diff --git a/ui/src/views/Forecast.jsx b/ui/src/views/Forecast.jsx
index 2da34f5..4fbd522 100644
--- a/ui/src/views/Forecast.jsx
+++ b/ui/src/views/Forecast.jsx
@@ -919,6 +919,10 @@ export default function Forecast({ sources = [], sourceId, versions = [], versio
   //
   // Removing an ordering removes its column: leaving a stale Bucket expression
   // behind would keep ordering by an order that no longer exists.
+  function dbgOrder(msg, extra) {
+    console.log(`[pf-order] ${msg}`, extra)
+  }
+
   async function syncOrderExpressions() {
     const viewer = viewerRef.current
     if (!viewer) return
@@ -934,7 +938,19 @@ export default function Forecast({ sources = [], sourceId, versions = [], versio
     Object.assign(next, wanted)
 
     const same = JSON.stringify(next) === JSON.stringify(current)
-    if (same) return
+    if (same) {
+      // Nothing to do is a legitimate outcome, but "nothing was ordered" and
+      // "the ordering is already applied" look identical from the outside.
+      if (Object.keys(wanted).length === 0) {
+        dbgOrder('no ordering to apply', {
+          bucket_order: version?.bucket_order,
+          seqs: Object.entries(logMeta || {})
+            .filter(([, m]) => m.seq != null)
+            .map(([id, m]) => `${id}:${m.tag || m.note}=${m.seq}`),
+        })
+      }
+      return
+    }
 
     // An expression the pivot is using cannot simply vanish; drop it from the
     // axes first or restore() rejects the config.
@@ -948,8 +964,13 @@ export default function Forecast({ sources = [], sourceId, versions = [], versio
         split_by: (cfg.split_by || []).filter(stillValid),
         sort:     (cfg.sort     || []).filter(([c]) => stillValid(c)),
       })
+      dbgOrder('applied', Object.keys(next))
     } catch (err) {
-      console.error('[syncOrderExpressions]', err)
+      // Surfaced rather than logged: this failing silently is what made the
+      // missing Bucket and Segment columns so hard to pin down -- the columns
+      // simply were not there, with nothing to say why.
+      console.error('[syncOrderExpressions]', err, { wanted, next })
+      flash(`Column ordering failed: ${err.message || err}`, 'error')
     }
   }