hudson wrote:



I do apologise if this has been mentioned before but I am starting to get
very frustrated by weather forecasts on the BBC saying " temperatures will
be about average for the time of year "

1 This assumes that I have a table of averages to hand
2 This assumes I am a meteorologist with a good knowledge of regional
averages
3 This assumes I am a meteorologist with a bad memory but a list of tables
to hand
4 Assumes I am too stupid to understand a scientific scale of any sort
5 Assumes I am too stupid to care

Racked off


1. No. It assumes you have a memory for what average June temperatures feel
like. It's the same as the use of such terms as "warm", "cool" etc.
2. No. See (1)
3. Ditto.
4. Possibly. Would a member of the public prefer to be told that the
temperature will be 15 degrees or that it will be warm, cold, whatever?
Would the temperature on its own mean much to them?
5. No.

However, given the cavalier way that the Met Office presenters now use such
descriptions of temperature, when a mild day is described as cold, my
personal preference is for temperatures to be included.

--
Graham Davis
Bracknell