Question on high temperatures

ThunderCat

I was out in the garden last Sunday and it was roasting in fairness, no wind hitting the garden at all. It got me wondering how hot exactly it was so I took my newborns bath thermometer outside and I was getting readings of 32 and 33 degrees which is obviously a lot higher than what any of my weather apps were telling me it was. I moved the thermometer around the garden too so I had it on a wall, on the grass etc. but the reading was still consistent. So I was wondering were these readings completely false or is it a case that they were accurate but it's just weather stations that give us the temperature in our apps are at a height in order to accurately detect wind speed and direction and as a result the temperature they predict is true for what is hitting the weather station but not true of what we experience on the ground? Thanks

Infernal Racket

ThunderCat wrote: »

I was out in the garden last Sunday and it was roasting in fairness, no wind hitting the garden at all. It got me wondering how hot exactly it was so I took my newborns bath thermometer outside and I was getting readings of 32 and 33 degrees which is obviously a lot higher than what any of my weather apps were telling me it was. I moved the thermometer around the garden too so I had it on a wall, on the grass etc. but the reading was still consistent. So I was wondering were these readings completely false or is it a case that they were accurate but it's just weather stations that give us the temperature in our apps are at a height in order to accurately detect wind speed and direction and as a result the temperature they predict is true for what is hitting the weather station but not true of what we experience on the ground? Thanks

Are you messing with us?

sparrowcar

Gerry G wrote: »

Are you messing with us?

Well that's helpful.

Have a read of this. Should explain it to you.

https://www.weatherworksinc.com/temperature-measurement

ZX7R

You're back garden has a micro climate.
So say it's a walled garden wind is blocked and you have direct sunlight, yes you could get a high temperature reading but it's not a correct reading of the ambient temperature.

corminators

Meteorologists measure temp in the shade.

ThunderCat

sparrowcar wrote: »

Well that's helpful.

Have a read of this. Should explain it to you.

https://www.weatherworksinc.com/temperature-measurement

Thanks for that. Just finished reading it there and now I know.

ZX7R wrote: »

You're back garden has a micro climate.
So say it's a walled garden wind is blocked and you have direct sunlight, yes you could get a high temperature reading but it's not a correct reading of the ambient temperature.

Thanks

corminators wrote: »

Meteorologists measure temp in the shade.

Didn't know this thanks

Gerry G wrote: »

Are you messing with us?

Wouldn't dream of it Gerry. I was just surprised the temp got as high as the thermometer was telling me. While I didn't realise temp was measured in the shade, I did know enough that factors like proximity to buildings etc play a part in what reading you get. As I said I was just surprised it was as high as it was. Thanks.

Comhrá

Gerry G wrote: »

Are you messing with us?

That's a pretty strange and unhelpful reply to a very legitimate question, no?

NSAman

I'm sorry I am with Gerry on this one. The Temperature given in weather forecasts are to measure the air temperature. Factors like asphalt, concrete, are withheld as much as possible from these readings.

E.G. when you get into your car on a hot day, the temperature gauge will read many degrees hotter than it actually is. Reason being.... the car is static, the road heats up and the temperature of the road is being measured. Yesterday when I got into the car, it was reading 44C. After driving you notice that the gauge reduces gradually, after a while it reverts back to the air temperature which was 33C here yesterday.

Items retain heat and in direct sunlight you have heat building up, hence asphalt is many degrees warmer than the air temperature (black absorbs heat more readily than white).

You can have temperature differences in built up environments like towns that are micro climates. Where I live is in the countryside, I work in a small town only a few miles away. In summer, it is always a few degrees warmer in the town due to the heating of the buildings and the pavements than in the country.

Not being a smart ass, but I would have thought basic science classes in secondary school are mandatory... and all people would have known this????

Comhrá

NSAman wrote: »

Not being a smart ass, but I would have thought basic science classes in secondary school are mandatory... and all people would have known this????

Well, we didn't all have the good fortune to go to secondary school.

compsys

NSAman wrote: »

I'm sorry I am with Gerry on this one. The Temperature given in weather forecasts are to measure the air temperature. Factors like asphalt, concrete, are withheld as much as possible from these readings.

E.G. when you get into your car on a hot day, the temperature gauge will read many degrees hotter than it actually is. Reason being.... the car is static, the road heats up and the temperature of the road is being measured. Yesterday when I got into the car, it was reading 44C. After driving you notice that the gauge reduces gradually, after a while it reverts back to the air temperature which was 33C here yesterday.

Items retain heat and in direct sunlight you have heat building up, hence asphalt is many degrees warmer than the air temperature (black absorbs heat more readily than white).

You can have temperature differences in built up environments like towns that are micro climates. Where I live is in the countryside, I work in a small town only a few miles away. In summer, it is always a few degrees warmer in the town due to the heating of the buildings and the pavements than in the country.

Not being a smart ass, but I would have thought basic science classes in secondary school are mandatory... and all people would have known this????

Yeah. EVERYONE knows this because everyone is obsessed with the weather and science and EVERYONE remembers everything from the first year or two in secondary school 🙄.

You sound so condescending.

Storm 10

Some of the replies are downright uncalled for,I never learned anything about the Temp in my back garden or anywhere else in school, the weather would be the last thing on my mind at that time.

NSAman

compsys wrote: »

Yeah. EVERYONE knows this because everyone is obsessed with the weather and science and EVERYONE remembers everything from the first year or two in secondary school ��.

You sound so condescending.

Thanks. But this was from Primary school and many years ago. Sorry to sound condescending.

It's basic for me to understand all this.

Hence when you touch a car in sunshine its hotter than the items around it.

ZX7R

Storm 10 wrote: »

Some of the replies are downright uncalled for,I never learned anything about the Temp in my back garden or anywhere else in school, the weather would be the last thing on my mind at that time.

+1
Some of the replies are shocking, but sadly it doesn't really surprise me

sryanbruen

Storm 10 wrote: »

Some of the replies are downright uncalled for,I never learned anything about the Temp in my back garden or anywhere else in school, the weather would be the last thing on my mind at that time.

I just finished school this May and I never learned anything of the sorts throughout my years either. It was all stuff like what kind of weather does low or high pressure bring, what are these isolines, what is this called (anticyclone, depression etc).

Some ridiculous replies on here.

Meteorite58

Mod Note: this thread has run it's course. Closing it.