‘Twice as cold’: Three-word weather blunder sparks debate

A Seven News weather presenter has been called out by a scrupulous viewer over a highly technical weather blunder most would have missed.

A Channel 7 weather presenter has been called out by a fastidious viewer over a technical blunder that has sparked an interesting debate.

While reporting WA’s brisk weather earlier this week, 7 News Perth’s presenter Samantha Jolly raised the eyebrows of one local Reddit user after declaring an overnight minimum of 6C was “twice as cold” as the previous night’s minimum of 13C.

It was a three-word comment that likely went unnoticed by most of the audience, but the viewer had a major gripe about it.

They took to the online forum to express their frustration that 6C is not “twice as cold” as 13C, as Celsius is not an absolute temperature scale.

“6pm news tonight, Samantha Jolly said that the temperature was dropping from 13C to 6C. ‘That is twice as cold’,” they wrote.

A Channel 7 weather presenter’s Samantha Jolly report sparked a debate on the use of temperature scales. Picture: 7News Perth

The anonymous user questioned whether the presenter had a meteorology background, which weather broadcasters often don’t in Australia.

“Celsius is not an absolute temperature scale, Samantha. That is roughly 289 Kelvin to 279 Kelvin, so a mere 3 per cent colder,” they wrote.

The Kelvin scale is an absolute temperature scale that starts at absolute zero, the lowest possible temperature at which all thermal motion ceases.

Kelvin is generally favoured by the scientific community as it provides a true zero point though is seldom used outside that.

Celsius and Fahrenheit are favoured broadly across the world, including on TV weather, and relative scales based on specific reference points, such as water’s freezing and boiling points.

Plenty found humour in the blunder.

“Just be glad it’s not going to 0C. That would be infinitely colder,” one said.

“When she repeated it, you must have been twice as annoyed,” another joked.

Seven News Perth director of news Ray Kuka told news.com.au, “We wouldn’t let Sam say ‘bloody freezing’ which is how Perth’s early risers felt, so I’m happy to take the hit on that.”

One Reddit commenter used the opportunity to advocate for the broader use of Kelvin as a temperature scale.

Some found humour in the blunder, while others questioned the presenter’s meteorological background and advocated for the use of Kelvin as a temperature scale. Picture: Instagram

“Why do we insist on using these non-absolute scales?” they asked.

“Kelvin would work just fine and help people understand how temperature works.”

According to the Kelvin scale, 0C would be 273.15 Kelvin, −89.2C (the coldest temperature ever recorded) would be 183.95 Kelvin, and the highest temperature ever recorded, 56.7C, would equal 329.85 Kelvin.

This means that, technically, the lowest temperature ever recorded on Earth is approximately 44.22 per cent lower than the highest.

Others on Reddit said perhaps the original poster had a little too much time on their hands.

“Twice as many people whining about it on Reddit in the morning = twice as cold,” one joked.

Another asked: “This is the hill you’re going to stake your flag on?”

“I think you’ve got too much time on your hands bud,” said another.

One pointed out the fact that generally, weather presenters in Australia come from news and journalism backgrounds.

“Weather people aren’t any different to news presenters,” one added.

“They probably have a journalism degree, but if they had a meteorological degree they probably be at the Bureau of Meteorology. The poor weather presenters just take the brunt for the BOM being inaccurate.”