A high near 76F with a low around 56F

[IronWing]

Why are highs "near" but lows are "around"?

 

[lxskllr]

Because it makes it seem warmer than it really will be, and dumb people like it warm, so dumb people will enthusiastically watch the forecast, and the commercials. Translation... It's gonna be 74 and 52.

 

[skull]

I don't I guess you could say the highs around 76 and the lows near 56 and it'd mean pretty much the same thing.

All I know is its the coldest day of the year here it was 9 degrees this morning and my crazy dog wanted to lay around on the back porch all morning sunbathing. Actually I think hes still out there I better check on him he has a habit of wandering off and roaming the neighborhood.

 

[shortylickens]

It doesnt matter. They're just guessing and they get it wrong so often you should probably just use the old farmers almanac for planning. Always keep an umbrella, hate, and gloves in your car. All year long. Dont trust The Man.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Because it makes it seem warmer than it really will be, and dumb people like it warm, so dumb people will enthusiastically watch the forecast, and the commercials. Translation... It's gonna be 74 and 52.

Actually that's backwards. Something Nate Silver covered in The Signal and the Noise. The national weather service forecasts are incredibly accurate and the computer models are very good. The problem comes lower down in the food chain when weathermen put their own spin on things. And there are two contributing factors: One is that worse sells. Ratings are better for a category 5 hurricane slamming New Orleans than they are for a category 1 hitting North Carolina, so there is incentive to over-dramatize. And there is also incentive to make the weather seem a little worse than it will be because although the ratings go up for bad news, viewer satisfaction goes up for better than expected results. If the NWS says a 50% chance of rain then there's a 50% chance of rain. But an anchor can and will twist the data a little to make the rain chances look higher than they are. A viewer that gets told "Hey, Saturday looks like a great day for a picnic!" is monumentally pissed when they plan a picnic and it gets rained out while a viewer that gets told "have the umbrellas handy!" is pleased when the skies clear and they can go to the beach in the afternoon. It pays to err on the side of colder, rainier, snowier instead of missing on the side of warmer and nicer.

 

[lxskllr]

Actually that's backwards. Something Nate Silver covered in The Signal and the Noise. The national weather service forecasts are incredibly accurate and the computer models are very good. The problem comes lower down in the food chain when weathermen put their own spin on things. And there are two contributing factors: One is that worse sells. Ratings are better for a category 5 hurricane slamming New Orleans than they are for a category 1 hitting North Carolina, so there is incentive to over-dramatize. And there is also incentive to make the weather seem a little worse than it will be because although the ratings go up for bad news, viewer satisfaction goes up for better than expected results. If the NWS says a 50% chance of rain then there's a 50% chance of rain. But an anchor can and will twist the data a little to make the rain chances look higher than they are. A viewer that gets told "Hey, Saturday looks like a great day for a picnic!" is monumentally pissed when they plan a picnic and it gets rained out while a viewer that gets told "have the umbrellas handy!" is pleased when the skies clear and they can go to the beach in the afternoon. It pays to err on the side of colder, rainier, snowier instead of missing on the side of warmer and nicer.

I dunno... Seems like whatever I want doesn't happen. I'm gonna go hiking this Sat, and there's a 30% chance of snow. Not good odds, but I'm hoping it comes down. 30% sounds like the perfect amount to add ambiance, but not so much it covers the ground, and makes it hard to find the glass dump. We'll see...

 

[BoomerD]

It doesnt matter. They're just guessing and they get it wrong so often you should probably just use the old farmers almanac for planning. Always keep an umbrella, hate, and gloves in your car. All year long. Dont trust The Man.

I try to not travel with hate in the car...makes the drive unpleasant.

 

[shortylickens]

I try to not travel with hate in the car...makes the drive unpleasant.

Hate keeps you warm. As does bliss. Hate is easier than bliss.
Just ask Alex Jones.

 

[IronWing]

I try to not travel with hate in the car...makes the drive unpleasant.

True, but rage gives you something to while away the tedium of a long drive.

 

[sportage]

Don't complain. Im in 6 degree today and -5 tonight.
Holiday time with the family. Oh joy!

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

-6 for a high. -20 tonight.

 

[Red Squirrel]

There's a certain point where a few degrees difference does not matter.

 

[AMD64Blondie]

Oh dear god..that's cold.

 

[spacejamz]

Why does a quarter of million dollars sound alot more than $250K?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Why does a quarter of million dollars sound alot more than $250K?

Hmm it's true. When I hear "A quarter of a million dollars" I'm thinking "I could probably retire and live a decently normal comfortable life on that" but really it's about the price of an average house.

 

[KMFJD]

I this is just across Lake Erie from us... no lake effect snow for me thank you very much (It is -17c outside which is 1. something in Fahrenheit)

 

[GagHalfrunt]

I this is just across Lake Erie from us... no lake effect snow for me thank you very much (It is -17c outside which is 1. something in Fahrenheit)

Is that in Erie Pennsylvania? They got something like 65 inches from Sunday night through Tuesday.

 

[KMFJD]

Buffalo in 2014 apparently but yeah Erie got dumped on bad we got maybe a 1/10 of what they did

 

[purbeast0]

That's a lot of snow. I really hope we get no big snow storms this year. Snow is the worst.

 

[Jeeebus]

looking at today's weather map of the USA, I'm ok with being in South Florida.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I thought when we got hit with 30+ inches back around like ... 5ish years ago, it was a lot, but, its only like half of what those folks in Erie are dealing with.
It was very fun to drive through snow drifts as high as the hood of my little subaru.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I this is just across Lake Erie from us... no lake effect snow for me thank you very much (It is -17c outside which is 1. something in Fahrenheit)

Lol that's pretty crazy. Been a long time since we've had snow like that here, especially in one shot. Even if you have a snow blower that's a crazy amount of work. Boss be like "You're still going to be on time right?"

 

[sdifox]

Oh dear god..that's cold.

Bears hibernate in his basement.

 

[KMFJD]

Lol that's pretty crazy. Been a long time since we've had snow like that here, especially in one shot. Even if you have a snow blower that's a crazy amount of work. Boss be like "You're still going to be on time right?"

Co-worker actually flew home to Timmins over the holidays and he mentioned how it was a different cold up where you guys are(very dry compared to us)

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah it's a very dry cold. My humidity meter right now says "low" which means it's under 15%. The humidifier on the furnace is actually on, but set really low since if it's too high I get ice in all my windows.