Record breaking cold coming?

so, this little tweet was a bit disconcerting


Are you suggesting I turn on my heat?


drummerboy said:

so, this little tweet was a bit disconcerting

 Does that mean the projected area of the arctic air front will effect 170 weather stations?


mrincredible said:

drummerboy said:

so, this little tweet was a bit disconcerting

 Does that mean the projected area of the arctic air front will effect 170 weather stations?

 dunno. cnn now says up to up to 350 records might be broken


mrincredible said:

drummerboy said:

so, this little tweet was a bit disconcerting

 Does that mean the projected area of the arctic air front will effect 170 weather stations?

 More or less. 


WxNut2.0 said:

 More or less. 

 It is a funny way of expressing the simple notion that there might be record-breaking cold in a very large area of the United States. It sounds better to say 170 temperature records will be broken. Less interesting if you say something like record-breaking temperatures in Newark and Morristown.


mrincredible said:

WxNut2.0 said:

 More or less. 

 It is a funny way of expressing the simple notion that there might be record-breaking cold in a very large area of the United States. It sounds better to say 170 temperature records will be broken. Less interesting if you say something like record-breaking temperatures in Newark and Morristown.

 A huge problem when it comes to messaging and expressing weather hazards (and really everything else) is hype. People will click when you talk about 170 records being broken. But do you really care about some middle of nowhere town in North Dakota that has a population of three breaking their low temp record by a degree? Probably not.


I'm always annoyed with 'record breaking cold' in that it sounds to me like it will be the coldest it's ever been in a particular spot, but it really just means on that date. By the time you get that qualifier in it's a pretty meh record. Wake me when it gets to under -30.


qrysdonnell said:

I'm always annoyed with 'record breaking cold' in that it sounds to me like it will be the coldest it's ever been in a particular spot, but it really just means on that date. By the time you get that qualifier in it's a pretty meh record. Wake me when it gets to under -30.

 Kinda proves WxNut2.0’s point above.


I looked at the record low for November 13 in Newark, and it's 24 degrees F and for November 14 it's 21 degrees F.  So the predictions are for temps close to the record, and maybe a degree or two lower.  Not exactly anything to be freaking out over.


jimmurphy said:

qrysdonnell said:

I'm always annoyed with 'record breaking cold' in that it sounds to me like it will be the coldest it's ever been in a particular spot, but it really just means on that date. By the time you get that qualifier in it's a pretty meh record. Wake me when it gets to under -30.

 Kinda proves WxNut2.0’s point above.

 mea culpa on this one, I bought the hype - I forgot that record breaking cold in mid-November is not necessarily terribly cold.


I think the crazier thing happening now is that its snowing in Brownsville, TX. They've had measurable snow fall (I believe) only three times in history. Whether this ends up being "measurable" remains to be seen.


I think this deserves some hype primarily due to the suddenness of the temperature change. Can’t tell you how many dopes I see with a skimpy jacket walking around NYC.


jimmurphy said:

I think this deserves some hype primarily due to the suddenness of the temperature change. Can’t tell you how many dopes I see with a skimpy jacket walking around NYC.

A few years ago I was watching local news at 11pm and it was a cold night in January.  Not record breaking, maybe 10-12 degrees, but it was their top story.  They proceeded to report that it was cold (in January!  who knew?), and that people should wear hats and warm jackets.  And I was thinking what a stupid story that was to lead off the news.  It's going to be cold on a winter night, and wear a hat!  What kind of dopes don't know that already?

Now I guess I know.


jimmurphy said:

I think this deserves some hype primarily due to the suddenness of the temperature change. Can’t tell you how many dopes I see with a skimpy jacket walking around NYC.

 To some degree (no pun intended), yes. But then again, these types of events are always characterized by a cold front which is by definition associated with a sudden temperature change.



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