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

Stuart Hudson

"hudson" wrote in message
...


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

Stuart Hudson
Agree to a certain extent but then I've always thought temperature is
overplayed and pretty academic anyway. More useful would be something like
the Realfeel index used by Accuweather in the USA

http://www.accuweather.com/iwxpage/paws/realfeelfaq.htm

David

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

In message , Graham P Davis
writes
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.


"Average" is probably a more meaningful description than "warm", "cold"
etc as the latter are very much dependent on the individual (even though
some are defined on the Met Office website). My idea of a "comfortable"
summer temperature is about 12 deg C cooler than what my daughter
considers comfortable :-) Very difficult to cope with differences like
that in a weather forecast.

Norman.
(delete "thisbit" twice to e-mail)
--
Norman Lynagh Weather Consultancy
Chalfont St Giles 85m a.s.l.
England

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

Stuart Hudson

I really can't see the problem. Unless you are a recent
immigrant from a place with a very different climate or are less than
about 10 years old you will know what "normal" is for your area and
time of year. People do. Well, the temperature is going to be "about
that". No heatwave, no cool northerlies. There are far worse aspects
of the language of weather forecasts than that one.

Tudor Hughes.

Tudor Hughes wrote:
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

Stuart Hudson

I really can't see the problem. Unless you are a recent
immigrant from a place with a very different climate or are less than
about 10 years old you will know what "normal" is for your area and
time of year. People do. Well, the temperature is going to be "about
that". No heatwave, no cool northerlies. There are far worse aspects
of the language of weather forecasts than that one.

Tudor Hughes.


Here's what I'd call an "average" maximum temperature, the figures in
brackets are extreme maxima one could reasonably expect to see from
time to time:

Late Dec, Jan & Feb: 3-8C (-2C, 13C)
Mar and early April: 8-12C (2C, 20C)
Mid & late April: 12-16C (7C, 25C)
May and early June: 16-20C (12C, 28C)
Late June, Jul, Aug, early Sep: 20-24C (16C, 30C)
Mid & late Sep: 16-20C (12C, 26C)
Oct: 12-16C (8C, 21C)
Nov and early Dec: 6-12C (0C, 16C)

That's based on the climate here in Shrewsbury, since I moved here in
1987. I notice that I sense it's easier to get well-above average
maxima in spring than autumn for some reason.

Edmund

"Tudor Hughes" wrote in message
oups.com...

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 "

I really can't see the problem. Unless you are a recent
immigrant from a place with a very different climate or are less than
about 10 years old you will know what "normal" is for your area and
time of year.

Well I am used to being in a minority! It obviously does not bother anyone
else here but personally I would prefer to be told what the expected
temperatures were going to be. This is especially true as I travel around
the country a lot and am not always familiar with an area. Subjective terms
such as warm, cool, hot etc would in my mind also be preferable to "about
average."

Stuart Hudson

hudson wrote:



Well I am used to being in a minority! It obviously does not bother anyone
else here but personally I would prefer to be told what the expected
temperatures were going to be. This is especially true as I travel around
the country a lot and am not always familiar with an area. Subjective
terms such as warm, cool, hot etc would in my mind also be preferable to
"about average."


But your preferred terms can't be used when it's "about average". Would
"neither warm nor cold" be OK?

In any case, the terms must not be subjective else they'll only have meaning
for the person presenting the forecast. That's been the problem with the
Met Office presenters in recent years when they've described a mild day as
cold or an "about average" day as "bitterly cold". That's why, whilst they
persist with this sloppiness, we need the temperatures so we can make our
own minds up. If they use these descriptions they must be objective, not
subjective.

--
Graham Davis
Bracknell

"Graham P Davis" wrote in message
...

That's why, whilst they
persist with this sloppiness, we need the temperatures so we can make our
own minds up. --
Graham Davis
Bracknell


my original point

stuart hudson