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Original poster

Did everyone else know this but me? Weather temperatures

111 replies

Lottle · 05/06/2023 09:15

I just found out that the temperatures given in the weather forecast are the temperatures in the shade!

No wonder I was constantly overdressed and boggled that "oh this is warm for 19 degrees".

What else don't I know?!

OP posts:
Caspianberg · 05/06/2023 09:44

Yes if you ever get a thermometer and put it outside in summer in say Italy it will easily read 50+ even if its 33 degrees of similar.
We live somewhere that gets hot all summer and dh thinks it’s hilarious I try and quantify the heat by measuring it in the sun sometimes. We have all
fixed wall thermometers in the shade outside and inside

polkadotdalmation · 05/06/2023 09:46

I never knew that. I thought it was in the sun!

NowZeusHasLainWithLeda · 05/06/2023 09:49

Lottle · 05/06/2023 09:24

@AmilyChestnut whaattt?! Didn't know that no!

It's on one of those Poke lists of things we never know!
Along with sparrows being related to T rexes biologically and us being nearer in time to T rexes than T rexes were to stegosaurus.
No matter how many times I read it, I go "nooooooo" every time!

Fleebags · 05/06/2023 09:50

Yes, of course they can't take temperature in the sun.

GeraltsBathtub · 05/06/2023 09:50

Yes it’s because if the thermometer is in the sun it won’t give a true reading. We have a thermometer as part of the clock in our bathroom and it’s kept on the windowsill which is quite sunny. You can easily get a reading of 10+ degrees higher than the actual temperature just because it’s in direct sun.

Fleebags · 05/06/2023 09:51

It could say 40 if it was 25 in the shade..I honestly thought this was common knowledge!

BodenseeBoden · 05/06/2023 09:51

It's also better to check the heat index (feels like temperature) rather than the actual temperature, since takes into account wind, humudity,...

Still measured in the shadow though

TheOrigRights · 05/06/2023 09:53

Whatt · 05/06/2023 09:41

So I wonder what the real temperature was if it was 40 in the shade...

Would've made a better headline

Why is the real temp in the sun? The temp in the shade is still the temperature.
As long as it's clear where the temp has been taken it's still real.

Lockheart · 05/06/2023 09:59

TheOrigRights · 05/06/2023 09:53

Why is the real temp in the sun? The temp in the shade is still the temperature.
As long as it's clear where the temp has been taken it's still real.

Show quote history

They're both "real", but one is measuring the true ambient air temperature, the other is measuring the sun's radiation.

Showersugar · 05/06/2023 10:00

EarlofShrewsbury · 05/06/2023 09:28

Did you know that the % given for rain isn't the % chance of rain but the percentage of the area forecast rain that will actually get rain.

If that makes sense.

This is a recent myth. It is the liklihood of rain.

PuttingDownRoots · 05/06/2023 10:01

About 15 years ago I was on a hike... the temperature in part of it was 50+ as it was a long bridge with no shade just direct sun bouncing off the water but the official temperature was high 30s. It was definitely unpleasant.

Last summer I got my thermometer in the garden to read in the mid 40s easily... we were one of the areas to just break 40C officially.

HenriettaTheVIII · 05/06/2023 10:03

spacemumm · 05/06/2023 09:33

Even abroad?!

I’m from S Africa - forecasted temperatures there are also shade temps.

EarlofShrewsbury · 05/06/2023 10:04

Ah, I didn't realise it wasn't a UK thing.

ASGIRC · 05/06/2023 10:05

Im baffled that people didnt know this...
I have a thermometer in my kitchen, with a little sensor that goes outside. That wall gets direct sunlight in the afternoon. It will regularly read 10+ degrees hotter than it actually is, because it is getting direct sun!

How would we measure temps if it was cloudy, then?!? Or at night!

Reugny · 05/06/2023 10:07

Seeline · 05/06/2023 09:40

Yes - dud you not do weather as part of geography at school.
We had a white box with louvred sides in the grounds at school as part of our weather station (Stevenson's Screen). The thermometers were kept inside it, out of the sun.

Didn't have to do geography when I was at school.

Anyway all the stuff about weather we did in science.

brunettemic · 05/06/2023 10:12

AmilyChestnut · 05/06/2023 09:21

@Lottle I did not know that! That's very interesting.

Did you know that the arrow next to the fuel sign on the dashboard indicates which side your fuel cap is?

I got caught out with this once, I’d hired a van and the arrow thing wasn’t right. Proper cliche a woman not being able to use a van properly 😂

Plbrookes · 05/06/2023 10:14

Unexpecteddrivinginstructor · 05/06/2023 09:34

Still on the weather forecast the time shows what the weather will be doing at that time point and in the lead up to that time. Rather than a rain symbol at 11am meaning that at some point between 11am and noon there will be rain like any sane person might assume it means that the rain is likely to start some time after 10 and still be raining at 11.

From the met office:- a ‘Sunny day’ symbol at 10:00am means that we expect there to be sun at 10:00am. If there is a ‘Heavy rain’ symbol at 11:00am on the same day, we expect it will start raining between 10:00am and 11:00am, and it will be raining at 11:00am.

Isn't that obvious? A rain symbol at 11am means 'it will be raining at 11am', not 'it will start raining after 11am'?

Nanamuffin · 05/06/2023 10:17

If your using weather apps you can also look at the ‘what it feels like’ to get a better idea of how warm it will be.

taxguru · 05/06/2023 10:19

Yep, thought it was common knowledge, I can't remember a time when I didn't know that.

Put a thermometer in direct sun and you'll get far higher readings.

HavfrueDenizKisi · 05/06/2023 10:19

Whatt · 05/06/2023 09:41

So I wonder what the real temperature was if it was 40 in the shade...

Would've made a better headline

Can't believe I'm explaining this to adults but when you sit in the sun you are being radiated by UV rays/the sun's energy thus it feels hotter. But the ambient air temperature doesn't become 60 in the sun and 40 in the shade.

Unexpecteddrivinginstructor · 05/06/2023 10:20

Plbrookes · 05/06/2023 10:14

Isn't that obvious? A rain symbol at 11am means 'it will be raining at 11am', not 'it will start raining after 11am'?

Show quote history

Yes but it means that it could start raining at 10.01 and stop at 11.01 and the forecast of sunny at 10am and raining at 11am is totally correct. To me it would make more sense that the hour with 10 in it - i.e 10.15, 10.30 etc will be generally sunny but there could be rain from 11am onwards.

xXiXx · 05/06/2023 10:23

I didn't know this. My lap top tells me it's 17 degrees. Now that you mention it, it feels warmer I guess.

HarpyValley · 05/06/2023 10:24

The % rainfall thing is based on forecast modelling. So if the forecast says "50% chance of rain" it means 50% of the weather models predict rain and 50% don't.

TheOrigRights · 05/06/2023 10:25

Lockheart · 05/06/2023 09:59

They're both "real", but one is measuring the true ambient air temperature, the other is measuring the sun's radiation.

Show quote history

Yes, that's what I was trying to say - ambient air temp vs sun's radiation.

FWIW - there's no bloody sun radiation in Essex right now......

Icantthinkstraight · 05/06/2023 10:25

xXiXx · 05/06/2023 10:23

I didn't know this. My lap top tells me it's 17 degrees. Now that you mention it, it feels warmer I guess.

The wind direction massively affects how warm or cold it 'feels' too.

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