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I prefer Celsius as I'm more used to it. I understand Fahrenheit reasonably well. Don't all meteorologists, including those in the US, use Celsius (and the metric system) in their calculations? (Yes, computers do the calculations but I'm sure they are in Celsius)
Don't all meteorologists, including those in the US, use Celsius (and the metric system) in their calculations? (Yes, computers do the calculations but I'm sure they are in Celsius)
I would assume so, just like how scientists here use SI rather than Imperial. When speaking to each other, though, I wouldn't be surprised if they freely switch between the two like they were speaking Spanglish.
For example, on page 4 of this newsletter by the local NWS, Celsius is used. Throughout the rest of the newsletter, however, Fahrenheit is used.
F is better for hot weather because 37C just doesn't have that same "pizzazz" that 100F has. Otherwise, I'm okay with both and think that anyone who spends a reasonable amount time on this international weather forum should be able to convert the common ranges pretty seamlessly. If not, it takes less than a second to punch in that number here: Conversion Calculator
I do think that people do need to be aware that this is an international forum and specify which system they're using if it's not obvious from the context.
Last edited by ABrandNewWorld; 06-22-2016 at 07:58 PM..
I grew up with C so prefer it. Also makes sense unlike F, 0C = freezing, 100C = boiling.
32F and 212F are two completely random numbers.
On the other hand, setting a temperature scale based on the freezing and boiling points of water, though it sounds logical, is not the most practical thing in the world. 99% of the time, what people are measuring is not the temperature of water, but the temperature of air. 0 to 100 F nicely covers the vast majority of air temperatures which are encountered in real life. If it's over 100, it's REALLY hot. And if we get down into negative numbers, it's REALLY cold.
So in real life, we actually use every degree from 0 to 100 F on a regular basis. But anything above 40 C is rare in daily life, and therefore all the numbers from 40 to 100, or 3/5 of the scale, are pretty much useless. Can you intuitively sense when something is 65 C? How about 80 C? In fact even knowing that water boils at 100 C is kind of useless, because how often do you NEED to know the boiling temperature of water? You can tell when it's boiling by looking at it.
Likewise, negative celsius numbers are not that rare at all so there is little impact upon hearing that a temperature is negative.
On the other hand, setting a temperature scale based on the freezing and boiling points of water, though it sounds logical, is not the most practical thing in the world. 99% of the time, what people are measuring is not the temperature of water, but the temperature of air. 0 to 100 F nicely covers the vast majority of air temperatures which are encountered in real life. If it's over 100, it's REALLY hot. And if we get down into negative numbers, it's REALLY cold.
So in real life, we actually use every degree from 0 to 100 F on a regular basis. But anything above 40 C is rare in daily life, and therefore all the numbers from 40 to 100, or 3/5 of the scale, are pretty much useless. Can you intuitively sense when something is 65 C? How about 80 C? In fact even knowing that water boils at 100 C is kind of useless, because how often do you NEED to know the boiling temperature of water? You can tell when it's boiling by looking at it.
Likewise, negative celsius numbers are not that rare at all so there is little impact upon hearing that a temperature is negative.
The scale doesn't just go from 0-100, 0C is not the coldest it can get. In real life we use every degree from about -15-40. How is that different from 0-100? It's more intuitive IMO because there is a definite line between rain and snow, when it goes below 0, rather than just a random point in the 30s.
The scale doesn't just go from 0-100, 0C is not the coldest it can get. In real life we use every degree from about -15-40. How is that different from 0-100?
Yes, I stated that negative Celsius numbers are common. But how is -15 to 40 different from 0 to 100? Hmmm, well, we are constantly ranking things on a scale from 0 to 100. Our minds easily grasp this simple decimal system. We use it for test scores and grades at school, statistics, ratings of all sorts of things. Look up a movie you are interested in on Rotten Tomatoes. If it gets 98, it's probably great; if it gets 4, it's terrible.
Likewise, if it's 98 F, it's really hot; if it's 4 F, it's really cold.
What else in life is ranked from -15 to 40?
Quote:
It's more intuitive IMO because there is a definite line between rain and snow, when it goes below 0, rather than just a random point in the 30s.
Does it snow a lot in Sydney? I suppose if you live where it often fluctuates between rain and snow, the factoid that this happens at 0 could be useful, but it's just as useful to say "freezing point" or "frost point" if you really can't remember the number 32.
Yes, I stated that negative Celsius numbers are common. But how is -15 to 40 different from 0 to 100? Hmmm, well, we are constantly ranking things on a scale from 0 to 100. Our minds easily grasp this simple decimal system. We use it for test scores and grades at school, statistics, ratings of all sorts of things. Look up a movie you are interested in on Rotten Tomatoes. If it gets 98, it's probably great; if it gets 4, it's terrible.
Likewise, if it's 98 F, it's really hot; if it's 4 F, it's really cold.
What else in life is ranked from -15 to 40?
Does it snow a lot in Sydney? I suppose if you live where it often fluctuates between rain and snow, the factoid that this happens at 0 could be useful, but it's just as useful to say "freezing point" or "frost point" if you really can't remember the number 32.
In here imperial units are barely named on school books, we use SI units for the most of time. Also, the non-SI units we use are not the imperial ones. For example we use liters for volumes, instead of m^3, of calories instead of J for energy. For being precise, also Celsius degrees are not the SI unity of measure for temperature, Kelvin degrees are. The conversion °C-->K is much easier than °F --> K thought.
I started to understand something about the Fahrenheit scale reading your posts in this weather forum (without using a converted I remember that 32°F is the freezing point and that above 90°F there are the temperatures that I associate to summer heatwaves. I also remember that 1°F < 1°C. For the rest I need a converter). Anyway, the imperial scale I really don't understand is the one for lengths: for me to read something like 5' 11 3/4" is really confusing! Weights don't seem so easy neither...
Last edited by Urania93; 06-23-2016 at 04:42 AM..
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