But I thought the BBC transmitted weather reports in 100% metric, no? Maybe someone can tell us how UTV does it.
Ezra ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Humphreys" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2005 3:51 AM Subject: [USMA:31866] RE: Irish Weather reports to drop MPH > Presumably the various radio stations and TV stations around Ireland are > independent of state agencies such as the Met office - how would all the > stations be forced to use km/h? Surely some might say something like > "...wind speeds of 100 km/h, that's about 60 mph". > > Also - the most popular TV channels in Ireland tend to be BBC1 and UTV > (with Sky Sports in pubs and Sky News in hotels). Since these are all > UK based they won't be able to "intercept" the signal and dub km/h over > the mph as this would be too complex (and ridiculous). > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Tom Wade VMS Systems > Sent: 11 January 2005 08:39 > To: U.S. Metric Association > Subject: [USMA:31863] Irish Weather reports to drop MPH > > > Another welcome change due next week is the final piece of metrication > for our weather reporting. > > The Met Office TV bulletins report rainfall in mm and atmospheric > pressure in hPa, but wind speeds have remained stubbornly in MPH for > some years. An article in todays Irish Times (reported below) states > that they will replace MPH by km/h at the same time as the road speed > changeover (2005-01-20). > > This is another highly visible step forward. I had lobbied the Met > Office before some years ago when they changed from Beaufort Scale to > MPH, but got a non-committal we-are-constantly-reviewing-our-policy > response. > > Also, the deployment of metric speed signs has begun. I passed my first > one this morning on the way to work, nine days ahead of schedule (it is > one of a pair on either side of the road; the other one was left in > imperial). > > Tom Wade > > Irish Times Text: > > Weather reports to go fully metric next week > Liam Reid > > > Irish weather forecasters are to follow the example of the new kilometre > road signs and will abandon the use of miles per hour when giving wind > speeds in bulletins from the end of next week. > > Yesterday Met �ireann said it would be mirroring the changeover of speed > limits from miles per hour (m.p.h) to kilometres per hour (k.p.h)[sic] > this month. > > >From January 20th, the day the metric changeover comes into legal > >effect for > road signs, Met �ireann will be giving wind speeds in kilometres per > hour. > > The use of the Beaufort scale (e.g. force four, force five, etc) for > wind strengths will continue to be used in sea-area forecasts, Met > �ireann said. > > Although meteorology equipment measures wind speeds in metric units or > in knots, these are then converted into m.p.h figures by forecasters for > most television and radio forecasts. > > For example, forecasters were warning of wind speeds of up to 100 m.p.h > for today. > > Mr Michael Walsh, head of forecasting at Met �ireann, said the use of > miles was to give a measurement that people understood and used in > everyday life. > > "It would seem ridiculous to keep using miles when every sign in the > country is in kilometres per hour," he said. > > Forecaster Ms Evelyn Cusack said most children were taught measurements > in metric units. "It's only us old fogeys who use miles," she said. > >
