You may have noticed our 7 Day Forecast graphic changed recently, but why did we decide to move those low temperatures at the bottom? It’s an interesting explanation that we wanted to take a few minutes to share with you.
On a normal day, the coldest temperatures occur in the morning, right around or just after sunrise. But as you know, some West Michigan days are far from normal. On Monday, the strong cold front that moved through dropped temperatures from the 50s and 60s at midnight into the 40s around daybreak, then hovered in the 30s for the afternoon before ending up at 32° just before midnight Monday night.
So, how do we represent the low temperature? Officially, it was 32° in the climate records, but many people look to that temperature on the 7 day to see what it will be like in the morning when they head out. So we could put 40°, but it soon became colder than that the rest of the day.
The way we solved the dilemma is to shift the low temperatures between the days — now we can clearly communicate the coldest temperatures of the overnight/early morning period as you get ready for work or school. It may not be the “official” low temperature for the day, but we decided you’re more interested in how the weather affects your day than in climate statistics.
We are always looking for the best ways to share a ton of information with you in a limited amount of time and space — so if you have questions or comments, feel free to let us know at weather@fox17online.com or via social media.
