...except that Tennessee's frozen too

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174348

I love the Poetry Foundation. That was one of those gifts that really made a difference.

No kidding. Just north of Toronto, we've been in a recent near-constant deep freeze (reaching -26C one evening). BTW, I love Robert Service's stories about Sam McGee and Dan McGrew!

several cities north of us (Boston, especially) were inundated with snow, up to four feet in some places. Naturally, the local TV stations have been non-stop with dire predictions about collapsed roofs, failing to mention this applies mostly to flat roof on businesses within the worst-hit areas. My house has the typical slanted roof and most of the snow has slid off, but my wife listens intently to the TV weathermen, and insists we might have roof problems. I cannot convince her otherwise. Is there any way we can cancel the Weather Channel?

Proof, it's not just the weather channel, I think. It's the reporting of weather in general these days. My brother wonders why we have to report "wind chills" in the winter and "heat indices" in the summer. Tonight it is 5 degrees here where I live, but my iPhone app said "it feels like -10." Do I need to know that? 5 degrees is enough, thank you!

WeeWilly, same here in Chicago.

Several days ago, we were listening to the news and each successive correspondent said the wind chill was -5, and the next said ours is -10, then the next was -15. I told my wife the next one would be even worse and sure enough he claimed they would hit -20. Eventually some claimed -35 but I think that was bragging.

Unusual occurrence in the White Mountains. Just before the storm hit last week a woman from New York was dropped off by her husband at the base of Mr. Madison. She said she was, alone, going to climb Madison, Adams, and then Washington. She had an emergency beacon and she set it off but conditions prevented anyone from rescuing her. The next day they found her frozen on a ridge. You have to wonder why someone would venture out mid-winter to climb three mountains when a massive storm is impending.

We have much less extreme weather in the UK, in particular here in the south east of England where I live. Sustained periods when the temperature is below freezing are rare, as is really hot weather. We do occasionally get informed by the weather forecasts about wind chill, but usually only on days when it will be especially noticeable. I've installed weather apps on my iPad and Mac that both refer to "feels like" temperatures; no doubt because they were written with the American market in mind.

I've never heard anyone mention "heat indices".

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Is there any way we can cancel the Weather Channel?

Very droll, Proof!

But, in vogue with weather reporting now is the "wind chill factor", because this permits them to bandy about even lower temperatures, and this increases the "wow factor" - in keeping with the broad and pervasive modern theme of making everything bigger, more colorful, and bombastic!

BTW, I have no doubt that Goofy will tell me that the wind chill factor was first used by the ancient Greeks, and that there is no evidence for my claiming it to be part of any modern tendency whatsoever!

For me "Wind chill factor" is prime dumpster fodder. I would prefer to hear the weather report tell me of the temperature and the forecast wind speed details, for this is of more use than knowing some trumped-up new measurement imbued with hidden shoals. After all, if the wind isn't "living up to standard", or one is not standing in the open wind, then wind chill factor is a load of malarkey .... but the temperature isn't!

Agreed about the chill factor, WeeWilly. Arnie, the heat index is when they look at the temperature and add in the humidity, which makes it feel warmer (at least in their opinion) than it actually is. Again, just plain malarkey.

Shu posted this poem about Wisconsin on his Facebook today, which seems relevant to this discussion:

It's winter in Wisconsin and the gentle breezes blow,
70 miles per hour at 52 below!
Oh, how I love Wisconsin
When the snow's up to your butt;
You take a breath of winter air
And your nose is frozen shut.
Yes, the weather here is wonderful,
You may think I'm a fool.
I could never leave Wisconsin,
Cause I'm frozen to the stool.

The other day, at the height of the blizzard, CNN warned that it was too dangerous on the roads to drive and bid everyone listening to stay inside, out of the storm. Then the announcer said, "Now we take you to [Samantha} out in the Weathermobile..." And they cut to a woman riding in the snow, pointing out how dangerous it was to be doing exactly what she was doing at that moment.

I've mentioned that we don't see the same extremes of temperature over here. The media, however, seem keen to play up what we do see. You probably know that we've moved to measuring temperatures in degrees Celsius *. They therefore report during a cold spell that temperatures were (say) -10 (14 degrees Fahrenheit). During hot weather they'll say for instance that the temperature hit 95 (Fahrenheit, or about 35 Celsius).

