This autumn we notice that there is a lot of rain and we dress accordingly. Hoods, umbrellas, raincoats: they are often necessary, but sometimes there is no rain at all, even though the weather forecast said there was a sixty percent chance! The weather app tells you what the probability is, but not how to read the probability. We’ll tell you that.
Percentage of rain
Do you always use a weather app with icons? A sun means that the sun is shining, a cloud means it is cloudy and a rain cloud means it will rain. You often also see a percentage, such as forty percent. You may think this means there is a forty percent chance of rain, but you are wrong. The percentage does not indicate how much chance there is of rain, but the percentage indicates how large the area is where the rain falls. Is there a forty percent chance of rain in Amsterdam? Then forty percent of Amsterdam can expect a shower. Do you ever see that the chance of rain is eighty percent, but there is not a cloud in sight? Then you belong to the lucky twenty percent where no rain falls. Lucky you!
Weather apps
One other thing: when it says there is a 60 percent chance of rain, that is over a 24 hour period. You can also count the night here. In that case, sixty percent of your hometown might experience rain, but that could also be when we’re all sleeping. One more thing: the chance of rain also measures only a few droplets, so it is important that you look at the millimeters mentioned in the weather app. Word use on weather apps is also important: sometimes you see ‘showers’, and sometimes the word ‘rain’. Showers are used when precipitation lasts less than an hour, while rain is used when precipitation lasts longer.
