Laraine is right. One weatherman sees the sky as half empty (sunny) whereas another sees it as half full (of clouds). And why is the sun half-covered with a cloud in the ‘mostly sunny’ frame?
3
on September 22nd, 2010 at 10:21 am
Mimi said:
obviously, that one degree temperature variation makes all the difference.
I’m a partly sunny/mostly cloudy person, actually. The sun is BAD.
10
on September 22nd, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Reeb said:
Since moving up to the pacific northwest, we’ve had to learn all sorts of vague weather terminology. Today we’ll have showers, and tomorrow rain? What’s the difference? My personal favorite around here is the term “sun breaks” — those cloudy days when the sun peeks out every so often, so it’s not really totally socked in. And I have to say, I completely get the difference between mostly sunny and partly cloudy = a few more clouds.
BTW it’s clear here today, beautiful sun (for those of you who think the PNW never gets sun), and the harvest moon was huge and brilliant last night.
I don’t know, but I can tell you that I want to be a meteorologist when I grow up.
13
on September 22nd, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Jules G. said:
Yes, and when you’re from the snowbelt (upstate New York), you have to learn the difference between snow, snow flurries, Lake Effect snow, and Nor’easters. What a hoot!
14
on September 22nd, 2010 at 7:23 pm
KathyB said:
In the olden days weather people were only allowed to say “partly cloudy.” Mostly sunny is newfangled.
15
on September 22nd, 2010 at 8:19 pm
Catherine McP said:
In Arizona its:
Really hot 115+
Hot 110+
Pretty warm 100+
Cooling down 90+
Beautiful 80+
Below 80, Cold front.
Reminds me of a telephone conversation with my stepdaughter in South Africa.
Me: “What’s the weather like?”
SD: “A bit chilly, 29C. How about you?”
Me: “Heat wave, 29C.”
True story.
24
on September 23rd, 2010 at 6:42 pm
bossy's friend martha's sister said:
The days are getting shorter so the sun is out less as the day goes by … duhhh…… makes sense to me!
25
on September 23rd, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Bridget said:
I’m sorry I cannot – because there is NO fricking difference! The weather people just like to hear and see themselves say something different!
That would be the pessimistic vs. the optimistic weatherman.
Laraine is right. One weatherman sees the sky as half empty (sunny) whereas another sees it as half full (of clouds). And why is the sun half-covered with a cloud in the ‘mostly sunny’ frame?
obviously, that one degree temperature variation makes all the difference.
Thank you! This post just made me laugh out loud.
I’ve always thought that being a weather person would be a great job. Where else can you say “partly” or “maybe” in your reporting and still get paid?
It reminds me of the red-orange crayon and the orange-red crayon. Not much diff.
Toward the end of the afternoon, it’s time for more Xanax.
One hour…that’s the difference.
I’m a partly sunny/mostly cloudy person, actually. The sun is BAD.
Since moving up to the pacific northwest, we’ve had to learn all sorts of vague weather terminology. Today we’ll have showers, and tomorrow rain? What’s the difference? My personal favorite around here is the term “sun breaks” — those cloudy days when the sun peeks out every so often, so it’s not really totally socked in. And I have to say, I completely get the difference between mostly sunny and partly cloudy = a few more clouds.
BTW it’s clear here today, beautiful sun (for those of you who think the PNW never gets sun), and the harvest moon was huge and brilliant last night.
LOD, thank you. That was pretty funny.
I don’t know, but I can tell you that I want to be a meteorologist when I grow up.
Yes, and when you’re from the snowbelt (upstate New York), you have to learn the difference between snow, snow flurries, Lake Effect snow, and Nor’easters. What a hoot!
In the olden days weather people were only allowed to say “partly cloudy.” Mostly sunny is newfangled.
In Arizona its:
Really hot 115+
Hot 110+
Pretty warm 100+
Cooling down 90+
Beautiful 80+
Below 80, Cold front.
According to the pictures, it has to do with cloud placement.
Stratus and cumulus. Duh!
I don’t know. I still don’t get the difference between partly cloudy and partly sunny.
Obviously the afternoon coffee is wearing off by 4 o-clock.
You are scraping the bottom of the barrel for content.
In Canada we even get snow showers!
Most of our forecasts say “sunny with cloudy periods and the possibility of rain.” That way, the forecasters are always right!
Mostly sunny has less clouds and partly cloudy has slightly more clouds. who knew the weather people could be so nitpicky?
Reminds me of a telephone conversation with my stepdaughter in South Africa.
Me: “What’s the weather like?”
SD: “A bit chilly, 29C. How about you?”
Me: “Heat wave, 29C.”
True story.
The days are getting shorter so the sun is out less as the day goes by … duhhh…… makes sense to me!
I’m sorry I cannot – because there is NO fricking difference! The weather people just like to hear and see themselves say something different!
Partly cloudy means the cloud is always on the bottom right – duh!
And I think “scraping the bottom of the barrel” should be your new tagline.
Kate needs to get laid.