[USMA:35005] Rain measurement in Europe

[Harry Wyeth]

I recently returned from Spain, where I viewed a TV news program about flooding in part of that country.  The reporter stated that the rainfall had been in the amount of 8.-something liters per square meter within a one hour period.   Anyone have any idea why she made it so complicated?  Why not just say rainfall in the amount of 8.xx cm, period?  Is this a European thing?   As one can expect, there was a fair amount of wrong usage: kms, kmph, Km, et al.   HARRY WYETH