Qualitative and quantitative descriptions of temperature: a study of the terminology used by local television weather forecasters to describe thermal sensation

Abstract

This paper presents a study of the relationship between quantitative and qualitative descriptions of temperature. Online weather forecast narratives produced by local television forecasters were collected from affiliates in 23 cities throughout the northeastern, central and southern portions of the United States from August 2007 to July 2008. The narratives were collected to study the terminology and reference frames that local forecasters use to describe predicted temperatures for the following day. The main objectives were to explore the adjectives used to describe thermal conditions and the impact that geographical and seasonal variations in thermal conditions have on these descriptions. The results of this empirical study offer some insights into the structure of weather narratives and suggest that spatiotemporal variations in the weather impact how forecasters describe the temperature to their local audiences. In a broader sense, this investigation builds upon research in biometeorology, urban planning and linguistics that has explored the physiological and psychological factors that influence subjective assessments of thermal sensation and comfort. The results of this study provide a basis to reason about how thermal comfort is conveyed in meteorological communications and how experiential knowledge derived from daily observations of the weather influence how we think about and discuss the weather.