Weather Forecast

No matter if it’s in China or in America， people do care about weather. But what amazes me is how sophisticated the weather forecast is on the American TV news. With high technology， the background behind the meteorologist[氣象學] is far from a still picture. Just with a tip of a finger， the colorful weather map expands and flips[快速翻動]， clouds and winds all moving like animation.

Same as in China， the American weather map is as explanatory[說明的] as the images on a GPS device—the isobars[等壓線] for air pressure， the letter and number indicators， the blue and red signs for the type and movement of air fronts， not to mention the known weather signs such as the bright red sun for a sunny day.

Yet， the American meteorologists talk a lot. Within five minutes， they tend to report in great detail. Just in one region， the weather map on TV displays many small municipalities， some of which are fewer than three miles apart. Generally， there isn’t much difference in temperature. Unlike in China’s TV weather forecast， you cannot find the weather report of major cities in America on a local television channel if these cities are not in the same region or time zone. Unless there is a widespread storm across the country， say， New Yorkers may learn about the weather in Texas or California. You have to go a weather cable channel for a more comprehensive weather forecast around the country.

Today’s weather report is more than only about hot or cold， wet or dry. There’s so much jargon[行話，術語] in an American meteorologist’s prepared speech—such as the effect of the cold front in what direction at what wind speed， or that a sea level pressure will rise because of a strong turbulence[湍流] of air at the coast. Constrained by time， the meteorologists usually speak fairly fast， like a gust of wind. How can they expect all the audience to understand what they say？

For me， the most difficult part of reading a weather forecast is converting the temperature from Fahrenheit[華氏溫度] to Celsius[攝氏溫度]. It seems most of the world is using the metric[公制的] system except America. I have a vague concept about Fahrenheit degrees. I once mistakenly thought 97 d e g r e e s Fahrenheit is “boiling hot” （but it’s not！） as I was used to thinking 97 degrees Celsius is close to the boiling point of water at 100 degrees Celsius.

The English units that Americans are still using today certainly inconvenience foreign visitors. If America is for globalization， unifying its measurements to the metric system should be at the top of the list.