Unclear on the Concept
This headline is currently on the Boston Globe's web site: Temperatures near 20 below.
Really? The temperature here was 9°F this morning, and I would not expect 30-degree differences between one part of the Boston area from another. A hint to the problem is the headline of the article itself ("Bitter winds push temperatures near 20 below"). While winds might bring cold air into a region, the winds themselves have nothing to do with the temperature.
Here are the first two paragraphs of the article, which seems to have been written by the Globe equivalent of Alan Smithee ("Globe staff"):
A howling west wind gusting near 70 miles per hour pushed temperatures today more than 16 degrees below zero as Massachusetts shuddered in a blast of arctic air.
The state low wind chill of 16 degrees below zero was measured at 6 a.m. at Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory and again at 8 a.m. in Worcester.
A word to the wise and also to the "Globe staff" responsible for writing about the weather: temperature and wind chill are different things. When you write that temperatures are near -20°F, when they are really 30 degrees higher, you come across looking foolish.
Labels: Stupid reporting tricks, temperature, wind chill
