Summertime is coming on strong in East Texas with temperatures in the 90’s already. I heard the weatherman say that the “feel-like temperature” would be in the 100’s. Feel-like temperature? What the fuck? Some time last winter I heard a forecast for “frozen rain”. Well which is it: snow, sleet, or hail? Do you not know or do you think we’re too stupid to understand such big words? Have you guys noticed this?
(This is kind of a petty post, but I felt like complaining.)
I would assume they meant “freezing rain” which is neither snow, sleet, nor hail.
ETA: That is, I assume they mis-spoke, not that they were catering to idiots.
“Feel-like temperature” is pretty stupid, though.
I thought freezing rain was precipitation that comes down as rain, but then freezes after it hits the ground.
I wish they’d do away with that “misery index” crap, too. Wind chill at least has a practical application, at least in very cold places. Skin will freeze faster in cold weather when wind is present. The misery index doesn’t mean squat.
Freezing rain is when there is a thin layer of very cold air near the ground, which causes surfaces to be at freezing temperatures. Because of the thinness of the cold layer, rainfall does not freeze or fall as snow, it comes down in liquid form and freezes on contact with the cold surfaces. It is particularly nasty stuff that can make roads impassible and cause powerlines to collapse.
Exactly.
Ten year TV news veteran here.
I assume he was referring to the heat index. “Feels-like temperature” sounds more accessible, if the station is depending on a demographic that they feel like they need to simplify things a bit for.
Was this a morning, noon or 5pm newscast? I’m betting that it was.
Yeah, but what’s the wind chill in July and August. Because, you know, the affect of the convective cooling is the same as it is in January.
When the temperature of the air is higher than skin temperature, no convective cooling occurs. In fact, it heats the skin by bringing fresh heat to it, like a convection oven. Ask the guy with no air conditioning in his car.
The weatherman here likes to tell people what sorts of clothes to wear-- *You’ll be OK with short sleeves today. * That just irritates the shit out of me. Mr. Weatherman: I’ll decide what kind of clothes I’m going to wear-- you just tell me what the goddam temperature is going to be, how windy it will be and whether or not it’ll rain.
Do you guys get calls complaining or asking for clarification when the information isn’t presented in a very simple way? I’m really curious about this because I’ve noted the same tendency as the OP. Also, this may be my own bias, but it sure seems to me that it’s the US weatherpeople (and news people, too) that do this. The broadcasts in Europe for example, don’t seem to be quite so “simplified”.
Are we Americans just dummies?
Maybe I misheard and he did say freezing rain. That would make sense. Feel-like temperature is still pretty stupid though. I heard it on the radio today, not during a news broadcast.
Do you guys have Humidex numbers down there, or is that just a Canadianism? It’s basically a “feels like” number combining heat and humidity.
This is a holdover from the days when local news had no competition and had to be all things to all people as much as possible. It’s always easier to talk down to the audience than talk over their heads.
A newer philosophy (one that I wholeheartedly agree with) is that anyone who chooses to watch the news out of all the other entertainment options is someone who is interested in…and capable of receiving…more complex and relevant information. Unfortunately, this idea loses out to the mass appeal strategy more often that in should. Why? Because more eyeballs mean higher ratings. And we all know what higher ratings means.
I assume that’s what we call heat index - wait, Wikipedia says I’m wrong. Humidex uses dew point rather than relative humidity.
I detest Scott Haney, Channel 3 out of Hartford [WFSB?]
He spends more time twaddling around chanting some inane rhyme about getting on the bus [for school kids] and at 5:55:5 he rings a cowbell and jumps around screaming some inane nonsense about it being 5;55;5. He goes into a panic because we might be getting a half inch of snow overnight in feb in freaking connecticut. HELLO, this is WINTER in NEW ENGLAND. I would be more worried if we had a heat wave in the 90s in feb in ct…
All I want is the nice professional recounting of the weather that the 5 pm weather guy does when he subs in for the damned idiot. For some damn reason people seem to worship him. All I want is my fucking weather, the forecast for later that day and into the week, and a scope at the local and national weather pattern radar. If I want a buffoon jumping around Ill turn to a kids channel.
Sorry folks, but you’re watching a program that’s designed as entertainment - information presentation has been subordinated to that purpose. You want the sort of weather info that used to be standard, but that’s been swept away by marketing studies. There’s little to no chance it will return on TV - best look to the internet.
Here in the land of near 100% humidity, we get a lot of “feels like” info. The thing is, 95 degress with 80% humidity feels exactly like 95 degrees with 80% humidity. It may “feel” hotter if you are from Nevada, but it is pretty run of the mill for us here.
Yeah, I understand, it’s 100 degrees in Nevada…But it’s a dryyyyyyyy heat. Do they say in Nevada “well, it’s 100 degrees here, but it feels like 85 degrees with 80% humidity in Florida?”
A lot will depend on the personality of the weatherman or woman. In Nashville we’ve got a morning guy that my mother refers to as “That Silly Prick,” a lady who can talk for 3 fucking minutes without breathing and shits and shakes at the least bit of inclement weather, a guy who looks like he’s twelve and is, in fact, one of the least annoying weatherpeople in town, and some old-timers who just stroll in and read it to you. I like the old guys because they generally leave out frills such as, “It’s 90 in Major Metropolitan Area, 89 in Large College Town, 92 in Wealthy Suburb of Major Metropolitan Area and a sweltering 97 in Buttfuck Sticktown Truckstop You’ll Never Visit,” because, y’know, I can read the damn map for myself.
Huh, learn something new every day - I always thought that was sleet, but it turns out that’s different.
