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Weather

For the grown-up beside a child who loves weather.

The child's own door is Weather on Spark & Anvil.

The sideline card

Three numbers to notice

  1. The chance of rain on the forecast. "30%" means rain here on about 3 of every 10 days like this one, not rain for 30% of the day.
  2. The gap between the temperature and the dew point. The smaller it is, the lower the clouds and the damper the air.
  3. The seconds between a flash and its thunder. Sound takes about 3 seconds a kilometre, but when thunder roars, go indoors.

On the way home, ask: “What do you think the chance of rain will be tomorrow, and how sure are you?”

Ask because you are curious, and let any answer stand. Print this page for a half-page card.

Understand it

A short course for you

Where it came from

A little history, and what nobody knows

Words or numbers

In November 2011 the UK’s Met Office replaced words such as “likely” with a percentage chance of rain in its forecasts.

How people read a 30% chance is not settled: the source notes it is widely misunderstood.

Source: Probability of precipitation (Wikipedia)

Your child's ladder · on Spark & Anvil

The same idea at every age

  1. Ages 3–5Rainy Days
  2. Ages 6–8Below Zero
  3. Ages 9–14Flash to Bang and 4 more
  4. Ages 15–1830% Chance of Rain and 3 more

Your child will meet this idea again at every age. The tools and courses here are the part for you.