When I first became aware of the Weather on the News, the Weatherman wore a suit and stood in front of a paper map of the US and drew on it with a magic marker, showing the location of various lows, highs, and fronts. He also spoke of a xx% chance of rain for the upcoming days.
Today, we have a ditzy weathergirl dressed in either a pantsuit (although jeans are not totally out of the question, it seems) or a skirt and blouse (on special days, I guess) who has trouble with the English language (although I suspect English is the only language she speaks), confusing prepositions, using “into” where “in” is called for, as “today it will reach 96 or 97, lower near the coast, with it only getting to 94 ***into ***Houston”. I mean, is there really enough difference between 96 or 97 and 94 to justify mangling the language?
Anyway, such weathergirl also mentions that the “Rain Chances today are only 20%”. Not “there is a 20% Chance of Rain” but “Rain Chances”. What is the difference between a 20% chance of rain and rain chances at 20%? Of course, I know that what she means is “it ain’t gonna rain, no way, no how” but people like to have hope, so I guess saying there is a small chance gets you more viewers. But, when the rain chances jump to 30%, she suggests you get your umbrellas out. Really, less than a 1 out of 3 chances of rain, when it has been so long since it rained that it could rain for 30 minutes without even getting the ground wet and she thinks anyone is going to bother with an umbrella?
Maybe I should have put this in the Pit, so I could rant with a bit more style, but I really would like a factual answer to what the difference between “a chance of rain” and “a rain chance”.