Can anyone offer a satisfactory explanation as to why the BBC uses MPH for
windspeed on its otherwise SI weather forecasts?

It's because car speeds are measured in mph in the UK and it is thought that the
general public would be better able to understand wind speeds in those units.

As a British professional meteorologist, I of course prefer knots, but I can
handle the SI metres per sec equally as well. Kilometres per hour usually throws
me though !

The SI unit for temperature is Kelvin BTW not degrees Celsius so the BBC use
non-SI for temperature too, thank goodness :-)

Will.
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Simon Gardner [dot]co[dot]uk wrote in message ...
Can anyone offer a satisfactory explanation as to why the BBC uses MPH for
windspeed on its otherwise SI weather forecasts?

"Simon Gardner" [dot]co[dot]uk wrote in message
...
Can anyone offer a satisfactory explanation as to why the BBC uses MPH for
windspeed on its otherwise SI weather forecasts?



Because *most* people in this country would have no idea if they said
kilometres per hour?

Victor

Isn't it obvious? Most people still think that way. No sense on confusing
the GBP with KPH or Knots is it...?

Rob Overfield
Hull

Simon Gardner [dot]co[dot]uk wrote in message
...
Can anyone offer a satisfactory explanation as to why the BBC uses MPH for
windspeed on its otherwise SI weather forecasts?

In message
"Rob Overfield" wrote:

Isn't it obvious? Most people still think that way. No sense on confusing
the GBP with KPH or Knots is it...?


I would have thought most people would have preferred the Beaufort Scale!
They would probably find descriptive terms like "Fresh", Gale and Storm Force
much more understandable than a numeric speed whatever the units. Yachtsmen
and aviators excepted of course.

I would guess that forecast wind speeds are fairly approximate anyway, and
not usually reliable within 1 MPH.

Martin
--
Created on the Iyonix PC - the new RISC OS computer.

Martin Dixon wrote in message
...
In message
"Rob Overfield" wrote:

Isn't it obvious? Most people still think that way. No sense on
confusing
the GBP with KPH or Knots is it...?


I would have thought most people would have preferred the Beaufort Scale!
They would probably find descriptive terms like "Fresh", Gale and Storm
Force
much more understandable than a numeric speed whatever the units.
Yachtsmen
and aviators excepted of course.

I would guess that forecast wind speeds are fairly approximate anyway, and
not usually reliable within 1 MPH.

You may be right about the Beaufort scale but can you see it being
introduced officially? Me neither...

Rob Overfield
Hull

In article ,
"Rob Overfield" wrote:

Simon Gardner [dot]co[dot]uk wrote in message
...
Can anyone offer a satisfactory explanation as to why the BBC uses MPH for
windspeed on its otherwise SI weather forecasts?

Isn't it obvious?

Nope.

Most people still think that way.

Good grief.

No sense on confusing
the GBP with KPH or Knots is it...?

Rob Overfield
Hull