* Old stick-in-the-muds like me are accustomed to using Fahrenheit and have to mentally convert what the weather people say. The weather apps I mentioned in my earlier post are set to use Fahrenheit despite the younger folks and the professionals using Celsius.

Our media definitely overplays the weather too. They go on and on and on about how many days in a row it will be cold or windy or snowy or whatever. Yet, I never hear what a gorgeous day it is or how, for the next several days, it will be beautiful.

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I never hear what a gorgeous day it is or how, for the next several days, it will be beautiful.

I can't say that I've heard this either, but mainly because our weather is so changeable. If they were to promise a long period of fine weather you can bet your boots that it would start raining in a short while. The opposite is also true of course, but they do tend to err on the side of pessimism.

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And they cut to a woman riding in the snow, pointing out how dangerous it was to be doing exactly what she was doing at that moment.

...Excellent point, Proof! Now that you mention it, I've seen exactly this scenario played out with a staged video of reporter out in a hurricane, after just hearing how dangerous it is to be out there! Apparently reporters are immune, and the warnings only apply to the rest of us!

I can't entirely agree with the dislike of wind chill reporting. Skin freezes faster when wind blows on it. That's why we use fans in summer - evaporative cooling.

As for being frozen to one's stool per the poem, does that mean poopsicles?

Why do we use "Celsius" instead of "Centigrade?" If Anders Celsius called it the centigrade scale, why can't we?

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wind chill reporting.

Mentioning wind chill isn't bad -- it's the constant referral to it instead of the actual temperature, since the wind chill is always lower (and more dramatic) than ambient temps.

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If Anders Celsius called it the centigrade scale, why can't we?

It would have seemed rather arrogant if he'd called it after himself, wouldn't it? See also Wikipedia.

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Originally posted by Proofreader:

Mentioning wind chill isn't bad -- it's the constant referral to it instead of the actual temperature, since the wind chill is always lower (and more dramatic) than ambient temps.

Constant referral wind chill in addition to actual temperatures has a real value. For instance,if parents are putting their kids out to wait for the school bus and it's minus 10 in a flat calm, that's quite different from minus 10 with a 60 km/hr breeze! Some people have a genuine need to know about wind chill.

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Some people have a genuine need to know about wind chill. Posts: 246 | Location: Canada

Perhaps those in severe northern climes, like Canada and Alaska, but there is no real need for constant reminders of wind chill temps when the difference is minor and only being issued for dramatic effect on their audience.

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Originally posted by arnie:
I've mentioned that we don't see the same extremes of temperature over here.

No, you don't!. It often seems to me that my dear British friends don't realize (or , at least, they don't often acknowledge) that their climate is completely at odds with their actual latitude. The Duke of Edinburgh once wrote about visiting South Georgia, a sub-polar, glacial, wind-blasted wasteland in the South Atlantic Ocean. He noted that it was on the same southern latitude as was Scotland on the north. He said it gave him a new appreciation for the benefit that Britain receives from the Gulf Stream.
On a personal level, I have had the intriguing experience of leaving my home in Newfoundland (same latitude as Paris, France) in the month of March and flying north (yes, NORTH) to southern England to see spring lambs cavorting on green grass while my own dear homeland was still caught in winter's icy grip.
That being said, I would never trade my Canadian spring, summer or fall for any other climate anywhere!
So, British friends, always remember that your enviable climate is a direct export from FLORIDA!

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my own dear homeland was still caught in winter's icy grip.

I wish you'd stop exporting jpolar air this far south.

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Originally posted by Proofreader:

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my own dear homeland was still caught in winter's icy grip.

I wish you'd stop exporting jpolar air this far south.

I think you need to complain to Vladimir Putin; it's HIS stinkin' Siberian weather, not Duncan's. A lot of good it'll do, but what the heck...

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British friends don't realize (or , at least, they don't often acknowledge) that their climate is completely at odds with their actual latitude.

Yes, we have the Gulf Stream to thank for that. Originating in the Gulf of Mexico, off the tip of Florida, it's a strong warm current that flows across the Atlantic, making western and northern Europe warmer than they would otherwise have been. The islands of Ireland and Britain are particularly affected; parts of Germany, for instance, although on the same latitude, tend to be colder in winter than the UK and Ireland.

I kinda wish RE were hear to read this - but, when you think about it, it is the United States that is responsible for your mild weather!

No, the United States has nothing to do with the Gulf Stream. It existed long before the USA did.

The land existed. That's what I am talking about.