndarray, shift: int = 4) -> np.ndarray:
     """Smear data around to fill in masked values (likely near coastlines).
 
     Args:
         grid: 2D numpy array
-        pad: number of pixels to smear the data around by in each direction
+        shift: number of pixels to smear the data around by in each direction
 
     Returns:
         2D numpy array with smeared data
     """
     # Pad grid
     padded = np.ma.masked_all(
-        (grid.shape[0] + pad * 2, grid.shape[1] + pad * 2)
+        (grid.shape[0] + shift * 2, grid.shape[1] + shift * 2)
     )
     # set values from inbound grid
-    padded[pad:-pad, pad:-pad] = grid
+    padded[shift:-shift, shift:-shift] = grid
 
-    # shift the grid by 4 pixels in each direction to fill in the padded region
-    for xorigin in [0, pad * 2]:
-        for yorigin in [0, pad * 2]:
+    # shift the grid by shift pixels in each direction to fill in the padded
+    for xorigin in [0, shift * 2]:
+        for yorigin in [0, shift * 2]:
             xslice = slice(xorigin, xorigin + grid.shape[0])
             yslice = slice(yorigin, yorigin + grid.shape[1])
             padded[xslice, yslice] = np.ma.where(
@@ -31,4 +31,4 @@ def grid_smear(grid: np.ndarray, pad: int = 4) -> np.ndarray:
                 padded[xslice, yslice],
             )
 
-    return padded[pad:-pad, pad:-pad]
+    return padded[shift:-shift, shift:-shift]